Toronto - "I knitted sweaters in Grade 2 in the underground during the Blitz," says the 74-year-old, adding with a laugh, "And that's how I won the Second World War."
She's still knitting today, using an age-old craft to warm those who are homeless, disadvantaged and isolated during these cold winter months.
There are 400 women like Carson, mostly elderly, who have been knitting all their lives for loved ones and friends, and who now knit for strangers. They are the Toronto members of the Needlework Guild of Canada, an organization that for 116 years has provided handmade new clothes for the needy.
Last week, thousands of items - from socks, mitts and toques, to baby booties, blankets and sweaters - were taken to a Baptist church by groups of knitters large and small (one knitting circle has 80 members) to be distributed to 20 charitable groups throughout the city.
Vice-president Linda East, a youngster at 63, worries that the guild's work will grind to a halt as its aging membership succumbs to arthritis and other infirmities.
They need more members and are looking for the next generation of knitters to step forward.
"All you have to do to be a member is knit two items in a year," says East, who acknowledges that it's getting harder to find people who even know how to knit. However, she says, she's willing to teach enthusiastic learners.
Shirley Bryan, 78, knits items for men, a category that is often overlooked. She says that on dark, cold evenings when she picks up her knitting needles and relaxes in front of the television, she thinks of those who will be using her handiwork.
"I know it's cold outside. I think, `He'll have a nice toque to pull down over his ears or a pair of mittens, even if he doesn't have anything else."'
Joan Caruso, 78, who worked in Eaton's food services for 40 years before retiring, also focuses on the clients. "We know this is going to keep somebody warm," she says.
Caruso began knitting again when she broke her leg 14 years ago and retired from her job. Prone to back problems, Caruso has taught herself to knit lying down and rarely watches television without a pair of needles in her hands.
Her sister Rosemary Eckert, 76, a retired nurse, points out that their little group of seven knitters produced 248 items for this year's distribution.
"We are so proud of that," says Eckert, who just returned from knitting up a storm while visiting her four grandchildren in Saskatchewan. The ones going to university wanted toques in their school colours, she says.
Still, she finds time to knit for people she'll never meet and hopes that getting a handmade item will brighten a person's day.
"So many people are homeless. It is very sad. And with the way the economy is going, we'll be needed more than ever".
Joyce Hisey, 79, is a member of the Dupont Dollies, a group of women who met as children in figure skating competitions and continue socializing to this day.
She has knitted for her five children and seven grandchildren but notices that older boys are less likely to wear woollen items. As far as she can tell, one of her sweaters was worn only once.
So, she has turned that knitting energy toward others.
Growing up in Holland, in a house where only one room was properly heated in winter, Greta Maulder, 77, knitted for the practical reason that she needed warm clothes. She learned in school - all children at the time were taught this useful skill as part of regular classes.
She specializes in newborn items and this year made up two layettes, filling dollar-store laundry baskets that were wrapped in clear paper. What she didn't make, she bought, such as wipes and diapers, but the delicate cream-and-green sweater, hat and bootie sets are her own creations.
Folding back the paper to show the treasures beneath, Maulder picks up the little bonnet and imagines the new mother who will be receiving the items.
"They have nothing to come home to, so I think it should look and be really nice for a mother and new baby."
