What do Audrey Hepburn, Dakota Fanning, Cameron Diaz and Madonna have in common? No, it isn’t the latest religious trend – they are all knitters! Knitting may seem like something for grandmothers, but the old lady stigma is being washed away from yarn and getting a face lift as one of the hottest and most relaxing trends in the world right now.

The book Stitch n Bitch and the social media site Ravelry injected a new sense of excitement and youth into the craft; giving easy to follow tips, a new way to meet knitters and a platform to showcase your completed projects. As you can imagine, many authors and bloggers followed suit, writing books, blogging and most importantly, reestablishing knitting circles all over the world. Knitting is great for an excuse to sit down and watch TV, because at least you are accomplishing something at the same time… right? But the all time best way to knit is in a group of other knitters – stitching and bitching. Whether you are sharing patterns or gossip, it is a great way to meet other gals (and those very few guys) who understand the beauty of a home made sweater and are willing to teach you how. Because let’s face it – do any of us really have too many friends, and need an excuse to spend another evening at home alone with the cat?

In this time of economic uncertainty, knitting is becoming not only popular as an art, but a necessity for those of us who need a new scarf or mittens. Before you master the craft and can pump out projects that look store made, you don’t have to worry about looking cheap because there is no better satisfaction than telling someone “Yes, I did make this myself!” and that always sounds a lot better than “Yes, I did pull this out of my neighbor’s garbage!”. But forget about knitting for yourself (even though you can’t have too many clothes, you can have too many scarves) homemade knits make great presents. This year I only gave knitted gifts for Christmas and you would be surprised how much people like them. You can get as creative as possible – using their favorite colors and adding all the bells and whistles their fashion taste normally calls for.

While the easiest thing to make by far may be a scarf or pot holders, knitting can get way more complicated when discovering more and more patterns – mittens, hats, sweaters, blankets or things with cables, we are all pretty helpless no matter how supportive our SnB groups is because they usually aren’t home when we have to unravel more than half of our project. Don’t fear – that is what this column is here for. I’ll be coming to you monthly with new patterns and ideas and links to some awesome knitting sites. So go to your local craft store and get the cheapest needles and yarn you can find. Knitting is back!

Some helpful links to get you casting on:

• http://ravelry.com
• http://www.theknittingsite.com/
• http://www.whatifknits.com/
• http://www.yarnharlot.ca/