Needles and Pins

Enthusiasts say the growing interest in knitting and crochet has reached the elementary-school set, who embrace yarn crafts as a fun way to create personalized knitting  and crochet projects such as scarves, slippers, sweaters even doll clothes.

Kids bring their knitting and crochet projects along on family outings, knit during recess or while teachers read stories in class. At home, they knit or crochet with a group of friends or while watching  TV with their family.

Parents appreciate knitting’s and crochet’s calming effect and boost to fine-motor skills. It’s comforting, something quiet and peaceful for them to do working with their yarn crafts.

Several local yarn shops lead weekly yarn craft classes specifically for children, with some offering summer camps. Numerous schools host knitting clubs. Other children learn yarn craft through 4-H or scouts; some private Waldorf and Montessori schools teach knitting and crochet as part of their curriculum.

“It used to be someone older passing along the craft,” said Mary Colucci, executive director of The Craft Yarn Council of America, a New York-based trade association. “Now we’re finding kids are so excited, they’re nudging mom or aunt to do it. That’s a new phenomenon.”

The Craft Yarn Council of America doesn’t track statistics on children but a 2002 survey found knitting and crochet is increasingly popular with younger women. The percentage of women under 45 who know how to knit or crochet doubled from 1996 to 2002 per The Craft Yarn Council of America.

After other girls brought knitting for free-time work, Kate, 8, asked for needles and yarn for Christmas this year. “I like to give things that I made myself,” Kate said. “It’s fun to do.”

During a recent class at Queens Yarn and Needlepoint, Kate and her 6-year-old sister, Mary, worked on purses while their mom, Terri, finished a hat. Terri started knitting while pregnant with Kate but dropped it for lack of time after the girls were born. Now all three are learning together. “My mom helps us when we get stuck,” Kate said.

Once yarn crafters are proficient, folks like to chat as their hands fly. That makes knitting or crochet a great parent-child activity, where each can work on a project geared to his or her own ability.

“We’ve gotten so far away from basic crafts that when children are introduced to them, they just fall in love. It’s so different from what kids do today with computers.”

Knitting is like “meditating with your hands,” the portable craft can improve children’s concentration. A focused activity with their hands helps kids with their restless energy.

At elementary school, girls meet once a week to knit as part of the PTA’s after-school enrichment program. When you walk into that room, you instantly feel calm. They’re learning a lifelong skill they can fall back on when times get rough or they’re stressed.

Be Sociable, Share!

•