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The clicking of knitting needles provided a rhythm to accompany the chorus of voices.

Ten women were gathered Monday night in the dimly lit backroom of Epilogue Book Co. For that night, they had everything in common despite their diverse backgrounds and span of ages.

Outside, people had to rub their hands to stay warm, and speaking created clouds of steam. Inside, it was warm, and laps were covered with scarves and blankets in varied stages of creation.

Since as long as the women can remember, there had been a group such as this in Steamboat. Women have always met once a week to knit and to talk -- not necessarily in that order.

If there was a beginning, perhaps it was in the rocking chairs that Barbara Green kept in her shop, the Yarn Yard. After her husband's death in 1977, Green opened a yarn shop at 735 Oak St., in the red house that is home to B-Wear Action Products.

"She was a strong influence," Roxanne Moore said. "Every Thursday for 15 years, I went there for lunch. My daughter was practically born there."

Joann Gilroy laughed. "I loved to sit in those rocking chairs when I was pregnant," she said.

Every Thursday, women gathered to knit in the Yarn Yard, most bringing brown-bag lunches.

"You could go in anytime for lessons," Moore said. "You could just go to sit down and talk and by the time you left, you knew how to knit."

Green closed the shop in July 1996 and died months later. She was 80.

Women continued to meet and knit at Mocha Molly's Coffee Saloon on Lincoln Avenue and then moved to the Stitchin' Den on the same street until it closed this spring.

The knitting group that meets every Monday at Epilogue was formed this summer by Nadine Harrach. Harrach taught most of the younger women in the group how to knit.

"She always makes you feel good, no matter what you made," Mary Dixon said.

The latest incarnation of Steamboat knitting group has come an infusion of new blood.

A group of five women in their mid-20s, most of whom moved to town in the past three months, begin every Monday evening with margaritas at the Cantina. At 7 p.m., they cross the street with handbags full of yarn to sit for the rest of the evening and knit.

Heather Johnson, 24, started knitting last spring. She moved to Steamboat three weeks ago and heard about the knitting group through her friend's roommate.

"I've been here three Mondays in a row," Johnson said. "It's a great way to meet people."

Every Monday, the group is a different social mix, Roxi Miles said. "You meet so many people because they just drop in.

"Last week, a boy came to the group to learn how to knit. He said that his friends were all knitting at recess."

Mary Williamson, an administrative assistant at Whiteman Primary School, confirmed the rumor. Next week, the school is starting an official knitting and crocheting club in response to the recent phenomenon.

It started with a middle-school-aged student and snowboarder named Matt Ladley.

"He came to school crocheting a hat to wear when he snowboards," Williamson said. "Soon, the other students started catching on."

Whiteman students, mostly boys, were knitting and crocheting at recess and during class.

The student council decided to have a designated time Tuesdays during recess for a knitting club. They chose parent Jodee Anderson as their volunteer club facilitator.

The knitting and crocheting club is open to students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

"I'm anxious to see who shows up," Williamson said. "I think they really enjoy the end result of having a knit cap."

Whatever it is that attracts people to knitting, its growing popularity in Steamboat is part of a trend across the country.

The number of knitters and crocheters younger than 35 has increased 400 percent since 1998, according to the Craft Yarn Council of America.

That is why women such as Miles, who has been knitting for 48 years, are hanging out with a younger crowd, including 25-year-old Tracy Penner, who started knitting afghans last winter out of boredom.

Penner moved to Steamboat two months ago and is part of the margaritas-and-knitting girls-night-out group.

Penner and Chancie Gall, 23, went to high school together in Montana before moving to Steamboat.

"I've been going to knitting group every Monday night for a month and a half," Gall said. She tried to learn how to knit last winter at the Stitchin' Den but really learned how to knit after she started attending the Epilogue group.

"I like to knit because you can customize your own stuff," Gall said. "You go to (an outdoor store) to get a hat and it costs $18, but you can buy a skein of yarn for $5 and make it the way you want."

-- To reach Autumn Phillips call 871-4210 or e-mail aphillips@steamboatpilot.com