The women began meeting about 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.”