The click-clack of knitting needles and the murmur of "I'll just finish this row'' echoed through the Dunedin Public Art Gallery on Saturday.
About 30 knitters attended an event at the gallery to mark World Knit in Public Day.
Knitters ranged in age from 22 to 93 and projects from bed blankets to pint-sized stuffed animals.
Abigail Kirkwood, of Portobello, said she did not take up knitting until she was in her 60s.
"My mother was so good, she would always swipe the needles from me and do it better,'' she laughed.
Mrs Kirkwood was knitting a hoodie to be sold at the SPCA Op Shop because she was "animal mad.''
"At home I am making a wee hedgehog but he was too delicate to bring here.''
Dunedin Hospice nurse Christine Hardisty said knitting groups were integral to the lives of many people who lived on their own.
"It is just really good in that people come out and can be socially active.''
The therapeutic quality of knitting was also of importance to Mel Palmer, who has multiple sclerosis.
Mrs Palmer attended the event with her friend Neroli Baird, who is legally blind, and both woman agreed knitting kept them busy and happy.
Mrs Palmer said knitting kept her hands "moving''.
"I can have tension tremors and I have trouble opening jars.
"I used to do bead work but I can't now, so the MS Society put me on to knitting.
"Now I can't sit in front of the TV without knitting needles in my hands.''
World Knit in Public Day is the largest knitter-run event in the world, its Facebook page says.
