By Joel Keller
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

You can do it anywhere: in front of the TV, at the doctor’s office, in traffic. As long as you’ve got needles and yarn, you can knit.

It’s such a relaxing hobby that it’s become hip again.

Stars and Angels
According to the Craft Yarn Council of America (CYCA), young stars like Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Hilary Swank, among others, are proud knitters and crocheters. Plus, the CYCA cites that in 2005, two of the biggest increases in the number of knitters were in the under-35 and the 65-plus age groups.

Many people knit sweaters or blankets to stay warm during the winter months. But Adele Robertson, a member of the Guardian Angels Knitters and Toymakers group at Cedar Crest, knits for people she’s never met: newborns and sick children.

Substitute teddy bears
During the week, each member of the Guardian Angels Knitters and  Toymakers knits four or five pieces, usually wool hats or hand puppets. Then the group donates its creations to the pediatric departments of local hospitals, including St. Joseph’s in Paterson, Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, and Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack.

The group only knits with  leftover yarn donated by other residents. “We won’t sell [the items] to raise money,” Robertson declares. “It’s all [done] to give to the children.

Caps are given to newborns to keep their heads warm; puppets are for kids in the oncology and other longterm care wards.

“They lay there bored in bed,” says Robertson. “[These items] are like their teddy bears. They take them home with them.”

Puppet masters
But the puppets aren’t just for play. “Kids don’t like talking to doctors” in the pediatric oncology wards, says Irene Lechowicz, a member of the Angels. “So the doctor puts the puppet on his hand to get different responses [from the child].”