IT has been said many times that crafting can help people through the toughest times in their lives.
'Therapeutic,' 'meditative' are just some of the explanations crafters will offer as to why they pick up their pins and needles to knit or stitch their worries away.
For Charlotte Meek creating a crocheted blanket wasn't just a satisfying accomplishment. Crucially, it took her mind off the cancer treatment she was undergoing at the time.
The mother-of-two from Oxenhope recalls she had just learned to crochet when she received the devastating diagnosis four years ago. "When you are learning a craft you have to give it attention. It took my mind off being ill and what I was going through and also it gave me a purpose. It really did help me," explains the 48-year-old.
Thankfully Charlotte has now fully recovered and along with her pal, Fiona Drake, also 48 and from Bingley, is helping to pass on their love of crafting, and the many benefits it brings, to others.
It is two years ago in May since they set up The Stitch Society, a creative hub within the Keighley Business Centre, Knowle Mill, South Street.
Weekly activities include 'Knit & Stitch,' a drop-in for crafters to share their skills over a cuppa from 10am until noon on Fridays; then there are the workshops passing on skills such as crocheting, felting, spinning, weaving or darning. It is a crafters paradise and a passion Charlotte and Fiona have shared since meeting at a knitting class in Bingley five years ago.
"I was running the knitting group and we just clicked," says mother-of-two Fiona.
"We have got the same drive and interest in it and Charlotte already had a studio."
"We just decided we have so much expertise to share and putting it under the label of The Stitch Society is what we wanted to do."
Charlotte's talent lies in textiles and crocheting. She is a trained pattern cutter and dressmaker who also creates beautiful textile decorations.
Since being taught to knit by her grandmother at the age of six, Fiona hasn't put her needles down.
She recalls being able to knit ahead of her peers during craft classes at school. "And I've never stopped knitting. I am eternally grateful to her (her grandma) for teaching me to knit.
"But it is like anything, when you learn how to do the basics you just want to learn how to do the next thing, and the next thing. I have learned a lot from other crafters and I find it is very meditative. It lowers the blood pressure, is calming and relaxing.
"Knitting has seen me through some difficult times, and I know it has been the same with crochet with Charlotte. It has seen both of us through some hardships and it is a wonderful thing for us to share our skills and teach them to other people."
Anything the pair cannot do they draft in the expertise of those with the know-how of skills such as weaving, spinning and paper work.
"It has become a lovely little centre in Keighley and if you are interested in any kind of craft you can find it here," says Fiona.
Creating commission pieces gives the women another outlet for their creativity.
"We both design in our own right but because the studio is such a fantastic size we run workshops and pass on skills we have learned."
While crafting appears to have gained popularity in the past few years, Fiona believes it has always been popular but celebrities picking up their needles in recent years has helped to catapult it into the spotlight.
"If you speak to anybody who has been crafting it never went out of fashion. I think you hear about it more often but there has been people who have continued to hone their skills and be creative. It is like knitting, because somebody famous did it, and was photographed doing it, it is back in fashion," says Fiona.
She believes people may also be turning to crafting to save pennies. "I think also there is a relationship between people now with austerity. We think people are looking at how to make things and not spend so much money."
Crafters certainly exercise the conscience of never throwing anything away. "We collect everything, we are like magpies, and we use it. If we can't use it we pass it on," says Fiona, referring to the swap exchanges they host twice a year allowing crafters to swap items they may no longer need with others.
The pals are also looking forward to setting up a pop-up shop in Haworth's Main Street on Friday April 17 for two weeks.
"Everything we sell and everything we do is in the shop so anybody can call in. We're also running taster sessions of what things we do," says Fiona.
Aside from passing on traditional skills to the next generation, the pals are also creating a social network for the crafters who aren't just customers, they've become friends.
"We have a lovely little group of people who are called the Friends of the Stitch Society. They have found us and followed us and feel very much part of the growth of this business. They have a sense of pride as well of coming here and sharing it with their friends.
"For both of us what we wanted to do was to be able to share everything with everybody and that is what we have been able to do.
"It is our passion. It is what we want to do, what we think about and what we are driven to do and to not do it is unthinkable," adds Fiona.
The Stitch Society is open from 10am until 4pm Monday to Friday. For more information visit thestitchsociety.com
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