GEORGETOWN, DE, March 3, 2016 – Some of Sussex County’s most avid knitting and crocheting enthusiasts have stitched together a plan to pass the art form to new sets of hands, one library at a time.

The Sea Purls Knitting Guild, a member of The Knitting Guild Association (TKGA), recently donated more than $1,000 in books and funds to add approximately 50 titles to the Delaware Library Catalog collection in an effort to promote the art and love of knitting. With more than half of the libraries in Sussex County already hosting formal and informal knitting and crocheting groups, members of the Sea Purls realized an opportunity to share with others their love for knitting. The group partnered with the Sussex County Department of Libraries to select and purchase a variety of pattern, idea and instruction books to be placed in local libraries.

The books will be distributed among the 11 independent community libraries and three County owned facilities, and available for checkout to anyone with an active Delaware library card. The books will be available later this month.

“We thank the Sea Purls for this generous donation, and we applaud them for their community-mindedness and desire to share a time-honored craft with anyone who wants to learn,” County Librarian Kathy Graybeal said. “Public libraries are a vital community resource, even in this technological time. It’s through individuals and groups like the Sea Purls, and their generosity, that libraries will continue to be centers of knowledge and culture now and for generations to come.”

The donation is the latest work of good deeds by the Sea Purls. Beginning in 2006 as a small group of avid knitters, the Sea Purls now have a membership of more than 70 women who have donated hand-knitted caps to patients at the Tunnell Cancer Center near Lewes, as well as knitted hats and squares for soldiers as part of the Afghans for Soldiers project.

The group meets the first Wednesday of every month at the Sussex County Senior Services/CHEER Community Center in Georgetown, where members share knowledge and advice, as well as take part in classes offered by professional teachers. Group members travel to festivals and yarn shops in surrounding states, and take part each June in the World Wide Knit in Public Day, when they knit on the Boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach, answer questions and encourage people to sit and give knitting a try.

To learn more about the Sea Purls, contact SeaPurls@yahoo.com. Knitters from novices to experts are welcome.

In addition to the Sea Purls, there are several informal knitting groups that meet at various libraries throughout Sussex County. To find out more about these groups or to attend one of their sessions, contact the following libraries:

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