Plumb Library club knits community together
Gail Roberts works on a stitching project. Photos by Mari Huglin
Roberts and her Nordic gnome project. 
Isla Brin, 9-years-old, works on a knitted blanket. 
Bags of yarn spill over the table at the Knitting Club.
A finished project by one of the knitters.
Gail Roberts works on a stitching project. Photos by Mari Huglin
Roberts and her Nordic gnome project.
Isla Brin, 9-years-old, works on a knitted blanket.
Bags of yarn spill over the table at the Knitting Club.
A finished project by one of the knitters.
ROCHESTER — The Joseph Plumb Library is full of artists, needles and cozy drinks when the knitting group holds its weekly meeting.
Every Monday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., area knitters and fiber artists gather to work on projects and socialize.
Gail Roberts, of Mattapoisett, helped found the club and took it over when she became the Plumb Library director in 2006.
Now retired, Roberts continues to lead the group because of the connections knitters make with each other.
She said it is a place to get out and socialize, show off projects or ask for help. It also continues a historic tradition of women gathering to work on their fiber arts projects.
“It was something for women to do. They could talk, they could be gossiping, but they were still doing, they were still creating something, they were still being useful,” Roberts said.
One of her “knitting heroes” is Eleanor Roosevelt, who knit all across the world — including in the United Nations headquarters — “fearlessly.” Roberts said she even feels like she is “reaching back” when she continues this tradition.
Isla Brin, a nine-year-old from Rochester, recently began knitting and is a new member of the club. She was inspired to start by her grandma and observing other knitters.
“I saw this person on the beach just doing it so fast, and I was like, ‘That looks cool,’” Isla said.
She taught herself how to knit from online videos and makes knitted items for her friends and family. Right now, she is working on blankets for two of her younger cousins.
Isla said her favorite part of knitting is choosing from many different colored yarns and switching them during projects.
None of her other friends knit, but she said she was happy to join the knitting club so she could ask questions and learn from other knitters.
“I'm like the only one in my class [who knits] and I'm talking about [knitting] and they're like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Isla said.
Isla and Roberts agree the knitting club gives them a space to share ideas and ask for help.
“You always have someone you can ask a question of and usually there are people who already have done knitting or sewing for so long,” Isla said.
