Once the sole preserve of elderly ladies, knitting has being going through a renaissance over the last few years and is now definitely enjoying its fair share of chic. But what is it about working with wool, that makes it so cool?

You just have to spend a little time surfing the Internet to see the abundance of knitting clubs that are springing up. And these aren’t just local affairs. The interestingly named Stitch n Bitch has a network of almost 900 knitting clubs throughout the US, Europe and beyond where people from 16 to 60 get together to chat, swap ideas and, of course, knit.

Well known knitting celebraties have also been leading the charge in bringing the trendier side of knitting to the masses. Sarah Jessica Parker, Uma Thurman and Julia Roberts, who’s next film, The Friday Night Knitting Club is due for release in 2010, all know their way around a pair of knitting needles.

And with the help of the ever-versatile Internet, new greener ways of making the most out of your old woollens are appearing too. Reknit (www.rekn.it) ask you to send in any old sweaters you have, where they are promptly unstitched, reknitted into gloves or socks and sent back to you. And VOGUEknitting magazine even has it’s own knitting iPhone application.

Now if that isn’t bringing knitting into the 21st century we don’t know what is.