MSURA Knitting Group

MSU Retirees Association

Knitting Group

New Knitters Welcomed!

We're looking for knitters to join our group. If you enjoy knitting or crocheting, you'd be a terrific addition to our group. While started by MSU retirees, our group is open to anyone who enjoys knitting or crocheting.   If you have a need for someone to knit or crochet for, our group is for you.

Our group knits all kinds of items for local charities. We donate to shelters, charities and other places in the Lansing area that have a need for knitted items, including Pregancy Services, City Rescue Mission and Grace Hospice. Some of the 26,000 items we've donated to charities include hats, afghans, baby clothes and scarves.

Our group welcomes donations of yarn which is used to knit items for charity.

We meet every other Tuesday from 1:00-4:00 p.m. in Room 27 of the Nisbet Building. We also have knitters who donate their pieces that they work on at home, known as "silent knitters".

Please call Rosemary Pavlik at (517) 882-2030 for more information.

Source: http://statenews.com/article/2015/10/knitting-retirees

The State News

MSU retirees and local ladies knit for a cause

By McKenna Ross

The State News October 21st, 2015 10:14 pm

They say the best gifts are homemade, and the MSU Retirees Association Knitting Group could not agree more.

Twice a month, about 30 retired women meet to knit pieces and donate to local charities.

The women began meeting abut 20 years ago and started with less than five members. Holt resident Rosemary Pavlik used to work in Human Resources at MSU and spent her free time knitting hats, mittens and scarves with her mother and donating the pieces.

Once she retired, Pavlik said she began to wonder if other women in the area would be interested in joining her.

“When I retired I wondered, ‘gee, I (wonder) if anybody else wants to do this?’” Pavlik said. “Anyone on campus or off campus... So I put an ad in the MSURA newsletter and I thought maybe I got a couple ladies who would want to join. So I got couple ladies to join.”

The group has donated more than 26,000 items since its inception. They donate to shelters, charities and other places in the Lansing area that request pieces, including Pregnancy Services, City Rescue Mission and Grace Hospice. The ladies knit anything from hats to afghans and baby clothes to scarves.

Pavlik first started the group because she said she wanted to help those in need in a way she knew how.

“I really felt that God had been very good to my family, and I wanted to give back and that’s what started it all,” Pavlik said. “Most of the women here feel the same way. They just want to help the needy — that’s what it all boils down to. (The members) know that a lot of people in trouble out there and it’s not getting any better. It’s getting worse. We’re just trying to help wherever we can.”

Many of the women involved are retired from MSU, but some are spouses of retired employees or just friends or neighbors of members. Swartz Creek resident Jackie Harnick said she joined in 2009 when she saw the MSURA newsletter. She said she called and asked to join, even though her husband was the MSU retiree, and the group was very welcoming.

Since then, Harnick has invited three other women in her hometown to donate their pieces they work on at home.

“They’re what we call 'silent knitters,'” Harnick said.

Many of the women said they first joined because they wanted to donate their knitting. East Lansing resident Lorane DeYoung said she’s been a part of the group for about 12 years.

“I think it’s important to the community, and my husband did too,” DeYoung said. “He pushed me out the door.”   

But DeYoung said she thinks they all come back for reasons other than just knitting.

“Look around, it’s such a great group and we’re still doing the same thing we’ve done before," DeYoung said. "We’re still doing something I think is important and as a result I keep coming back.”