Knitting Brigade at Gurdwara Mata Sahib Kaur in Glen Cove finds kinship while helping needy

On the second and fourth Friday of every month, the library at Gurdwara Mata Sahib Kaur in Glen Cove buzzes with the sounds of metal knitting needles clicking and women chatting amiably.

These are the women of the Knitting Brigade, a group of about 10 seniors, some of whom are members of the temple — commonly known as the Glen Cove Sikh gurdwara — and others who share the love of knitting and crocheting for a good cause.

Ami Walia, who founded the group 10 years ago, said she chose the name because the members are a dedicated group on a mission to provide some handmade warmth to veterans, the homeless and others in need. Over the past decade, they have donated 4,000 to 5,000 lap blankets, plus other knit goods, Walia estimated.

Members of the Knitting Brigade feel a great deal of satisfaction, said Walia, a retired psychologist in her 70s who lives in Glen Cove.

“We love the camaraderie, social contact and giving back to the community, albeit in a small way,” Walia said.

Indra Puri, who has been with the group almost since it began, said she finds it fulfilling to knit for people in need.

“We knit with love, and that love also starts to build up amongst the ladies,” said Puri, 72, who is retired from running her own convenience stores and lives in Roslyn Heights.

“You’re knitting for the veterans, and that gives you great satisfaction,” Puri said. “You feel very happy inside that you’re doing something good. You feel blessed. I feel blessed all the time.”

Walia said the idea for a knitting group was inspired by her son, Nick, and his experience in New York City a decade ago on a cold January day.

“He said it was so cold, he couldn’t even come out of the car, and he saw some people sleeping with cardboard,” Walia recalled. “He came home and said, ‘Can you sew me some blankets?’ ”

What followed were discussions about who should get the blankets, she said.

“After all the discussions, I said, ‘I will do it for the veterans who are homeless,’ ” Walia said.

But she was not thrilled with the prospect of knitting alone, which Walia said can be a somewhat lonely and tedious activity, so she asked her temple if she could use the library for a new charitable knitting group.

“It started with me and the priest’s wife — just the two of us,” she said. “The group grew to about 25 to 30 people over time.”

But their number has dwindled: several members have died, some moved away, while others stopped driving, Walia said.

“So the group has become very small, eight or 10 sometimes,” she said. “But we still meet, and we still give a lot of stuff away.”

About half of the women are members of the temple, while others got wind of the brigade via word of mouth.

“They hear about our group and they come and join,” Walia said. “And anybody’s welcome.”

Over the years, Walia said, she has delivered blankets and other knit goods to various veterans’ homes and centers, such as the Glen Cove Veterans Affairs Office, as well as the New Life Christian Center in Hempstead and St. Peter of Alcantara Roman Catholic Church in Port Washington, where they distribute items to veterans and the homeless. Often their deliveries occur on Veterans Day or during the colder months, when they’re needed most, said Walia, adding that the group has also donated blankets and baby sweaters for premature infants to various centers on the Island.

‘We’re learning to knit’

Whenever possible, Walia tries to donate their handiwork directly, partly because she prefers the personal approach to giving. Typically, she said, three or four of the women will go together to hand their knit and crocheted creations to the beneficiaries, telling them they shouldn’t feel like this is charity.

“We always say, ‘This is a gift for you, and we’re learning to knit, and we would like you to enjoy it,’ ” Walia said.

At the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook, to which they have donated a couple of times over the years, many residents’ beds are adorned with the brigade’s blankets, when they’re not in use covering the laps of men and women in wheelchairs, according to Michelle Cheslak, the facility’s director of therapeutic recreation.

The veterans often express their gratitude for the knitters’ kindnesses, said Cheslak.

“You know what the most important part is? The veterans — they feel recognized by the community and not forgotten. They always enjoy getting donations, especially handmade blankets,” said Cheslak. “And they come so nicely: the design, the technique. And they put a little ribbon around the blankets. A lot of time and effort — you can tell — has gone into these blankets.”

Soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the brigade donated more than 300 blankets, plus hats, gloves, scarves and socks, to Saint Josaphat’s Monastery in Glen Cove, Walia said.

“The priest said, ‘We’re sending stuff tomorrow if you want to come,’ ” Walia recalled. “It was late at night, it was snowing. . . . People were hurting and they needed the stuff, so we sent it. We thought if it keeps them warm — whatever helps. I just prayed that things would get to them. That’s all you can hope for.”

For his part, Giani Paramjit Singh, priest of the Glen Cove gurdwara, said he has been proud to facilitate the brigade for the past 10 years.

“I love that these women, through a charitable program, uphold a Sikh’s prime mission — to help the community, irrespective of caste and creed,” Singh said. “Our religion teaches serving unfortunate people without any ego or gain, and that is every Sikh’s first responsibility.”

Knit one, socialize two

At the knitting sessions, the women take notes on the other knitters’ techniques, learning new and challenging patterns and broadening their own knitting repertoires.

Some of them had very little experience, and they turn to the more experienced in the group for guidance.

“We teach each other. We help each other and we learn from each other,” Walia said, adding that the women also work on their knitting at home.

Besides the task at hand, the brigade serves as a stimulating social group, where the women talk about their families, share recipes and engage in lively discussions. They drink tea, but only after they do some stretching and deep breathing exercises. Each month, Walia said she bakes a cake to celebrate that month’s birthdays.

“We talk about everything and anything: religion, anything,” said Walia, noting that they converse in English, Punjabi and Hindi.

Though she learned how to knit in her native India, Puri said she hadn’t done it for about 50 years when she took it up again when her grandchildren were born.

“I got introduced to Ami’s group, and I loved it,” Puri said.

Sitting by yourself knitting is not nearly as enjoyable, Puri said.

“We have a very beautiful group of ladies,” she said. “We sit, we knit, we talk, we share beautiful moments of our lives, problems, laughing. We educate, we get educated through each other.”

Added Puri, “It’s like yoga: You concentrate, good thoughts come to your mind, you feel satisfied, it relieves the stress.”

A member of the Sikh temple, Baljeet Hira, said she has been knitting for about five years with the brigade.

“Knitting/crocheting is my hobby to start with,” said Hira, 79, a retired biology professor who lives in Roslyn Heights. “A friend mentioned her group, so I just went there. Ami is a very warm lady, so I said I’ll join.”

Hira said she looks forward to the biweekly sessions and enjoys spending time in the company of her fellow knitters.

“We have very nice discussions when we’re sitting together,” said Hira, adding that she was happy to donate blankets to Ukraine as well as to other charitable causes. “Anywhere you go where people need something that you give makes you feel very good about yourself.”

As for the next 10 years — and beyond — Walia hopes the brigade gains momentum.

“We have more to share and more to enjoy together, so we’re looking for more members to join us,” Walia said. “They don’t have to even know how to knit or crochet. We’ll teach.”