Having a Knit-In
The blended aromas of freshly-ground Dancing Goats coffee and hot-out-of-the-oven croissants wafted out onto Sherman Avenue each time the front door opened. Inside Bella Rose the soft clicking of knitting needles provided the metronomic background for the symphony of friendly chatter. In the background, strains of the Cowboy Junkies poked through.
The occasion was a Knit-In, an entire day when knitters congregated to make hats and scarves that would be donated to the residents of St. Vincent de Paul’s emergency shelter and transitional housing. The brainchild of Christine Lovejoy, this first knit-in attracted two dozen knitters of wildly varied ability levels, some of them newcomers and some part of the “loosely knit” group that gathers every Friday morning at Bella Rose from 10 to 11:30.
“We are a grass-roots group of (mostly but not all) women who have been gathering once a week over the winter months to knit and visit, to establish and deepen friendships, and to simply have a good time,” Lovejoy said. “It is very not organized and truly nonprofit.”
In one day, two dozen scarves and a dozen hats were crafted and donated to the cause. Another half-dozen scarves and six hats were brought in over the course of the next week.
Lovejoy, a massage therapist and yoga teacher who lives and works near St. Vincent’s, explains the project as “gifting a neighbor.” The more she learned about St. Vincent’s shelter and transitional housing program, she says, the more impressed she became. On average, St. Vincent’s helps 165 individuals per month, for a total of 37,532 bed nights in the year 2005.
“My intention was purely altruistic – to give our time and something beautiful to someone else, with no need for anything in return … not even a thank-you,” Lovejoy says.
St. Vincent’s was thrilled to receive the scarves and hats, says Lynn Peterson, director of transitional housing.
“We really appreciated the gesture,” she says. “Last month alone we had 47 children here in crisis, and it’s wonderful when the community remembers our children.”
The Knit-Ins benefit more than St. Vincent’s. The knitters themselves find respite and renewal in the activity.
“The world is so fast-paced. People want something to slow them down, and knitting is a perfect slowing-down activity,” Lovejoy says.
Melody Draves, whose yarn shop, Harmony Yarn Studio, is slated to open at 1034 Third St. in Coeur d’Alene on Mother’s Day weekend, is a Friday-morning regular and brought show-and-tell pieces to the Knit-In.
She agrees with Lovejoy.
“The clicking of the needles is soothing. The colors are enticing,” she says “A cup of something warm, some nice music … add a friend or two and a new project and I’m a happy camper.”
“Needlework was the only craft industry that boomed after 9-11, and it continues to grow every year,” she adds.
Evidence of the growing popularity is the upcoming recent opening of another yarn shop in downtown Coeur d’Alene. “Boucle’s,” owned by Ricky Ryan, was scheduled to open at 116 N. Fourth Street in on April 6. In addition to fine yarns and accessories, Ryan will offer spinning wheels and classes to the growing community of knitters in the area.
With the advent of spring, the need for warm-and-woolly accessories is waning, so Act Two of the “possibly annual” Knit-In will wait patiently on the back burner until next winter. A basket of donated yarns from individuals throughout the community will wait in Lovejoy’s home until show time.