Knitting has increased in popularity among American teens in recent years, thanks in part to athletes and actors who openly practice the craft. Even young men are getting tangled up in the activity: Professional snowboarders Luke Mitrani, 14, and Michael Goldschmidt, 17, knitted so many tassel hats that they decided to start a company to sell them.

Girls outnumbered boys by about 3 to 1 at the April 5 inaugural meeting of Bret Harte's club, but all comers seemed equally enthusiastic. Guest speaker Lisa Thornquist put knitting into historical perspective, telling the students that it used to be a paying profession and, therefore, the province of men. That changed with the Industrial Revolution, when machines were developed to do the profitable knitting and women started to practice the craft at home.

Even armed with this knowledge, some preteen boys have trouble dealing with the taunting that may occur when they pick up a pair of knitting needles.

One boy who attended the meeting at Bret Harte chose to leave the knitting club after his peers teased him about his new hobby.

"He wanted to make a baby blanket for his sister," said faculty adviser Nell Kelley. "The kids ribbed him so much that he decided not to stay in the club."

Other students gave a variety of reasons for joining the knitting club.

"I bite my nails too much, so I need to keep my hands busy," said seventh-grader Milys Winslow, 12. "I can teach my friends to knit instead of playing video games."

"I'm bored most of the time," said seventh-grader Ahjali Davis, 12. "I need to do something besides watch TV. I want to make something for my baby cousin."

Ahjali said her grandmother knitted clothes for her when she was a baby, adding that many women of her grandmother's generation learned to knit when they were young. "They didn't have TV."

Milys said she's more interested in making gifts for her friends and family than in knitting clothes for herself.

"Lots of people in my family knit," she added. "They make really cool stuff."

Kelley said she's asked the knitting club to make scarves for children with cancer.

"I want the kids to knit for other kids and not just for themselves," added the teacher. "They really want to learn how to do this."

Kelley said knitting has changed a lot since she first took it up years ago.

"What's neat is the variety of yarns," she added.

The teacher cited one type of yarn that's used to make berets and purses because it resembles felt after it's been washed.

"It doesn't even look like knitting," she marveled. "Years ago it used to be homemade-looking."

The knitting needles Kelley handed out to club members were distinctly homemade-looking, fashioned as they were out of wooden chopsticks.

"I sanded them and put mineral oil on them," Kelley said. "You've got to make do."