Knit, Socialize & Have Fun @ the Long Hill Library

Do you like to knit, talk and have fun? Who doesn't! Or maybe you'd like to take up knitting? Then come on over to the Long Hill Library and meet the Gates Avenue Knitters.

The Gates Avenue Knitters meet at the library every second and fourth Wednesday at 7:00 pm. Everyone is welcome, from beginners to expert. 

Along with having fun, the Gates Avenue Knitters also do good work. Here's an article that was recently published in The Daily Record, written by staff writer Pamela MacKenzie:

Gates Avenue Knitters of Long Hill make hats for flood victims in Bound Brook & Manville

When the Raritan River ravaged Manville and Bound Brook again this August, Arlene Kaplan, wanted to do something tangible to help the flood victims.

For years, her group of knitters and crocheters — the Gates Avenue Knitters — has been making hundreds of hats for charitable organizations, such as a women’s shelter in Morris County and the St. Joseph’s Social Service Center in Elizabeth.

But this year, Kaplan wanted to help the people who had lost possessions in the flooding.

Kaplan, the group’s leader, called the Somerset County Division of Social Services in Somerville and was told that the agency would distribute the handmade hats.

Kaplan told the agency that the hats would be ready by November. Almost 50 members of the group started working on the project.

Kaplan says that she is proud to be a part of such a caring group of knitters and crocheters.

The Gates Avenue Knitters was started by five women in Long Hill, including Kaplan, more than 11 years ago.

Initially, members met in a private home but later began meeting twice a month at the Long Hill Township Library about six or seven years ago.

The members come from surrounding towns in Morris, Union and Somerset counties.

They meet at 7 p.m. in the library on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month, knitting for themselves, their families and others.

Every November for the last five years, the library has displayed their work in its showcases.

“The library loves us,” Kaplan said, “and we love them. Every year, we give them 60 hats that we’ve knitted, and they sell them at $5 a piece to benefit the Friends of the Library.”

Members knit hats year-round, and yarn donations always are welcome.

Email Arlene Kaplan at gaknitters@gmail.com for more information.

Let's hear it for the Gates Avenue Knitters!