Welcome, once again, to Local Yarns! This week’s feature? Yarns! (And locals).

Hickory O’Brien Lee (and her husband, Steven Lee ’96) may not be too familiar to many Cornellians, but her store in the Triphammer Mall, Knitting, Etc., is beloved by scads of natives and apparel design majors alike. And my boyfriend, but more about that later.

O’Brien moved to Trumansburg (woo!) when she was four years old and has been a local ever since, attending Trumansburg schools and receiving an associate degree from Tompkins County Community College. Lee, too, is a long time local — he arrived in Ithaca from Taiwan at age 14. He attended Ithaca High School, followed by our very own Cornell University, took a brief hiatus and now is back, working as a computer programmer for the Cornell Center for Advanced Computing and teaching classes at Knitting, Etc. (which he helped to fund and helps to run).

Knitting, Etc. has a lot to offer to Ithaca’s knitting community, for everyone from novice knitter 101 to knitting master extraordinaire. First and foremost, they have all the physical materials you need to get started. Buttons, needles, patterns and of course, yarns — yarns of many, many colors, covering many, many walls, for projects of many, many types: crocheting, hand-knitting, etc. (hey — that’s the name!). The shop also offers a wide range of classes. Many classes are taught by O’Brien herself, but Lee also teaches a few, as does Cornell English Professor Lynda Bogel, known informally at the shop as “knitter-in-residence,” with a folding chair “endowed” in her name.

Professor Bogel began knitting casually, on a vacation with friends, and on her return to blustery Ithaca, stumbled upon Knitting, Etc. There, with help from O’Brien and Lee, her skills quickly took off, eventually earning her a folding chair of her very own. She began teaching at the store about a year ago — a class on “Baby’s First Sweater,” and continues to teach sweater classes today: “Central Park Hoodie” and “Cayuga Cardigan.”

Professor Bogel also knits some of the sample sweaters displayed in the shop, and is compensated for her labor with bundles of yarn, an exchange she calls “a perfect swap to protect my Cornell salary from the resistless lure of the choices at Knitting, Etc.” Bogel also emailed me specifically to make sure I stressed one thing, if nothing else, about the shop. “I’d emphasize,” she wrote, “how very welcoming the shop is, for long browsing and dreaming over future projects, for reading in the large library of knitting books, in comfortable chairs, and for knitting and chatting at the long table. VERY WELCOMING!!!” Although, I cannot knit to save my life (or yours) I have been to Knitting, Etc. many times and know that Bogel is right to love this aspect of the shop — it feels inviting even to ignorant laypeople like myself.

Now I know that this Local Yarn is a bit different from usual, that most of you are unaware that Knitting, Etc. even exists, but I chose to write about the store because I believe it represents a great opportunity for the very much isolated Cornell community to interact with the local population, and to learn a rewarding new hobby in the process. When I asked O’Brien about the interaction she has with the Cornell community she admitted it was small — that although many professors frequent the shop, interaction with students is limited. Several years ago, she said, the classes were really popular with fashion students at Cornell, but not many come anymore. I would encourage all of you (guys and girls) to check out this store — it’s a great little local secret. I would especially encourage the guys — don’t be shy. O’Brien expressed great enthusiasm for getting more guys to knit. Steven is great, she said. He’s been knitting for about a year and a half, has already finished three or four sweaters, and is teaching his own class. I reminded her also of my boyfriend who worked at the store two summers ago. “Oh yeah,” she remembered, “Chris too.” You might think that he and I would need to be secure in our sexuality (we are) to admit that he knits, but I see only the benefits — When I asked O’Brien what her favorite part about the store was, the list went on and on. She says that materialistically, her favorite part is the access to yarn. But most of the things she listed were entirely non-material: “I love that I have met so many people. I like being my own boss — I feel good about my job. It’s not like other jobs I’ve had, like ‘ho hum, going to the office.’ I like watching people being creative.”

“Knitting really clicked with me,” she said. “It’s very portable, you can do it anywhere, anytime.” So, kids — this sounds great, eh? The perfect Cornell hobby — good on the go. And, when you’re done, you have not only the satisfaction of having created something with your own hands, but you also get to wear it! Or give it to your girlfriend (boyfriend?). Believe me, it’s a really heartfelt gift to receive from a significant other. So ‘purl’ it up, kiddos. Knitting, Etc., Triphammer Mall. Your carriage (TCAT) awaits.