‘Knitting Behind Bars’ weaves an unlikely fraternity

A Maryland woman’s weekly prison class for men is in high demand. She says knitting has a calming effect.

Lynn Zwerling helps an inmate during her weekly “Knitting Behind Bars” program at the Maryland prison system’s Pre-Release Unit in Jessup. (Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun / October 27, 2011)

Reporting from Jessup, Md.—

Lynn Zwerling speaks of knitting the way others talk about yoga or long distance running or even particularly potent cocktails. It’s life-changing, she’ll say. Mind-altering. Zen.The Columbia, Md., retiree doesn’t care whether she’s making a hat, a sweater or a scarf. It’s just the way she loses herself in the lightly clicking needles, plush wool and repetitive motion.Zwerling, 67, took up knitting after retiring from selling cars, quickly becoming an evangelist, more enthusiastic than skilled. She started a knitting group that swelled to nearly 500 members, and then — surprising everyone she knew — she announced that she wanted to teach men in jail how to knit.

“I thought I could give a calming influence to people who really need this,” she said. “I’m not a social worker. I’m not an educator. But I thought what it takes to do knitting are skills vital to human existence — setting goals, completing a project, giving to somebody else.”