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Longview ‘knitting gals’ donate more than 1000 hats to community

By Courtney Talak, The Daily News
Published: January 22, 2019, 12:30pm

LONGVIEW — For some, knitting is a hobby. For the women of Somerset Retirement Home, it is a labor of love.

Every Tuesday, women from all over Longview and neighboring cities meet around a table at the assisted living center cluttered with colorful mounds of yarn, knitting needles and round looms. They call themselves the “knitting gals.” They are a group of about 10 women — and counting — who knit hats, blankets, socks and more for local communities in need of warm attire for fall and winter.

The group, which began knitting together five years ago, was organized by a former Somerset activities coordinator and Ardy Riddle, who previously worked as a caregiver at the retirement community.

“We started with knitting hats,” Riddle said. “Donating what we made was ingrained from Day 1.”

In the beginning, the original three or four knitters met every few weeks and made 40 hats for donation. Now, the group meets weekly and donated more than 1,000 knitted items in 2018. They don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.

Each person makes five to 10 hats per week with yarn donated from people in the community.

Since early December 2018, the group has partnered with Kelso barber Bill Ammons’ clothing drive to provide coats, hats, gloves and other items to low-income people. Every few weeks, Ammons picks up a batch of hats and other knitted items to deliver to local schools, shelters and people who are homeless.

“I’m so intrigued by how fast they work and the product they make,” Ammons said Friday. “The hats are beautiful. What they’ve done for the community has been over the top. I can’t thank them enough.”

Finding people to receive the donations is done mostly by word of mouth, Riddle said.

“We don’t follow a donation list. … The hats are for whoever needs them.”

In the past, the group has donated to hospitals, shelters, veterans, students and people who are homeless during the winter months.

“As long as someone wants the hats, we’ll make them,” Riddle said.

Though donating is a primary motivation for the knitting gals, it is not the only reason they continue to meet. They knit for friendship, too.

“We’re here because we need each other and love each other … and that inspires the girls,” Riddle said. “You feel like you’re part of something good for the community. We had a hand in a positive moment for someone getting something new.”

When one of the women goes through a tough time the group supports her in any way it can, said Lisa Riddle, Ardys’ daughter-in-law.

The knitting gals welcome new members from all walks of life and any skill level. The group meets from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. every Tuesday at Somerset, 2025 Tibbetts Drive, Longview.

The group is preparing for the next busy donation season starting in October and is hoping to maintain its high donation numbers.

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