CHATSWORTH : ‘Knit-a-Thon’ Aids Victims of Midwest Floods

The women and men making baby blankets, shawls and sweaters had to shout above the noisy whir of a handful of knitting machines.

As workers pulled plastic handles across the machines, adding rows of patterns quicker than even a superhuman hand-knitter could do, Jackie Gilmer struggled to be heard.

Gilmer was talking about floods.

The 60-year-old Northridge woman lived through a 1937 Ohio River flood, among others.

“They’re not really a lot of fun,” she said. “Everything has to be thrown out. If it is saturated with that mud, you’re in trouble.”

Last week, Gilmer and about 25 others made sure a few of the victims of recent flooding in the Midwest will be able to replace at least some of the things they lost.

The retired postal worker participated in a six-hour “Knit-a-Thon” to benefit victims of the recent Midwest floods.

Florence Bishop, 75-year-old owner of Bishop’s Yarn & Knitting Machines Inc., Gilmer and other shop regulars completed 89 knitted items before the event.

By Saturday afternoon, with the help of experienced and first-time knitters, 112 pieces were ready to be shipped to Missouri.

Mary Mavridis, 70, drove 132 miles from Apple Valley to visit her friend Bishop and help the flood victims.

She sat at one of the knitting machines building row after row on a dark blue shawl.

Bishop doesn’t know anyone affected by the floods, but said she figured they needed help more than anyone else right now.

“There are not many people who have devastation like that,” said Bishop, whose shop holds a Knit-a-Thon each October for different charities.

Forty-eight people were killed and more than 46,000 had their homes damaged in this summer’s floods. Swollen rivers did billions of dollars in damage as they flooded more than 23,500 square miles of land.