Knit in Public in West Hartford Center on June 14, 2025.

Nancy Ball, the founder of the First Church Creative Crafters, with some of her hand-knit creations which were on display in the John P. Webster Library Gallery in 2024. Photo credit: Amy Melvin

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Join the First Church Creative Crafters group for Worldwide Knit in Public Day (WWKiPDAY) on Saturday June 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the outdoor labyrinth on the front lawn of First Church at 12 South Main St.

Bring a chair and a knitting or crocheting project and enjoy a glass of lemonade as we knit and crochet together. No registration required and participants may join for a few minutes or a few hours!

“We started our weekly Creative Crafters group at First Church for members and friends to share creative ideas, do their crafts in a social setting, and as a casual way to connect with our church friends,” said Nancy Ball, a long-time church member and knitter who spearheaded the formation of Creative Crafters with Jane Cave, and thought it would be fun to bring it outdoors on the WWKiPDAY.

Many of the First Church crafters have knit prayer shawls or baptismal shawls that are presented to members and friends in need of extra love from the church. They have also made tiny knit hats for the premature babies in NICU units in area hospitals.

WWKiPDAY was started in 2005 by Danielle Landes as a way for knitters to come together and enjoy each other’s company and takes place on the second Saturday of June each year. This is a specific day to get out of your house and go to a local event (with your knitting in tow) just for you and people like you.

According to the WWKiP Day Facebook page, this is a unique event, in that it’s the largest knitter run event in the world. Each local event is put together by a volunteer or a group of volunteers. They each organize an event because they want to, not because they have to do it. They bring their own fresh ideas into planning where the event should be held, and what people would like to do.  If it weren’t for these volunteer hosts, WWKiP Day would still just be an idea.

WWKiP Day is really about showing the general public that knitting can be a community activity in a very distinct way. Each year more and more groups organize knitting events all across the globe, some lasting the entire second week of June.

At the First Church event on June 14, donations of non-perishable food will be collected for the West Hartford Food Pantry. In the event of foul weather please check the website: whfirstchurch.org for updates. There is a free parking lot behind the church which can be accessed via Farmington Avenue.

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