KNITTING NOSTALGIA: A NEW GENERATION DISCOVERS AN OLD CRAFT

Forget scented candles, feng shui and yoga, Gen Xers in the know say the latest therapy to stave off the pressures of a dot-com world is none other than an incredibly low-tech activity: knitting.

"I work in the computer industry where you create virtually. This is something that I can create with my hands," said Rebecca Hartranft, 29, as she wove dark gray thread at a Manhattan knitting class. "You're going from a string and two sticks to make a beautiful piece of art."

The number of knitters and crocheters under age 35 has soared from 3 percent nationwide in 1998 to 15 percent in 2000, a 400 percent increase, according to the Craft Yarn Council of America.

While the increase in knitters locally probably doesn't match the nationwide increase, knitting is still a popular hobby.

Hannah Maddox of Cape Girardeau learned to knit at age 19 while in college, and is delighted to see that more young people are beginning to learn the craft that has carried her through the decades.

"I hardly know anyone that knits," said the retired teacher, who admits her own knitting runs in cycles.

Maddox, now 71, didn't knit for several years after college because she was teaching but picked up the habit again when her children were young.

Like Maddox's affair with knitting, the craze among the twentysomething crowd appears to be cyclical.

"Everything is just going round and round," said Arnetta Kenney, an adjunct assistant professor in textile-surface design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. "Young people knitting is reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s."

LaFern Stiver of Cape Girardeau started knitting during the World War II era, when schoolgirls would knit scarves and sock caps for soldiers.

"When I started, if you could knit argyle socks then you had arrived," Stiver said. She made that her first project.

She took lessons from a woman every Saturday "and she got me through the socks and by that time I was hooked," Stiver said.

Knitting began its most recent comeback with star power in the late 1990s, when Julia Roberts and Daryl Hannah picked up their needles and sparked a resurgence of interest in the craft.

Celebrity appeal aside, new knitters described it as rhythmic, comforting and sensual, with the Zen-like qualities drawing them to it -- some admit obsessively -- time and again.

"Just knitting, I can go into another zone, calm myself down and then approach another task," said Ann Chung, 27, a project director at the Center for AIDS Research. "I'll go through periods where I can't put it down. When the needles become too clenched in my hands, I have to put them down."

Stiver does much of her knitting in the evenings while watching TV. A former schoolteacher, she used to spend her evenings grading papers.

Now she knits. "If I'm just watching TV it feels like I'm wasting my time," she said.

Knitting is good therapy. Stiver likes the repetitiveness of the task and the knitting process. She doesn't always like putting the pieces of her projects together, like attaching the sleeves to a sweater.

Her current project is a sweater that's been around for 12 to 15 years. After knitting three afghans for her grandchildren (with two more to go) she put those projects away and picked up the sweater. "I figure when I get done, I won't like it anyway," she said. So there's no hurry to finish. Most of her items go to family members. "I figure if grandma knitted it they can't refuse."

Maddox usually knits while visiting with her father who lives in a nursing home. She picked up the hobby again last fall when she knitted scarves for a Ministry on the River program sponsored through First Baptist Church.

"I thought when I was done with that I'd do a sweater," she said.

But her first knitting projects weren't that quick and easy. "When I was first learning I picked out something very difficult because I didn't know," Maddox said. It was an argyle tie, made with tiny yarn and needles.

"After that I did argyle socks," she said. But she recommends that first-time knitters start with projects that require straight lines.

Some knitters approach the age-old craft with a distinctly modern flair.

"I can multitask while knitting," said speech therapist Lauren Meiner, 28, admitting that she uses a headset for her phone so she can knit and talk simultaneously.

Looping the yarn through the needles and using various stitches, designs and colors also give their creative spirits free rein, knitters said.

"I'm not an artist in any way, but this kind of allows me to be one," Cooke said. And, she added, "The fashion trend is moving to the homemade effect. If you do mess up, it's a creative twist."

And depending on what the intended final product is -- sweaters, scarves, afghans -- and what type of material is used -- pricey handspun wool or less-expensive acrylic -- the craft can be portable and affordable.

"One draw is that all you need is a pair of needles and a ball of yarn," said Victoria Jameson, 24, a model who now works part-time at an East Village knitting store. "You could spend $10 and be occupied for two weeks."

And, most knitters said, the basic stitches -- knit and purl -- are easy to pick up.

"I've tried sports, different artsy things, but knitting is right up my alley. I can't paint a picture, but I can knit," said librarian Amy Ballmer, 24. "The process is formulaic, so if you can do the formula, you can make up your own (designs)."

"In a few days or weeks you can have a product, it's so satisfying," said 26-year-old Se Sook Dyer, who seeks out unusual color combinations for her knitting projects.

Knitting is not just a female thing, either. Men have jumped into the fray -- although somewhat timidly.

"Must knit," muttered 28-year-old technical designer Michael Gullicksen, as his hands shakily attempted to loop brown-hued yarn through a knitting needle during his first lesson.

"I'm a closet knitter," said menswear designer Jack Mackenroth, 31, adding that he enjoys the repetitiveness of the stitching motion.

Knitters said that although they enjoy its solitary aspects, socialization is also an important factor.

"It gives us an excuse to get together," Chung said to a group of knitting friends who meet about once a month.

"It's more fun than doing yoga together," agreed Dolin O'Shea, 27, laughing.