FLINTON — Kathleen Davis of Glendale Yearound in northern Cambria County believes everyone should know how to knit.

“Knitting is a great skill to have no matter what age,” she said. “It’s a skill that you can use all of your life. It’s one you can pass on to friends and family.”

Davis started knitting when she was just 10, learning from family members who may not have been convinced her interest would last.

But it has, and these days she teaches others to knit in classes at both Michaels arts and crafts stores in Altoona and Johns­town and through Pennsylvania Highlands Community College.

“Knitting has really been a passion all these years,” she said.

Davis said she is seeing more young people learn to knit, and she thinks celebrity knitters may have sparked the interest.

“Anyone can learn,” she said.

“Most become lifetime knitters.”

Davis not only teaches others to knit, but also uses her skill to benefit those in need.

“I believe in paying it forward,” she said.

To that end, she is involved in two charity knitting organizations – Warm Up America and Knots of Love.

Knots of Love places handcrafted (both knitted and crocheted) caps with those who have lost their hair through chemotherapy treatment.

“Their heads are 20 times more sensitive than our heads and it’s very important to have soft yarn,” Davis said. “(The organization) tests every yarn and will send you a list of acceptable yarns.”

The handcrafted hats mean a great deal to cancer patients.

“The thank you notes will break your heart,” she said.

Warm Up America provides blankets as well as hats, mittens and scarves for the less fortunate.

Davis, who is a coordinator for Warm Up America, said the items made here stay here.

They go to any agency or organization that has a need for them.

Volunteers make whole blankets or 7-by-9-inch squares that are then put together by other volunteers.

Davis said donations of yarn also are welcomed.

“It would be super if some church groups would call and say they’d like to help with this,” she said. “My goal this year to to give away a dozen blankets – six in Altoona and six in Johnstown.”

Davis said that although she does not get to meet the recipients, knitting for the needy is very rewarding.

“I think the most important giving is anonymous giving,” she said.

It was her desire to see the programs reach more people that convinced her to teach.

“I was sitting, knitting a chemo cap one time, and I wondered why I couldn’t interest more people in this. I decided the more people I teach to knit, the more I might convince them to do some charitable knitting.”

Davis was born and raised in Altoona.

She is married to Denny Davis and has two daughters and a grandson.

The couple grew up in the same neighborhood but didn’t know each other until he came to the house to tutor her brother.

She was still in high school, but it was love at first sight.

“He was the one and only,” Davis said of her husband.

The couple lived in Blair County, where he taught school and she worked in business and in the hospitality field.

In 1995, they moved to New Jersey and opened a bed and breakfast in a 1906 Victorian.

It took seven months to renovate the house – inside and out.

“It was in pretty bad shape when we bought it,” Davis said.

The couple decorated

– painting and putting up wallpaper.

They built new bathrooms.

It was a lot of work, but they loved everything about the venture.

“It combined everything I loved,” Davis said.

She enjoyed the hospitality end – meeting new people and making them feel at home.

“When you talk to your guests, you find out about occupations you never thought about,” Davis said. “We had a Native American who designed slot machines. Whoever thought about designing slot machines?”

Davis was able to do the things she enjoyed so much

– baking, gardening and decorating – “and you get paid for it.”

She also enjoyed the business end of running the B&B and said she would do it all again “in a heartbeat.”

After seven years, the couple moved back to the area when her husband’s mother became ill. They bought a house near Glendale Lake.

In addition to her charity work and teaching, Davis works from home as a medical transcriptionist.

In her spare time, she enjoys fly-fishing – something she was able to do during a recent trip to Ireland – where she also shopped for Irish yarn.

Traveling is another of Davis’ passions. She has traveled all around the United States and has vacationed in Bermuda and England.

“I’ve always enjoyed traveling,” she said. “I haven’t done it as much as I would like. There are still a lot of places on my to-do list.”