Knitting: It’s not just 
for grandmas anymore

  Leon Cusson was just sitting in a corner minding his own business while his car was being serviced. A lady walked up to him and said, “Could you explain what I’m doing wrong with my circular needle?”

Cusson looked up from his knitting and patiently explained to her what she needed to do. Such interactions happen all the time when Cusson knits in public.

A retired computer analyst, the Buford resident has been knitting and crochetting for over 30 years.

“He started when he was working with all these women at the airport who knitted, said his wife, Sarah.

“There were 25 high speed terminals, all operated by women. I provided instruction and did all of the problem solving for them. During their break, they all would knit, so I asked them to teach me how,” said Cusson.

Cusson and his wife have five children and seven grandchildren and he knits, crochets, embroiders and cross-stitches for all of them. He cross-stitched Christmas stockings for his grandchildren and he and his wife embroidered matching denim shirts for themselves.

Last year for the Buford Middle School Rock-a-thon, a fundraising activity in which the kids rocking the night away in rocking chairs, Cusson knit the prizes—school spirit scarves in gold and green. His daughter and granddaughter, a student at Buford Middle School , proudly sport the matching gold and green ponchos he made for them.

Cusson has made afghans for every member of his extended family and enjoys knitting for charity. He’s made dozens of afghans for Tiny Stitches, an organization that provides layettes for needy mothers and burial outfits for parents who lose their babies. And he’s not particularly nit-picky about his supplies. He’ll create with any yarn that’s cast his way, including a cone of yarn intended for making car seats, which he turned into a feathery soft baby afghan. Cusson designs as he goes along, often putting patterns on a spreadsheet to make maximum use of scraps and oddball colors.

Last March, he held celebrity status at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo at the Gwinnett Convention Center . “I didn’t think it was a big deal, but people kept coming by to see the man knitting,” he said with a shrug.

The Sewing Expo will return to the Convention Center this week from March 9-11 with activities and exhibits right down Cusson’s alley. Hands-on studio classes include Bon Bon Cushions, Sewing for Rookies, Entrelac Knitting, On the Double Knit Scarves, and What’s in the Bag?

Cusson won’t be teaching any of them. He’ll just be sitting there knitting at the Tiny Stitches booth next to the afghan he made for the raffle. But if you’re having a problem getting your stitches straight on your circular needle, just ask him. People do it all the time. (Info: www.sewingexpo.com )

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