Knit fit.

Is knitting the new yoga?

What once was assumed the province of the geriatric crowd has captured the interest of young women--thanks to new yarn styles that make knitted garments look less like your grandmother's scarf, according to Lisa Garcia, manager of The Knot Garden, a knitting and crochet supply store in Sherman Oaks.

"The new thing in the last couple years is fashion yarns," Garcia said. "Especially the people designing for the European mills are making more innovative yarns that are prettier, softer, more varied and have all different textures."

Anna Branson, a 26-year-old makeup artist, started knitting a year ago to pass the down time on the set. "'I was so excited to find this thing to do," said Branson, who stocks up on supplies and gets tips weekly at Suss Design, a West Hollywood knitting shop. "It lets me be creative, and it's fun to make something I can wear. It's insane how many people are into it now in the film industry."

Suss Cousins, owner of Suss Design, made her mark as knitter to the stars when she started making sweaters for Bill Cosby in the late 1980s. In 1992, she opened her Beverly Boulevard shop, where she sells knitted clothing, knitting supplies--including her own line of fashion yarn--and teaches knitting.

Cousins herself knitted 250 quirky sweaters worn in the Jim Carrey film "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and the rough-hewn, post-apocalyptic sweaters worn by Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne in "The Matrix" films.

Cousins saw business at her store triple after the terrorist attacks in 2001. "All the classes filled up and we sold out of yam and knitting equipment," she said.