HOLLYWOOD YARN; A CADRE OF STARS HELP PUT KNITTING BACK ON THE LIST OF COOL THINGS TO DO.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

Daryl Hannah is doing it. So are Julia Roberts, Hilary Swank, Julianne Moore and Cameron Diaz. Even Monica Lewinsky. And just what thing are these celebs doing - skydiving, exotic exercise techniques, oriental mud baths?

Not exactly. Let Hannah, the star of ``Splash,'' ``Roxanne'' and the upcoming ``Hearts and Bones,'' explain her new enthusiasm: ``There's something very meditative about the repetitive quality of knitting.''

You read that right. Knitting, once considered the nerdiest, most old ladyish of crafts, is the butt of jokes once again. Only now the quips are being printed in Time magazine and Entertainment Weekly, and they're about how many people - young and old, male and female, famous and infamous - can't get their fill of this ``knit one, purl two'' stuff.

``It's very soothing, like rocking,'' adds Hannah.

Hannah isn't rocking, but she does look calm as she sits in the cramped, yarn-saturated work area of La Knitterie Parisienne, the Studio City yarn boutique run by knitting-instructor-to-the-stars Edith Eig. Between her hands and dangling from two giant knitting needles is a filmy mass of blue and green yarn and ribbon, which will eventually be a seaweed-inspired scarf, a gift for her mother, who loves the sea.

Like Hannah, so many others - both men and women - are turning to this centuries-old craft for its soothing effect and much more.

Depending on who you ask, knitting can be a tactile workout for surgeons, a stress-reducing worry-beads substitute for the high-strung and, for those who excel at it, a way to earn some extra money. More portable than a painter's canvas, less focus-demanding than a laptop, your half-completed set of booties can be brought into a conference room, an airplane, or a movie theater (provided you use those no-click bamboo needles).

Or even in your trailer before the first take of the day.

``When I'm working on a movie, I can't really read a book while I'm sitting in a makeup chair or getting my hair done,'' says Hannah,.

But there is another reason why knitters hang out at La Knitterie Parisienne and L'Atelier in Santa Monica, stores where the craft is king and the day job of the people practicing it is secondary. They are places where a 29-year-old Beverly Hills nurse can sit next to an 80-year-old grandmother from Valley Village and compare projects and techniques. The two women may have nothing else in common, or they could turn out to be distant relatives. Stranger things could happen when knitters gather.

``It kind of harkens back to a different era,'' says Hannah, ``in that it's a social activity, even though you can do it by yourself.''

Folks who knit together say there is no better bonding experience.

``People talk about anything and everything,'' says Eig. ``I could blackmail people.''

There is even a play, ``Loose Knit'' by Theresa Rebeck, currently playing at the Jewel Box Theatre, that uses that premise, with five actresses interacting with each other while knitting on stage. (Each cast member took knitting lessons with Eig as part of the rehearsal process.)

Of course, people aren't knitting entirely for social reasons. Once you've completed a project, you possess an item that may have cost hundreds of dollars more at a craft boutique or major department store.

Want to know why the Knitting Guild of America has seen its membership skyrocket? Look to the pages of fashion magazines, or even in your local Gap or Banana Republic. The hand-knit look is in, and colors and textures are as varied as ever. People are looking at the product - and at the hefty price tags - and saying, ``I can make that.''

``When I started knitting 20 years ago, you didn't have all the colors and all the fibers,'' says Eig, who operated a store in New Jersey before coming to the West Coast. ``You have all the silk and the fiber, and it has become more affordable to people.''

Besides, making something by hand is the ultimate in cool and personal satisfaction, especially when you can present that sweater/baby blanket/afghan as a gift.

Knitters will talk about the sense of accomplishment that comes with completing a project, of knowing that every fiber of yarn that went into that article of clothing first went through your fingers. There's a special link, they say, forged with the recipient of a hand-knitted item.

On this day, Hannah is at La Knitterie Parisienne with her best friend, Hilary Shepard-Turner, who introduced her to the store. The actress, who hasn't learned the more complicated maneuver of purling (an inversion of stitches to produce a ribbed effect), says she dreams of one day knitting herself a sweater that can perfectly accommodate her long arms. Eig assures her it can be done.

Knitting enthusiasts say they are thrilled at the craft's renaissance and the widespread cultural interest.

At private Waldorf Schools throughout the country - including one in Altadena - instructors teach the craft to enthusiastic first-graders as part of the curriculum. Knitting, school administrators say, teaches mathematics and concentration as well as dexterity.

And the more people who spend an hour poring over patterns at a trendy yarn store, or culling tips from the Craft Yarn Association's Web site, the less likely a centuries-old art - born of family tradition and socialization - will die out.

``Knitting is fabulous,'' says Carol Porter, a former counselor with the Los Angeles Unified School District. ``We live in a complicated world. I don't ever go a day without knitting, and if I didn't do it, I couldn't be responsible for my personality.''

LEARNING HOW TO LOOP

That old cliche about an activity requiring ``a minute to learn, a lifetime to master'' sort of applies to knitting.

You won't find a lot of structured classes, since most people can pick up the basic steps in 10 to 30 minutes. Then it's up to you to practice, practice, practice.

Employees at most retail yarn stores can teach people of all abilities how to knit, often during an informal and unstructured session. Then they'll encourage you to come back to see how you're coming along.

Among the places you can learn:

--A Major Knitwork, 6746 Balboa Blvd., Van Nuys. [phone]. Private lessons are $25 for one hour.

--Happy Hookers' Yarn Center, 21619 Devonshire, Chatsworth, [phone]. Classes are $8 for a two-hour session 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays or 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays. At Happy Hookers' Too, 12514 Magnolia Blvd., Valley Village, [phone], Classes are $8 for the 10 a.m.-to noon-class on Saturday.

--Needle World, 4321 Woodman Ave., Sherman Oaks. [phone]. Lessons are $5 for 30 minutes, no charge with the purchase of materials.

--The Knot Garden, 4526 Saugus Ave., Sherman Oaks, [phone]. If you have never knit before, a two-hour lesson is $25. Otherwise, instruction is free.

--La Knitterie Parisienne, 12642 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. [phone]. Instruction is free if you purchase your supplies at the store.

- Evan Henerson

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Knitting

Celebrities including Daryl Hannah, are getting hip to an old craft

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) Actress Daryl Hannah, who passes time on the set by knitting, is making a scarf at the Studio City shop.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) The colorful yarns with varied textures and designs at such stores as La Knitterie Parisienne in Studio City have helped generate enthusiasm for the pastime.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

(4 -- color) Bettina Swan, left, Sandy Gonor, Ellen Weston and Kerri Randles work on projects at La Knitterie Parisienne. Knitting can be either a solitary or very social hobby.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

(5 -- color) Sandy Gonar works on a sleeve.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

(6) Diane Lublin, left, tries on a knitted wrap with the help of La Knitterie Parisienne owner Edith Eig, right. Eig is known as the knitting instructor to the stars.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

Box: LEARNING HOW TO LOOP (See text)