The knitting craze is far from over. Just ask Blacksburg's Margaret Radcliffe, whose new book, "The Knitting Answer Book," is one of the many how-to-knit guides hitting bookstore shelves.

The book, a chunky reference guide that bills itself as the print version of a 24-hour hotline for knitters, recently was released by Storey Publishing ($14.95).

It includes diagrams of common knitting techniques and covers all manner of knitting issues, presenting them in a question-and-answer format.

"Especially after 9/11, there was the feeling that people wanted to get back to home crafts," said Radcliffe, 50, who works days as manager of Virginia Tech's Center for Coal and Energy Research. "I know I started cooking real meals for my family again."

Knitting appeals to home crafters, she said, because it "gives you a lot of breadth for expression. There's a rhythmic, meditative quality to it, and you've got the colors and the textures so it's aesthetic, too."

The best way to learn to knit is to have a friend teach you, Radcliffe added. Lacking a knitter friend, a local yarn store is a great place for taking classes.

Radcliffe, who lectures regularly at knitting conferences, said she knits in doctor's offices, on airplanes and, once, in the pre-op room of a local hospital ("to calm me down") just before going under anesthesia.

She'll talk about knitting and sign copies of her book from 5 to 7 tonight at Volume II Bookstore in Blacksburg's University Mall. You're welcome to knit while she talks and ask questions, too.

-- Beth Macy