Before we started our adventure to Israel nearly 12 years ago, I wondered what my mother, Netta Green, was going to do to pass the time. I had no idea. I was introduced to Sandra Gould who was a great friend of one of my neighbors in Prestwich, Manchester. Sandra told me about the knitting club which her mother Beck attended each Tuesday. I told Netta about the club and she said no way was she knitting as it had been years since she had attempted to knit anything. I said just try even if it's only for the company.
Of course, eventually she started attending the ESRA Knitting Club in Raanana and she hasn't stopped knitting since! I can't imagine how many children's sweaters and tank tops and blankets she has made for the group over the years. Netta is now 97 years old and there is no end to her knitting abilities. She even takes the knitting with her to the day center in Hagana Street, Raanana.
During the Corona pandemic and the enforced lockdown the knitting has been a godsend for Netta. She is never without a pair of needles in her hands. The ladies who run the group, Jane Kessler and Wendy Goldstein, have been wonderful and have called me a number of times to see if Mum needed more wool, which of course she did.
ESRA now has knitting circles in all the branches listed on the right. How many items are made over the year is mind-blowing. Maybe we could go into the Guiness Book of Records for the most items knitted during the pandemic - I'm sure ESRA would be the winner.