816-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 16,1989 Close BY JOYCE BUPP York Co. Correspondent YORK (York Co.) “Don’t just sit there - knit something!” Thai’s the slogan of the Colo nial Knitters Guild, whose mem bers really live up to the directive. And, knitting is not only a pleas ant and productive pastime for the Guild’s 70 members, but an avenue of service to the communi ties of York and Adams counties. The Colonial York Knitters Guild was organized in 1984, for the “preservation and perpetuation of the art of knitting,” explains their informational membership letter. Members meet twice monthly in the community room of the Adams Electric Coopera tive, west of York. Primarily a leaching organiza tion, the Guild conducts work shops on knitting methods and techniques. Guest speakers pre sent up-to-date information on new products for knitters, and members have opportunities to attend other knitting-related semi nars and workshops. “We have members ranging in age from the 20s up into the 80s,” says Guild president Alicemay Bock, of York. “Some have never knitted before, and others have been knitting for years.” Guild members perform a unique community service, knit ting hat and bootie “prccmic” sets, for premature infants bom at both York and Memorial hospitals. Since the group’s founding, more than 600 of these dainty sets in soft yams have helped warm fra gile infants. One member alone has knitted more than 100, accord ing to Mrs. Bock. Other hand-knits bring a per sonal touch of caring to both young and old. Mittens knit this fall were for a mitten tree for children, through the Sylvia New- •> g, jke, Hanover, study knitting book patterns during a program break. Hand-knit Christmt gi. from ..ers _ met rs might include sucb items as the colorful stocking done by Genevieve Goodling, left, or Doris Kohr’s pullon with a whimsical bear and holiday wreath. Knit Group Swaps Ideas, Knowledge combe Center of York. ACCESS York and the Lehman Center, for children, are other mitten outreach recipients. Guests at the Margaret Moul Home for the Cerebral Pal sied wear bedroom slippers from the Guild’s busy needles. Hats, scarves, mittens and soft throws knitted of colorful squares have gone to the children at the Hoffman Home in Adams County. Guild members knitted the square, and members of the Redland Senior Center crocheted them into lap robes. Members debate and choose community service and education projects during their business meetings - informal discussions marked by the continuous, soft clicking of knitting needles. A “show-and-tell” session allows each member attending to display her latest project for a sharing of ideas, problems, and patterns. By ordering collectively, mem bers are able to obtain favorable bulk-buying prices on some sup plies. Sometimes, they lest pro ducts. Cardboard boxes house a sort of library of patterns accumu lated by members, available to all for the fcw-cents costs of copying. Also available for members’ use are wheel charts, which enable patterns to be adapted to various sizes. In addition, Guild meetings build friendships, fellowship and a solid support group for this organ ization of craftspeople. Many of the members learned this tradi tional craft as children, but really got “into knitting” with enthu siasm borne of Guild membership. Alicemay Bock, for instance, knit her first stitches, at age 11, into a scarf. The neighbor who taught her in her childhood Pitts burg home made the fledgling knitter rip errors so she would “Icam it right.” Colonial York Knitters Guild members gather around president Allcemay Bock, seated, as she demonstrates a technique. Even the most Intricate pattern, she insists, is just a combination of knit and purl. “Today I call it ‘unknitting,” she laughs, adding that ripping never did become a favorite pas time. Though she sometimes has to “unknit,” Alicemay is more likely to be working on Guild pro jects or another addition to the estimated 150 sweaters she has made for her son and daughter. Dillsburg member Jan Rein hardt not only knits, she also is one of the Guild members who raises sheep. Originally from New York, the Reinhardts wanted a small farm, but were not sure how they wanted to utilize it. “It was love at first sight,” she says of the Romney sheep that caught their attention at the Mary land Sheep and Wool Festival. Starting with four head, the Rein hardt’s flock has grown to 36, raised primarily for fleeces for the spinning market and - of course - wool yams, some dyed to order. A textiles experimenter, Jan Reinhardt learned she could dye lovely shades of wool, using unsweetened Kool Aid drink mix powder. A microwave makes col oring the wool fast and easy. “I’m always looking for ‘gim micks’ in marketing,” she relates. “So I had kits made up for grand mothers, to knit their grandchil dien sweaters from wools dyed in their favorite Kool Aid flavor”. Thomasville member Jane Trestle’s family also raises sheep. Her English-born mother tried years ago to teach Jane, a left hander, to knit About four years, Jane began knitting regularly, after working out her own tech nique of tucking the right-hand needle under her arm. This sheep producer shared a wool-care tip, utilizing a product A hand-knit yoke in a Nor wegian pattern turns an ordinary sweatshirt Into a designer fashion. It takes Genevieve Goodllng about 20 hours to complete a sweatshirt yoke, worked on a round needle. popular around livestock show washracks, and available through many livestock supply firms. “Orvus soap is good for wash ing hand-knits,” Jane advises, of the soft, creamy livestock soap. “You can wash them with it in cold water in a washing machine, and it doesn’t take the lanolin out of the wool. And not much is needed to wash a sweater, so a little goes a long way.” Beyond their community ser vice projects, family and friends arc the recipients of the end result of most of the Guild members’ softly clicking needles. Mary Scip, a Guild member for two years, first began knitting in the 1960’5. But the teacher at the elass she initially took then was not the most helpful by starting tier beginners knitting a difficult sweater pattern. A recent project of Mary’s, a beautiful white preemie sweater set trimmed in white, testifies to how well she has overcome her original frustration. In fact, most things Mary knits find an eager owner before the last stitch is bound off. “A shawl and an afghan are what I have for myself after years wies Latest learning project for members of the Colonial York Knitters Guild was a vest In the argyle pattern. Modeling their vests for the group were Isabel Rohibaugh, left, and Miriam Godfrey, sisters from the Red Lion area. of knitting,” relates the Manches ter knitter, adding with the good humor typical of Guild members, “and the afghan has mistakes.” Her friend Vilma Zolota lent a guiding hand through knotty knit ting problems, based on her 50 years of knitting experience. More than five decades ago, Vilma found a sheet of paper con taining knitting instructions - and taught herself how to knit and purl. Her first grandson kept warm in a snowsuit she knit for him, and now all ten of her grandchildren own afghans she made. Like many of the Guild mem bers, Vilma and Mary knit while they watch television. Afternoon “stories,” as well as prime-time television hours, become produc tive relaxation periods, yielding warm knitted items for lucky, sometimes less-fortunate, recipients. Hand-knit gifts are a natural at Christmas for these knitters. Yorker Genevieve Goodling has been putting finishing touches on a decorative Christmas stocking. More of her time, however, is spent on knitted yokes for sweatshirts. (Turn to Page B 17)
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