The cold, long and gray month of February is a good reason to bundle up. Here are some people working on projects to stay warm, keep others warm, and be sociable with the fiber arts - knitting, crocheting and blanket making.

Project Linus

Monique Sluymers coordinates the Ann Arbor chapter of Project Linus, a national organization which makes blankets for children in need of warmth and comfort. The local chapter was organized in December 2009 and it has already put together more than just blankets, with donations being sent to Mott Children's Hospital, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and projects in Haiti.

A group of fifth graders in Rose Giacherio’s class at Eberwhite School has been involved in the project, according to the Ann Arbor Public Schools News Service. They put together 13 blankets and made scarves from the scraps for the Delonis Center.

Arbor Hospice blanket project

A group of Ann Arbor Public Schools bus drivers have organized a blanket project for Arbor Hospice. "We were all just sitting around the table one day, and usually in the winter time we do a lot of crocheting," said Lenette Mallory, who has been a bus driver for 11 years. "One lady said maybe we should just all crochet and donate to hospice. We thought that was a great idea, so she made a flier asking if anybody wanted to donate squares. The next day we had about 30 crocheted squares on the table."

Knitting Olympics

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who writes and knits as the Yarn Harlot, has organized a Knitting Olympics challenge. The task is to knit a complete sweater in the 17 days of the Olympics; she has signed up 4,044 competitors.

Stephanie, a Canadian, has been to Ann Arbor a number of times to speak at the Ann Arbor District Library. Her 2007 visit drew crowds from as far away as Kalamazoo, and the library has a video of her 2008 talk online.

Events

If you're interested in getting together with other local knitters, there are regular Ann Arbor knitting meetups organized via Meetup.com.

The Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild has an annual "Fiber Feast" show to display the textiles of their members.

There's a comprehensive calendar of knitting events run by Knitter's Review, in case you want to work your next vacation around knitting tourism.

Knitting bloggers

Kate Remen-Wait's weblog Four Obsessions includes this dignified fish hat in both grownup and kid sizes.

Edward Vielmetti wears knitted clothing for AnnArbor.com. Contact him at edwardvielmetti@annarbor.com.