Check out Swedish Days and particularly the Kane County Courthouse lawn Wednesday from 1 to 5 p.m. Wool and Company is holding its third annual Knit-Out. The knitters are creating the biggest hat in Illinois.

There will be games and prizes with more than 100 people there sharing purls of knitting wisdom. Bring a lunch and a lawn chair and people-watch the appealing historic pastime re-enacted.

Knitting is back. I know you might be asking: Where has it been? It has never really gone anywhere; it's just escalating in these harried times. You see people knitting everywhere -- they sometimes speed knit with those big fat needles and fuzzy yarn in yummy colors.

A story that was overheard recently told of a flight attendant completing a lovely scarf before the plane reached its destination. He even made sure everyone got their colossal serving of those delicious peanuts and were watered as well.

Knitting was once considered the exclusive domain of grandmothers; however men have knitted throughout history.

Sailors aboard ships knitted their own bulky sweaters on cold voyages. Civil War soldiers knitted their own socks. That was out of dire need; now there are different reasons to revive the craft.

Today lots of young guys are using it as a babe magnet. One high school student, who wished anonymity, said he picks a corner, whips out his needles and the girls flock around him. There is even a Web site called MenKnit .com; their motto is "Man enough to knit, strong enough to purl."

"I needed stress relief," said Melissa Goins, a past resident of St. Charles. Stockbrokers have taken it on for the very same reason; they are really stressed in these times.

"It is very meditative," said Judy Overstreet of St. Charles. The comment I loved most came from Phyllis Deerinck of the Windings: "It keeps me from being even ruder than I already am." She said so honestly.

According to Wool and Company owner Lesley Edmonson, the renewed interest originates from people's desire for a more personal touch in a world replete with mass-produced consumer goods.

She told me, "I started as a five-year-old in England, learning from my mother and grandmother, both of whom were Scottish. I have knitted my whole life, making clothes for my dollies, my children and just because I love it. It is the most relaxing thing I could be doing. Sometimes it even creates feelings of euphoria and joy that I am sure are not produced by legal substances."

Ummm . . . one time I took a class in macram that convinced me I was a qualified paraplegic in those kinds of skills; maybe I need to re-think this.

Lesley and her husband Neil have two daughters who share their mother's love of knitting. They opened the business Wool and Company/Simple Gifts in downtown Geneva at 23rd S. 3rd St. in 2000. They have been expanding and creating new classes and groups ever since.

Her advice for beginners? "Like anything else in life, just do it. It may not be too relaxing at first, but it will turn into a lifetime passion, I promise." Even if you don't love it now, you will at some point in your life."

There are lots of stories to support that theory. Read The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood or Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs , being made into a movie starring Julia Roberts, who by the way, was one of the first movie stars to take up knitting herself.

Lesley said one of the most frustrating things she hears is that people wished they had time to just sit and knit. "Knitters are the busiest people in the world; they just happen to knit while others are watching TV or sitting at a game or riding in a car," she said. (I must caution, she said riding not driving.)

For more information the Web site is www.woolandcompany.com or call

Knitting by all accounts is a hot trend right now, but best of all you have an opportunity to rekindle an old art. Happy trails of yarn.