Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.

✓ Unlimited website access 24/7 ✓ Unlimited e-Edition access 24/7 ✓ The best local, regional and national news in sports, politics, business and more!

With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime.

As a current print subscriber, you receive 24/7 access to our website and online e-edition at no additional charge. All you have to do is activate your access.

Sorry, no promotional deals were found matching that code.

Promotional Rates were found for your code.

Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Welcome! We hope that you enjoy our free content.

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in or create an account to continue reading.

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribe purchase a subscription to continue reading.

Thank you for signing in! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Checking back? Since you viewed this item previously you can read it again.

Partly cloudy. Gusty winds in the afternoon. High 63F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Mainly clear skies. Low 39F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.

For years these ladies have held onto their secret club, but can’t keep the fun to themselves any longer. Just kidding. The Thursday Happy Knitters, which includes knitters and crocheters, meets from 1-3 p.m. on Thursdays at the Monsignor Ritchie Social Hall. Bring your hooks, needles, and yarn for a project of your own.

For years these ladies have held onto their secret club, but can’t keep the fun to themselves any longer. Just kidding. The Thursday Happy Knitters, which includes knitters and crocheters, meets from 1-3 p.m. on Thursdays at the Monsignor Ritchie Social Hall. Bring your hooks, needles, and yarn for a project of your own.

What a tight-knit group these ladies have become.

Patterns for various projects are laid out on a table in front of each person. Some people in the knitting and crocheting group have their patterns on paper, others prefer digital copies. All of them check their patterns periodically as they converse and work simultaneously.

Main Street Mercantile employee and vendor, Phyllis Ross, along with Bonnie Kelly, are co-coordinators of the Thursday Happy Knitters, a group that meets from 1 to 3 p.m. on Thursdays at the Monsignor Ritchie Social Hall on St. Francis Drive.

Ross explained, “everyone here is working on their own project and in their own way. Most of us are knitters but we do have a few who crochet as well. We help each other out, especially when it comes to learning a new stitch or other questions about projects and patterns.”

“We have been getting together for years,” said Kelly. “Before COVID, the group met at the library, but the staff couldn’t let us in when the pandemic hit.” She joked about the possibility of meeting outside and staying in their cars just so they could still meet.

For a while, Kelly said, they were desperate and met over Zoom, just to keep in touch. Then, they were given the opportunity to get the group back together at the social hall.

“It’s been two years now,” Kelly said. “We like it here. Each person brings in a couple of dollars and all the money each week goes as a donation to St. Francis for allowing us to use the space.”

And what else comes from a group like this one? Conversation.

There were 8 to 10 people the day of the interview, and the conversations around the table ranged from other crafts outside of yarn projects to current events local and national, community engagement opportunities, genealogy, their kids and grandchildren, retirement and jobs; however, they also stated, “it’s like Vegas, what happens here — stays here.”

Ross shared how to read and mark up a pattern she had already completed on her tablet and showed off a few sites where some of the patterns come from, like Ravelry.

One knitter has already started Christmas stockings. “They call me the Crazy Stocking Lady,” she said. It apparently started with two stockings for her nieces and eventually turned into over 100 now.

Another lady said that she teaches new nurses how to knit. She explained that by teaching them something they don’t know how to do, something that takes about 15-20 minutes to learn, new nurses can see for themselves how difficult and frustrating it can be for their patients to learn what is instructed.

Others spoke about the temperature blankets they are working on and how the weather has been lately. Temperature blankets record the weather as a different color, predetermined by the crafter, for the time period of usually a year. Given the fluctuation in temps the last couple of months, some of these blankets will be really striking.

Everyone is excited, still, about the Hobby Lobby that is supposed to go in near Marshalls in Olean, N.Y. but they all agree it has been a long wait. Crafters like to talk about crafts, lots of different crafts. The group has members who know about weaving (yarn and other materials), stained glass, caning, and the list is probably endless.

If interested in attending, Ross and Kelly said all are welcome. Bring yarn and either knitting needles or crochet hooks and a pattern on Thursday. Even if you don’t know how to get started, bring materials and somebody will help you.

“We did learn, though, not to do complicated patterns while here. We end up going home and ripping the stitches back out because we all talk too much,” laughed one member. Another agreed and stated, “bring the easy projects, the one that you can do while talking with friends.”

And, looking around the room, not one person was really watching what they were doing, needles drove into loops, yarn was quickly pulled over, and the conversations never stopped.

Please help local businesses by taking an online survey to help us navigate through these unprecedented times. None of the responses will be shared or used for any other purpose except to better serve our community. The survey is at: www.pulsepoll.com $1,000 is being awarded. Everyone completing the survey will be able to enter a contest to Win as our way of saying, "Thank You" for your time. Thank You!

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

Would you like to receive our ads to go? Sign Up Today!

Would you like to receive our breaking news? Sign Up Today!

Would you like to receive notice about our circulation promotions and contests?  Sign Up Today!

Get the latest local and national news.

Would you like to receive our daily news? Sign Up Today!

Would you like to receive our lifestyle headlines about food and wine, Bradford area living, local history and more? Sign Up Today!

Get our expert short-term forecast, summary of the weather details and news of any severe weather.

Would you like to receive our Latest Obituary Notices? Signup today!

Would you like to receive our sports news? Sign Up Today!

Includes our e-Edition at no extra cost!