For the past five or six years, about two dozen ladies have been meeting at Basketful of Yarn at 5 South Main Street as part of a knitting group.
‘We just all clicked. We met here, none of us knew each other beforehand and we just all gelled,? said group member Mary Cesarz.
Group members Mary Gwinn and Pam Petersen are the proud authors of the book ‘Purls of Wisdom,? a set of poems about knitting and experiences in the group.
‘Over the years, little things have happened to people, little mistakes, funny things, and Mary, being the author she is, picked up on those and wrote these poems. You have to know the people, but they’re quite funny,? said Petersen.
Gwinn said the poems are based on nursery rhymes and old familiar folk tales, such as ‘Oh Susanna,? and ‘She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain.?
‘Another thing we think is unique about this group is that the owner, Carol West, lets us come in every Tuesday and we go next door to Rudy’s and we choose our lunches over there from the deli and we bring them over here. Then we all eat together and share funny stories and knitting stories,? said Gwinn.
‘We’ve all gotten to be a little family, really,? said Petersen.
The ladies are from all over southeast Michigan, including Davison, Grand Blanc, Ortonville, Waterford, Fenton, and Clarkston.
‘We look forward to it, and we learn from each other. We share patterns, we share ideas,? said Gwinn. ‘You probably will find all kinds of levels of knitting from beginner to very professional knitters in here.?
Gwinn said she wasn’t sure if it was the knitting or the personalities of the ladies that ‘bonded? them together.
‘Insanity? holds group together, said Cesarz with a big laugh. ‘We’re all a little wacky.?
Cesarz has also been knitting hats for the armed services and sent over a couple dozen for troops.
Basketful of Yarn has been at 5 South Main Street, also home of The Clarkston News, for the past 10 ? years, West said .
She is proud of her friends on the accomplishment of their book, she said.
‘It’s a great group. We have a lot of fun. We have lots of goodies and laughs. I think they’ve developed a lot of good friendships, probably going to be lifelong friends,? she said.