By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
June 8 was World Wide Knit in Public Day. The Knit Wits, a Bowling Green-based knitting and crocheting group, used it as the reason to come together in Downtown Bowling Green on a Saturday.
The knitting interest group of the University Women of Bowling Green State University regularly meets Thursday afternoons from 2-4 p.m. gathered around a large table inside Grounds for Thought.
On this particular Saturday, a dozen or more knitters, crocheters and even a cross-stitcher sat in the parklet outside their home base showing passersby the joy of doing handiwork together. That is the purpose of the special day that occurs annually on the second Saturday of June.
“We come together for relaxation, meditation and camaraderie,” said Barbara O’Brien, the 84-year-old knitter who members say is the stitch who brought them together and keeps them together.
They are a sisterhood of sorts, though they have one “brother,” crocheter Don Navarre, a member who crochets baby hats for newborns at Wood County Hospital. The members share a similar philosophy that life is just better with knitting needles or crochet hooks in their hands.
Their handwork rarely slowed down, as they chitchatted and laughed among and between numerous conversations. Regardless of what they were working on, it looked like their focus was more on talking than knitting.
“For many of my projects, I don’t have to look at my knitting,” said Jan Nielsen as she knitted a variegated-color hat and contributed to the discussion. That is the case for many of the members.
Amijo Mayberry, who O’Brien described as one of the most-talented knitters in the bunch, paid attention to her knitting as she worked on a beautiful, mind-boggling two-sided polka dot scarf. She also is known for creating “Knitted Knockers,” a soft, knitted breast prosthetic that she provides free to Wood County Hospital for local women who have had mastectomies.
“We have so much fun. We are kind of loud. We are not the quietest group,” Mayberry said.
“We’ve been shushed” during their regular Thursday sessions, said Diane Martin, but she jokingly insisted she was at the other end of the table.
“We laugh, talk, share stories and have a good time,” said member Betty Jean Anderson.
Their conversations are about anything and everything, O’Brien said. Relationships and health are often discussed.
“Barbara is a retired nurse and always helps take care of us,” said Nancy Navarre as she worked on a loom to create a hat.
Where politics are often a taboo topic in some groups, nothing is off the table for the Knit Wits. “We are a pretty liberal group,” O’Brien added.
But they are also a welcoming group that brings in members mostly by word of mouth or by their weekly presence in Grounds for Thought.
“Grounds for Thought is a wonderful place for us. We often are at the big table. Lots of people pass through, see what we are doing and often stop and talk with us,” O’Brien said.
Membership has grown since the beginning 12 years ago, she said. Newbies to knitting and crocheting may be taught how to crochet “scrubbies” and walk away with something useful on their first visit.
Sometimes people will stop in for help with an existing knitting or crochet project and end up staying. Others get the help they need and move on.
“We are nonjudgmental,” O’Brien said, and always willing to help fix a problem with a project or offer advice.
Martin, who teaches tai chi at the Bowling Green Community Center and Wood County Committee on Aging, was encouraged by a friend to check out the Knit Wits about two years ago.
“I felt like I found my people,” she said. “I love to sit and listen to the wise women of this group. Everyone is so positive and creative.”
O’Brien invited anyone interested in learning more to stop by when the Knit Wits meet on Thursdays from 2 to 4 p.m. at Grounds for Thought. “Knitting is why we come together, but camaraderie is why we stay together,” she said.
