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Friendship, One Stitch At A Time
Lois Shank (right), 48 works on a pair of socks, while Karen Moshier-Shenk, 55, knits in the background. The women are part of a group of Eastern Mennonite University employees who get together on their lunch hour each Monday to share in the joy of knitting.Photo by Mindi Westhoff
By Heather Bowser, Daily News-Record
These days, knitting isn’t just a lazy-day hobby for old ladies in rocking chairs.
Career women, college students, Hollywood stars and — shock of shocks — even men have gone crazy about grandma’s pastime.
Now, knitting-related Web sites, blogs and chat rooms are as plentiful and diverse as the yarn aisle in Michael’s Craft Store.
But despite the popularity, a few Harrisonburg women say knitting is more than just a fad for them. The craft, they say, is "therapy for the price of yarn."
For the last year, five women from Eastern Mennonite University’s development office spend their lunch hour on Mondays knitting in the lobby of the University Commons building.
After months of knitting sweaters, socks and scarves, the women say their sewing circle has knit their friendship, one stitch at a time.
"After we get together, I feel like I’m ready to go back and face the rest of the week," said Lois Shank, 48, of Harrisonburg. "We started meeting only once a month, but we liked it so much we decided we needed more."
Now that’s a tight knit group.
The Knitting Beginning
Their Monday meetings begin when the women arrive armed with bags full of unfinished projects and needles of all sizes and colors.
For the next hour, they share knitting patterns, techniques and general life advice.
"We also share needles," added Karen Moshier-Shenk, 55, of Harrisonburg. "Oh, wait. That doesn’t sound so good. But you know what I mean."
Needles aside, the women said they offered to grow their circle and teach the men in their office how to knit. But, alas, so far, none have taken them up on the opportunity.
"The men usually just tune us out when we get talking about knitting," said Moshier-Shenk.
Although the club doesn’t have a name, the women say they’re open to suggestions. To make a suggestion, email devoffice@emu.edu.
For now, the group’s unofficial rules are simple.
No talking about work during the Monday meetings, knitting conversations stay in the knitting circle and if anyone learns of a yarn sale, they must notify the group.
"It’s all about the yarn," said Moshier-Shenk.
Sock Drama
Knitting socks, the group says, is perhaps the best and the worst part of the weekly yarn therapy.
"Let’s just say that socks take a lot of love," said Moshier-Shenk.
The 5,000-stitch projects, says Cindy Smoker, 42, are often the most difficult because the stitches are so tiny and both socks must match exactly.
"It’s just a bummer that people have two feet," she added.
The group agrees.
"When I finish a sock, I have to take a deep breath and say, ‘ok, I can do this,’" said Shank.
Group member Carol Lown says she started making a sock four times, but kept messing up so she quit.
"Someday I’ll make some," she said. "It’s a goal of mine, but just not now."
Although frustrating, knitting socks, the group says, can also be sentimental.
"The thing I do like about socks is that I feel this connection to women in history," said Smoker. "[In the past], they couldn’t just go out to the store and buy socks. They had to make them."
Again, the group agrees.
"I do so many things differently than my grandmother," said Moshier-Shenk, "but when I knit, especially socks, I feel like I’m connecting with my family by doing something that they did."
