Sweet New Knitters

A few months ago Mike told me that one of his friends in the science department was sponsoring a club called Empowering Women and they were learning to knit. I really wanted to go in and work with the girls but it would have required taking quite a bit of time from work. They found a woman from a local yarn store to come in and show them the basics and started making scarves to donate to a local homeless shelter for teenage mothers. I spent a long weekend whipping up some scarves for them with machine washable yarns to add to the donation. I got a very sweet thank you note from the girls and hadn't thought anything of it since.

Well, my husband forwarded me an e-mail that got sent out to all the employees in his school this week with pictures of the girls learning to knit and a great plug for my shop. I've already noticed a jump in views this week and I checked my google analytics and well over 20 people have come to the shop through Kirkwood's server. Here is part of the email, which brought me a smile:

Upon hearing about the club’s plans, Paige George, wife of science teacher Mike George and proprietor of Lenox Knits, spent a weekend knitting away and contributed seven beautiful scarves to the cause.

The complexity and colors of George’s scarves re-inspired the amateur knitters who were becoming frustrated with the time it was taking them to knit just one scarf. After several club meetings simply devoted to the task, the ladies in Empowering Women experienced pride at the completion of their scarves and pleasure in donating items on which they worked so diligently. Club Treasurer Jasmyne Dozier commented, “It’s so cool that we are learning a new skill AND helping people. This is a skill we can use the rest of our lives!”

Kirkwood Knittery is located at 10724 Manchester Road in Kirkwood. The Knittery sells yarn and other tools of the trade as well as offering classes. Hand-knitted items can be purchased from Paige Lenox George online at www.plenox.etsy.com

I really hope they continue to love their new skill. It's so exciting to see young people embrace this ancient craft with such enthusiasm and find joy in making something with their hands. They have inspired me to do more charity knitting next year as well. I certainly didn't expect such a great promo out of it but I was happy to have it. I may actually look into donating some items to raffles and charity auctions next year to some schools.