Dianna Mair, right, of Rogers, teaches Kathryn Clevenger, 6, of Bella Vista, to spin wool fibers into yarn on a spinning wheel Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009, at KnitWicks in downtown Rogers.

Today I made my way to Rogers in search of a feature photo for Monday’s newspaper. Sunday feature photo searches can be difficult, especially when it is colder and fewer people are outside enjoying the weather and being active. So when I discovered last week that a local fiber arts store, KnitWicks, held free classes on Sundays beginning at 1 p.m., I thought it would make a great feature photo of area residents learning to knit. When I arrived there were people spinning their own yarn from fiber and a little girl was learning the process. This made for a nice cute photo and I was ready to be on my way after trying a little spinning myself. In case you were ever wondering, it is much harder than it looks.

Just as I was making for the door, a gentleman stopped me and said there was someone knitting in the back that would like to talk to me. So I walked to the back of the shop where five ladies sat on couches knitting and talking. Here I met Linda Chick, who was relaxed on the couch knitting a sweater for her Sunshine Sweater Project. Linda told me that her grandson had graduated from the
Benton County Sunshine School, a school for children in the area with special needs, and she had noticied that some children that attended the school did not have warm clothes for cold days like today. So she started the Sunshine Sweater Project, making sweaters for the kids. Last year she gave the school 11 sweaters and hopes to increase that number this year with help from the community. Linda said she would accept any kind of sweater as long as it is machine washable. For more information on how you can help call Linda Chick at (479) 544-4910.