MADE HERE If They're Sitting, They're Knitting Two Childhood Friends Knit for Fun and Profit

In the front window of Hannah Grimes Marketplace on Main Street in Keene, New Hampshire, you might see what looks like a little "Minion" or two looking out at you. The goggled one or two-eyed yellow fellows with blue overalls resemble popular characters from the animated "Despicable Me" movies. In this case, they are hand-knitted into the designs of a child's hat and puppet. &emsp;The area surrounding them displays more children's hats with faces and heads in shapes like owls, pigs, a beaver, a Christmas tree with pompom lights and a cupcake. Hand and finger puppets — dogs, elephants, little girls, jack-o-lanterns and more — are perched on stands among these, and tiny baby booties rest below them on a shelf. &emsp;These are the works of Leecia Exel and Hazel Balch, two friends who grew up near Franklin School in Keene. Hazel Scripture (her maiden name) remembers that at age 11 or 12, she taught her 10-year-old friend Leecia Medvidofsky (her maiden name) to knit. Sixty-eight years later, the two are still knitting together. &emsp;Balch learned to knit, read and write before beginning school at age six. Her mother taught her to sew, cook, do crafts and more in the years before she and her brother were in school. After that, she began teaching at the elementary level. Exel's mother also knitted, making various colorful mittens. &emsp;"We used to sew matching skirts with pink and white stripes that we wore with black sweaters," says Balch of the young friends. &emsp;Balch later attended Syracuse University in New York and then taught high school in Raleigh, North Carolina, for 31 years. The two friends kept in touch during that time. She returned to live in Swanzey, New Hampshire, in 2000 after her husband passed away to help care for her parents. &emsp;Now, they live close enough to meet for knitting once a week. Their skillful, experienced hands create one-of-a-kind knitted products to sell at Hannah Grimes Marketplace and a couple of other places. Along with their hands, other tools are their various-sized knitting needles, colorful yarn, and add-ons like buttons and pompoms. &emsp;"We try to coordinate and complement each other," Balch notes, referring to their products. &emsp;Among Exel's creations are colorful finger puppets, baby toys, blankets, booties, mittens, and adorable themed sweater and hat sets. In the fall, she makes many apple and pumpkin hats that are sold at Alyson's Apple Orchard of Walpole and Red Apple Farm in Phillipston, Massachusetts. &emsp;Balch sells some products at Ross Family Farm and Sugarhouse in West Brattleboro, Vermont. She focuses more on making unique baby hats, especially the popular duck hats with protruding orange bills. Her other creations include hand puppets such as a frog, dog and elephant, and her specialty Christmas stockings. &emsp;"Wouldn't you think the baby-size duck hats would sell the best? You wouldn't believe how many adult duck hats I make," Balch says with a laugh. &emsp;Her Christmas stockings were a big hit at a Raleigh-Durhan Airport steakhouse when she lived in the area. One year, she sold 101 there. She gives stockings as gifts to friends and other items as baby shower gifts. &emsp;Balch says she knits while watching the news, college football and basketball, and while talking on the phone. &emsp;"My grandchildren say I can knit in my sleep," she says with a smile. &emsp;Balch has answered a local chaplain's call for churches to make mittens for Ukraine and prayer shawls for long-term patients at Dartmouth Hitchcock Health Center in Keene. &emsp;"We learn as we go. And I say, 'If I'm sitting, I'm knitting,'" says Exel, repeating an expression she uses. &emsp;She comments on how fast a knitter her friend, Balch, is, and Balch agrees, saying she may not knit the conventional way, but she doesn't think others knit faster. &emsp;"Anybody can knit if they want to," Balch notes. &emsp; For more info, email exelleecia29@gmail.com or balchhazel@gmail.com NOTE ABOUT PHOTO #3: Of the two women. Please remove the background on this photo. Thanks!