Knitting has shaken off its old fashioned image and is the new way to make an up-to-the minute individual fashion statement. HILARIE STELFOX reports on a new knitting group in Huddersfield

HELEN Pryke was taught to knit by her mum and has passed the skill on to her own children.

“All three of them can knit, even my nine-year-old son,’’ says Helen, whose two daughters are 11 and seven.

“They love it and it’s good for their co-ordination and concentration,’’ she added.

Helen, who recently launched a handicrafts business in Marsh, Huddersfield, has discovered that knitting is enjoying something of a renaissance with all ages.

“Knitting used to be a bit old fashioned,’’ explained Helen, “if your grandma knitted you anything as a child you didn’t want to wear it. But now the patterns are designer led and right up to date with fashion.

“It means that people can knit something fashionable and individual.’’

Although Woolly Minded/Beady Eyed only opened a few weeks ago Helen already has a thriving ‘knit and natter’ group that meets every Wednesday afternoon in the shop’s tea room.

Helen thought it would be a good way for knitters to share tips and enjoy knitting in a social atmosphere and advertised the group in the shop.

“It has proved to be really successful,’’ said Helen, who lives in Beaumont Park. “Most weeks every table in the tea room is full and sometimes we have to take chairs from the shop so that we can accommodate everyone.’’

Helen suspected she was on to a winner with her craft shop/tea room combination when customers started knocking on the front door before she was even open for business.

“My sister helped me decorate and get the shop ready and we had people coming to talk to us all the time, asking when we’d be ready to open,’’ she explained. She has also been approached by an established knitting club in Huddersfield who want to hold meetings in the shop.

Helen says there’s a camaraderie among people interested in crafts. “I’ve always been a creative person and it’s been something that I’ve wanted to pursue for a long time. There’s just such a lovely atmosphere here when everyone gets together. We chat to each other and get along so well,’’ she said.

“We’ve got older people who come along and young mums who want to learn. For older people knitting helps with memory, particularly the more complicated patterns, and it’s also good for dealing with stress. Some of the women say that it’s lovely to be able to take time out and come along to the group in the afternoon and knit at a time of day when, if they were at home, they’d feel as if they should be doing something else,’’ she added.

Helen, a former office worker, says the decision to open a crafts shop came when she turned 40 - she’s now 41. “I just thought it was time for a change and that I should do something I’d always wanted to do,’’ she explained.

She has plans to teach knitting courses and find a jeweller to run jewellery workshops. Ultimately, she hopes to cater for many more crafts.

In the past, hand knitting was a way for women to clothe their families cheaply. It was also a craft that lent itself to recycling as garments could be unpicked and the wool knitted again.

However, 21st century knitting is all about the pleasure of creating one-off garments and enjoying the process. “It’s not cheaper to knit a jumper,’’ says Helen, “because you can pick up very cheap clothes these days. A typical long-sleeved sweater might cost £25 in wool, plus the cost of the needles, but it’s very satisfying to make and you end up with something really beautiful.’’

Steph Saward from Meltham has become a regular attender at the ‘knit and natter’ group. “Knitting is really relaxing,’’ she said. “I usually have several things on the go at once. I knit for me and my family.’

A full-time mum and volunteer counsellor for the National Childbirth Trust, Steph has two sons, aged 10 and 12, and says that she has dabbled in many crafts, “but I always come back to knitting.’’

Steph learned to knit 40 years ago when she was just six and was taught by her grandma. “Coming to the group is great because it’s the only time I knit during the day, I usually knit at night. Some people came along with a friend but most of us didn’t know each other at the beginning,’’ she added.

Joan Cywindski, 82, from Marsh, is one of the oldest members of the group and says she learned how to knit at school. “But I didn’t take it up until my grandchildren were born - the eldest is 27 now,’’ she said. “I like the really complicated patterns, you get a bit bored if it’s just plain knitting.

“As soon as the shop opened I came along to the group. Helen chats to us and I really enjoy the afternoon.’’

Joan, who cuts a stylish figure, now knits mostly for herself but also makes the occasional garment for her husband Bernard.