Our Short History

The Knitting Knutz began in January of 1993. Lynn Acquard and Jean Porter started the club. They wanted to join a knitting guild and there was only The Colonial States Knitters but the evening meeting hours were incompatible with their working hours so they started The Knitting Knutz which meets in the afternoon. Sunday afternoon was chosen for the meeting time and since both worked at AC Moore on Kirkwood Highway they got permission to use their classroom as a meeting place.

They invited all the people with whom they had previously worked at VIP/Aunt Mary's Yarns and some of the customers as well. Most of those people came. In order to find other knitters, they hung signs in the yarn department of A.C. Moore. They put postcards in the local yarn shops. They slowly grew.

From the beginning, they always tried to have a demo and a show-and-tell session. Project Daring was also organized; the Hudson Center in Newark was one of the primary recipient of these donated items. As the Internet became more accessible, they found a means to locate more knitters; it has been very important in the growth of the Knitting Knutz.

While still in those early days, they spent several months visiting Girl Scout troops and teaching them to knit. They also helped RSVP reorganize its knitting program when an important volunteer left. In between, there were demos, road trips and new friendships. The newslatter has grown from a simple single-page "letter" format to the multi-page newsletter we have today.

At some point, the classroom at A.C. Moore became too small. Parking, especially during holidays, was a problem. Joy Read found the room we currently use; we don't have the specific date, it was probably around 1996 or 1997.

In the first two or three years, they did not meet in the summer. Their numbers were still small and the first summer only 2 or 3 people came to the summer meetings. So, in the 2nd year, they started the Sit N Knits. These informal meetings were held in members' homes on weekday evenings. They were so popular that even after we grew large enough to attract a crowd all year round, we still try to have a few Sit N Knits each summer. In 1998, they added social meetings to the calendar: a day for detailed discussions, or simply knitting and enjoying each other's company.

We have all made many new friends: some have moved away; other have taken their places. Hopefully, we are not just getting older — we are getting better!