Fiber Arts Monday – Knitting Behind Bars
December 12, 2011
I LOVE this story!
In late 2009, Lynn Zwerling stood in front of 600 male prisoners at the Pre-Release Unit in Jessup, Maryland. “Who wants to knit?” she asked the burly crowd. They looked at her like she was crazy.
Yet almost two years later, Zwerling and her associates have taught more than 100 prisoners to knit, while dozens more are on a waiting list to take her weekly class. “I have guys that have never missed one time in two years,” Zwerling says. “Some reported to us that they miss dinner to come to class.”
Zwerling, 67, retired in 2005 after 18 years of selling cars in Columbia, Maryland. She didn’t know what to do with her time, so she followed her passion and started a knitting group in her town. No one came to the first meeting, but the group quickly grew to 500 members. “I looked around the room one day and I saw a zen quality about it,” Zwerling says. “Here were people who didn’t know each other, had nothing in common, sitting together peacefully like little lambs knitting. I thought, ‘It makes me and these people feel so good. What would happen if I took knitting to a population that never experienced this before?’”
There is so much truth about being busy with your hands. Your hands are busy, your mind is busy and you are productive.
Are there places that you could offer free lessons as a ministry? A shelter? A group home?
Fiber art is anything that includes stitching, weaving, quilting, sewing, rug making, crocheting, knitting, spinning, etc…
Each Monday we can share ideas, patterns, finished projects and ask questions about fiber arts in the comment section.
You can also link up to your blog post or photo account that is related to fiber arts, I just ask that you link back to the most current Fiber Arts Monday post. Just leave your post link in the comment section and tell us what it is.
So how ’bout it? Do you have a project you are working or want to work on? Let’s share some inspiration!
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