Knitting Program Ideas from Librarians

B. Have needles donated by community, knit or craft shops. Business can write off donation on taxes & library mentions shop during programs for publicity.

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A knitting program I offered to the teens last summer has developed into a regular group of knitters, with new teens joining anytime they want. We're knitting squares to make afghans for the program "Warm Up America", which the kids are loving, because they get to help less fortunate people, do something they enjoy (knitting), some get to learn a new skill, AND they can be with their friends and eat the snacks I provide! I love everything about it --- it's an easy, passive program, kids can drop in and work on the squares anytime (I have everything ready for them), or it can become a more structured session when new kids can learn how. I got the needles and yarn donated, so it's inexpensive, AND I love having the kids do something charity-oriented. I'm always looking for activities we can get involved in that help someone else (food pantries, elderly,...). AND, the newspapers love covering activities like this, so we get publicity. AND, the kids love being in the newspaper, and of course their parents love that too. By the way, Warm Up America has a website with more details at http://www.warmupamerica.org/home.html. So before you spend much money on needles, maybe there are staff members and/or patrons who will give you some! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The YA Librarian and I began a knitting club last November. We had 3 or 4 sets of size 10 needles that cost $5 each. We paid for them ourselves. We had other sets for borrowing. The first ad in the paper said to bring your own yarn and needles and we would teach you to knit. We had the 4 pairs as emergency back up. The group was for 5th grade and up. Once the kids learned how to knit, we would talk about books we have read or interesting things we have heard about while we knit. We meet for 1 hour each week. We have had about 6 kids learn to knit and about 3 or 4 attend weekly. The needles we bought cost $5.00 per set. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was going to do a knitting slam for teen read week one year. In order to get the supplies I needed I sent a letter asking for donations of knitting needles and yarn from the community. Now living in WI the situation may be a little different than Palm Beach but I came back to 7 boxes of yarn and mucho knitting needles. What I would also recommend contacting your local Project Linus coordinator for assistance. They knit 7 by 7 squares that are later combined into blankets for kids with cancer. It’s a nice easy beginning project that kids can finish and feel like they have accomplished something that will help people in the process.
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We have been hosting a group of kids, boys and girls, grade 3 and up for Ritter's Knitters. We told them we would supply the needles and they could keep them if they continued to knit. If they found they did not enjoy knitting, we asked that they return the needles for the next person. Our supplies came from donations from a knitting group of adults here in town who wanted to help promote knitting, our Friends of the Library and the local knit shop. The knit shop gave us a couple of pairs of needles and then a discount on additional purchase. At this point we ask the kids to bring their own needles. We still have yarn. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are even holding a charity knit-in this Sat. Our goal is to make enough blocks to produce two throw blankets. One will be sent to the soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital and the other will be given to a local women's shelter that takes in women and their children. I am going to include some children's books in hopes that the blanket will be used to snuggle while reading. We are a very casual group with something of the feel of an old fashioned quilting bee. We get together to talk, show what we are working on, share patterns, etc. There is instruction for anyone who needs it and we have had several newbies get their start with us. One of the advantages of the group is that if someone has a problem or doesn't understand something, there is always someone who can show how to do it or figure it out. I also try to have a number of knitting and crochet books on hand for checkout. We have both knitters and crocheters. We have even had some quilters come. One of our members spins and sometimes brings her wheel to our meeting. We find that the mix of crafts works well together as the companionship is the real draw. When beginning knitters call for information, we tell them to bring a ball of yarn and some needles that feel comfortable in their hand. One of our teachers recommends #8's while I think larger needles are easier for beginners to use so I say #12's or even #13's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a knitting club in my library, and I knew that I would not have enough needles to start out everyone who comes...so I ask my folks that they bring their own needles and yarn, even to start to learn. I have them get a set of size 8 needles, no longer than 10 inches long, and a skein of plain worsted weight yarn (like Red Heart) in any color that pleases them, preferably a variegated yarn that changes color as you go. This way they have yarn they like and the color change helps them to see the difference between what they did on the last row and what they are doing on this row. I do keep a couple of pairs of my own needles that I bought specifically for loaner sets. They are the cheapest plastic needles I could find, so I don't cry if they don't come back. We also have a stash of yarn donated by folks who don't or can't knit or crochet anymore, which I use if folks don't have any yarn when they show up. I have had folks from 4 to 65 years old, and some older I'm sure, and at all skill levels, from complete beginners to accomplished knitters. Every week I get new knitters, so I would advise recruiting some experienced knitters who can help you teach! I have been going since just before thanksgiving and am getting more new knitters every week now than I did at first. I have had up to 6 new knitters at once, and several times have had 4 new ones at a time. Let me tell you, that is a stretch, to get them all going and answer their questions in an hour! I routinely end up with 1 1/2 hours or sometimes more. You may get yarn shop owners coming to your group, see if you can get them to help out on days when you have too many new ones at once. I don't mind when they want to let everyone know where their shop is and encourage them to bring flyers once in a while. Now if they dropped off flyers every week and never came to help out or just knit, I might get a bit upset. Anyway, a little bit of advertising and the rest is done for you by word of mouth!

I have contacted JanWay products to see if they can find cheap plastic needles and an imprintable plastic case (we can often give stuff away if it's cheap enough and has our logo on it). They couldn't find an affordable imprintable option, but contact your JanWay library rep anyway because if more people start asking someone will have to come up with some product. They were nice to me, but found the request to be a little odd. The program has been so popular here that a Mom reported to me that her child has been knitting with found objects at home. Twine and pencils-- you name it. The library regulars who use up their Internet time and still have hours before getting a ride home have really enjoyed the program, and their work is consistently improving. It's really inspiring.
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I did a knitting program for teens, and had 20 girls sign up, with 5 girls and 4 moms on the waiting list (& here I was expecting only 6-8!!). Because I'd advertised it as the library supplying the materials, I couldn't change my mind when I had 20 sign up! So, I went to Wal-Mart, where I found size 10 aluminum needles for $2.50, and inexpensive skeins of yarn. The next time I do this, I'll advertise it as "bring your own" and tell them what size needles and how many skeins of their favorite color yarn they need to bring.
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We are planning on having our first-ever "knitters' club" this summer on Thursdays in June for kids ages 10 and up. While we are going to purchase some yarn that kids may use to get started, we are going to require that children provide their own needles (we will suggest which sizes) and will encourage kids to bring their own yarn as well - especially if they want the fancy kind. Normally we do provide everything kids need for our programs, but in this case we decided that we couldn't afford that, and we are
hoping to attract kids who will stick with it. If they have a little investment, they are more likely to stick with it than if we just hand out needles. We are going to raffle off a basket with a new pair of needles and some fancy yarn for those kids who come all 4 Thursdays. One of our "teachers" owns a local craft supply store that specializes in yarns and sewing supplies, so I'm hoping she gives us a break on some fancy yarn to raffle off.
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