WARREN — Lisa Bockelman, president of the Witty Knitters guild, loves knitting because it can either be “incredibly relaxing” or “wildly challenging,” depending on the project.

“All knitting is just two sticks, a piece of string, and variations of either knit or purl stitch. That’s it — so simple, but from there you can learn literally hundreds of techniques, styles and thousands of stitch patterns,” Bockleman, of Mecca, said.

The Witty Knitters, a roughly 20-member group of local knitting enthusiasts, meets monthly to provide education and resources to knitters to advance their mastery of the craft — which is the same mission as the national guild, the Knitting Guild Association, Bockelman said.

“More simply stated, the Witty Knitters are all about learning, sharing, charity, and friendship,” said Bonnie Hood, the Knitters’ charity chairperson.

Hood, of Girard, said while she isn’t sure when the guild began, she knows that many of the women have been friends for “many years.”

Members work on individual projects from washcloths to colorwork sweaters. Some are experts and others beginners, and all the knitters learn from each other, Hood said.

They gather together to show off completed work, swap patterns or to seek advice on projects. Plus, every month’s meeting has a program — most recently was “Improving your yarn IQ,” about how fiber choice affects knitting results, and a pop-up shop by Knit Wit Knits, a local yarn store. The topic for Jan. 24 will be “Types of cast-ons and cast-offs,” and will feature a trunk show by another local yarn store, Gwen Erin Natural Fibers.

“Serious knitters love shopping for yarn and can’t resist touching and squeezing a skein of soft yarn as they imagine what they can make with it,” Hood said.

The group also works charity projects. The guild collects hats for children at each meeting for its year-round “Caps for Kids” project. Members get to enter their name in the guild’s prize box for each hat they donate, and at the end of the year gift certificates and gifts are drawn, Hood said.

Through the effort, the group has donated hundreds of hats to school children in Warren, McDonald and Maplewood elementary schools; to newborns through hospitals or Bella Women’s Center; and to Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley, Warren Family Mission, Emmanuel Care Center and Ruth’s Closet in Girard.

The group also recently made red scarves for Foster Care to Success, a program that supports college-age young adults who just left the foster care system.

“I personally feel very proud to deliver our knit items. I told the members that they are the ones who do all the work, and I get to have the fun,” Hood said.

She said it is always rewarding to give a homemade gift and that knitting in general is a rewarding hobby.

“It’s interesting to watch a ball of yarn turn into something special,” Hood said.

She said her mother used to knit slippers and afghans but never taught her. Hood started teaching herself as a teen with an ambitious first project: a sweater. She had to ask for help when she got stuck, but she was ultimately proud of the result.

Bockleman said that people may devote a lifetime to the craft of knitting, but there is always something new to learn or a way to branch out. Knitting lead Bockleman to take an interest in spinning, and she has learned to process raw fleece and prepare the fiber to spin into her own yarn.

She said many other knitters also crochet, dye yarns, felt or weave.

“It’s quite a gateway to other obsessions,” Bockleman said.

Her advice for anyone intersted in learning to knit is “be patient with yourself.”

“It can feel awkward and impossible at first,” she said. “Give yourself permission to be a beginner and be bad at things! It’s the only way to really have fun at learning something new.”

Bockleman invited anyone who is interested in knitting to attend a meeting. Witty Knitters meets at 6 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month at Living Lord Lutheran Church on Niles Cortland Road. The guild can be reached at wittyknittersguild.com.