Six women sit happily knitting in a bright, airy sunroom at the Oak Leaf Manor retirement home last week.

These members of the Knit Wits group from St. Edward's Episcopal Church come for the kinship, and to get some work done on the prayer shawls, caps, scarves and blankets they lovingly handcraft and give away to those in need of a little warm-and-fuzzy comfort.

These women, most of whom are in their 70s, don't live at Oak Leaf, in Landisville. But they've come to visit with Dolly, who does.

At age 100, Dolly Carter is the group's oldest member. She can't get out to the group's regular meetings, held the first and third Tuesdays of the month at St. Edward's. So the Knit Wits come to her, on the fifth Tuesday of the month, if there is one.

 "We come to party with Dolly," jokes Carol Hopwood, who visits her frequently.

As she usually does, Hopwood brings along her therapy dog, Maggie, a golden retriever, who after some initial nuzzling curls up on the floor for a nap.

Carter still knits but not while the group is there; the animated conversation is too distracting.

"She doesn't want to miss any of the gossip," Hopwood says with a chuckle.

In addition to Carter, Hopwood (and Maggie), the others seated in the circle are: R.B. Mullineaux, Bev Hess, Sandy Costa, Sue Bianco and Jo Anna Hebberger, one of the group's experts who designs her own patterns and helps the others.

Carter, a parishioner at St. Edward's, started knitting for Knit Wits after the group gave her a prayer shawl after her husband died.

The Knit Wits, one of several such groups in Lancaster County, evolved about four years ago from a church knitting group that met in the evenings.

Since then they've turned out numerous shawls, stoles, caps, baby blankets, hats for Head Start students, and scarves for the homeless. The pieces are blessed at the church and distributed by "word of mouth," says Hopwood. Items have gone around the country and as far as Europe, she adds.

Hess tells the story about how one local woman seeking a prayer shawl for her dying daughter-in-law did an Internet search and turned up a knitting group in New England, which contacted a St. Edward's Knit Wits member.

"How the women in New England got one of our Knit Wit members here we have no idea," she says. "It was divine intervention, we feel."

Hess has been surprised by the number of thank you cards the group has received from recipients.

Up to 20 knitters have shown up at meetings, or they work on items at home, according to Hopwood.

It's as therapeutic for the knitters as it is comforting for the receivers.

"This is where the stress leaves," says Costa. "You're centered and hunkered down with the best people I know."

The group's get-togethers take priority on her calendar. "Knitting for me is a must-do," she adds.

For Bianco, the Knit Wits are "my support group. They're our mental health group. This keeps us sane. It's a great group. We have a good time."