A Pattern of GIVING

Local citizens were warmer this winter thanks to donations from Stitch to Share

BY VALERIE HARDY PHOTOS BY 726 VISUALS

Knitting is woven into the fabric of Lorene Schlie’s identity. “I never can remember not knitting,” said Schlie, a longtime Downers Grove resident and the founder of Stitch to Share, a local charitable knit and crochet group.

While Schlie does not explicitly recall learning to knit, she believes it was a skill passed down to her at a young age from her mother. Schlie continued knitting into her adulthood, on her own and as part of a group at her church.

She enjoyed being part of a collaborative knitting group, but when her church group shifted to making only one type of item, Schlie decided to take her knitting in a different direction. “I was at the library one day, and I thought, ‘I could start my own group,’” Schlie recounted of her decision to initiate a knitting group based at her local library. “So I went home, started sending emails, and voila!”

Meeting since 2018, Stitch to Share gathers the third Saturday of each month from 9–11a.m. at the Downers Grove Public Library. Schlie said the group is open to anyone and is “come as you want, leave as you want.”

Stitch to Share operates under only one rule: “We knit for charity,” Schlie said. “If you want to knit for yourself, that’s great. Just do that at home.”

There is a place for at-home knitters within the Stitch to Share structure, though. Crafters sometimes stop by the library the third Saturday of the month to donate yarn or knit or crocheted goods they made previously but opt not to stay for the group’s meetings.

However, according to Stitch to Share member Mary Kay Stoor –who joined the group after learning about it when the members set up shop at the Downers Grove Farmers Market one Saturday last June in honor of World Wide Knit in Public Day – socializing with other members is one of the highlights of being in the group.

Members also enjoy the flexibility to choose what patterns to use and what items to make, and they appreciate the opportunity to learn new stitches and patterns from each other.

Learning was central to Schlie’s vision for the group. Individuals need no prior experience to join Stitch to Share. “We will teach you how to knit – or crochet,” Schlie said.

For those unfamiliar with the two methods, knitters use two needles and stitching, “there is a bin of knitting supplies in the children’s department at the library, and a sixth grade boy came up to knit with us one Saturday,” Comstock–Koresch said. stitches take on a ‘V’ shape, while crocheters use a single hook to make more knot-like stitches.

Stitch to Share’s goal is “to keep Downers Grove and other nearby communities warm in the chilly winter months,” and those who join are typically both creative and kind.

Stitch to Share invites prospective members to try either form, noting that it is never too early or late to learn. Vicki Comstock–Koresch, a member of the group, learned to knit as a teenager. To expose more children and adolescents to the art of

The group provides baby blankets and hats to Northwest Family Center in Winfield, chemo caps to the Good Samaritan Bhorade Cancer Center in Downers Grove, and hats and scarves to students in need within Downers Grove Grade School District 58 and a neighboring special education cooperative. District 58 Community Relations Coordinator Megan Hewitt expressed deep gratitude for the 30 hand-knit hats and scarves Stitch to Share donated to students in the district this year. “Each donation had a beautiful unique design, making it extra special for the recipients,” Hewitt said.

Stitch to Share also makes spa cloths for distribution through Crafty Angels, a charitable knitting/crocheting ministry in Chicago.

In addition to creating handcrafted items for people of all ages, Schlie explained that Stitch to Share also “likes to knit for the pets. We don’t want to throw anything away, and we can use some of the scraps [to make blankets to donate to local rescue centers].”

Each month, Schlie takes home all the items knit or crocheted during and between the group’s meetings. She washes them then brings them back for the group to sort and distribute.

Schlie joked that her house is often “like a JoAnn Fabrics annex,” but she does not mind. “It’s about helping,” Schlie said. “Not about credit [or convenience].”

For more information, contact Lorene Schlie at ljschlie@gmail.com. ■

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