The Knitting & LaceMaking Cottage

The Knitting & LaceMaking Cottage is a
remodeled Share Cropper’s home built in the 1800’s over one
hundred year ago. It is in the upper foothills of South Carolina.
We found hand hued beams in the framing. and logs in the
wall. Termites had taken a toll on the old Cottage. It had gone
through shady dealings and rough times during the Great
Depression. Several elderly resident shave revisited the
remodeled cottage with smiles on their faces and stories to tell.
They shared their memories of sadness and laughter of their
childhood. It was left untouched for decades as a two room
home with a fireplace in the center.
A third room was added on in the early 1900’s. They got their
water from a spring in the back of the house. The outhouse
was in the woods. In or around the 1930’s two more rooms
were added making it a five room cottage. Later a well was
dug to the upper side of the house. The well has long caved in
with trees growing over the site.
We purchased 24 acres of land with the house in 1973 We
used the cottage for storage while we built our home. Later
Lorraine and Bob moved the business called "Country Cottage
Ceramic and Craft " into the cottage in 1981. It had no running
water and you still had to go out into the woods to the
outhouse. As life changed, Lorraine went back to school and
the Cottage went back to storage. The roof leaked and the
cottage was decaying. Day after day we had to pass the rotting
cottage, for our driveway went past it to our new home.
Lorraine had always thought of repairing the Cottage and
turning it into a place to spin, weave, and knit. One early
summer morning as the she was on her way to work Lorraine
looked back at the forlorn dilapidated Cottage, she prayed,
“Oh my Lord please help me with the little cottage. I do not
want it to rot away.” As she turned her head to look one more
time as she pulled out of the driveway, she felt a voice inside
her that said expect a miracle. Lorraine thought yes it will take
a miracle to fixed that cottage. But the feeling was great
Expect a miracle. Lorraine thought about this for several day.
One evening Lorraine asked her husband if they could repair
the cottage. Expecting him to say No it was yes! within 3.5
months the Cottage was remodeled and had become, The
Knitting & LaceMaking Cottage.
In Dec1997 Roz Porter had stopped her MK Club meeting
in her home and January 1998 the first “At the Knit Cottage
Machine Knitter’s Club meeting begun. The Knit Cottage
was filled with Knitting and laughter and has continued. Many
have found their way to the Cottage, from Russia, France,
Oregon, Canada, Chili, Mexico and Africa to name a few. “We
have enjoyed learning and meeting our Machine Knitting
friends.” We hope one day you will visit us too.