Tom has a problem: His knitting smells of beer and cigarettes, he says. Looking for advice to solve his dilemma, he has turned to the message board of a popular knitting club : "Does anyone have a remedy?"

The message board at "Cast Off", the "knitting club for boys and girls", is a popular forum for those enthusiastic knitters with woolly worries.

Founded in London by knitters Amy Plant and Rachel Matthews, Cast Off has become the place to go for those hooked on knitting. 200 knitters have already joined the club.

Young Urban Knitters

Cast Off does not fulfill the knitting stereotype. Its members are not old and grey. Britain’s "Young Urban Knitters" are fashionable, savvy and creative, and knit everything from pants to pullovers, from knickerbockers to knapsacks.

With the help of the club, half-finished jumpers and clicking needles have made their entrance at dull board meetings and on long tube journeys. "We knit in pubs, in clubs, and take our knitting on adventures" Plant and Matthews say.

Indeed, more and more young Brits – both men and women - seem to believe what Cast Off’s founders already know: "Knitting is good for you".

On the move

Cast Off’s 200 members get together regularly for knitting "outings".

Knitting evenings in bars and clubs are part of Cast Off's "aim to promote knitting as a fashionable and productive pastime for boys and girls". These usually take place in the club's home district, London’s East End.

However, its members can be seen regularly on the London underground, riding the tube for the joy of knitting.