Close-knit groups

One is halfway through a mohair sweater. Another has a woven suede handbag going. Others are intent on hats or cardigans.

As knitting needles work in a constant rhythm among this multigenerational group of women gathered in downtown Hingham, laughter flares up and conversation buzzes.

How is the new Labradoodle puppy?

Where can you find peacock lamps?

And just how, Maria, did you wrap that scarf so stylishly?

“This is women getting together and bonding,’’ said Betty MacIntyre, who never misses this weekly knitting class at The Creative Stitch in her hometown.

The old-fashioned knitting circle isn’t quite so old-fashioned.

In fact, knitting is cross-stitching its way across the generations — prompted, some say, by the stay-at-home, do-it-yourself movement arising from the lingering recession.

All told, there are about 38 million knitters and crocheters across the country (Julia Roberts, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Cameron Diaz among them), according to the North Carolina-based Craft Yarn Council of America.

Locally, needlers gather at the South of Boston Knitters Guild in Marshfield, the South Shore Knitting Meetup in Hingham, and a new group at Plimoth Plantation that began in January, among other smaller groups. Meanwhile, twenty- and thirty-somethings hold more impromptu — and somewhat dichotomous — gatherings in Boston-area pubs, bars, and coffee houses.

Costs vary for joining the knitting groups. For the South of Boston Knitters Guild, occasional attendees pay $5 per monthly meeting while regular members pay $25 a year. At The Creative Stitch, classes cost $65 for a five-week session.

Supplementing such meetings is a bustling online presence, with hundreds of how-to tweets, YouTube videos, and discussion boards.

“Some of it is economic,’’ said Penny Sitler, executive director of the Knitting Guild Association, based in Ohio, whose roughly 10,000 members are spread across 300 guilds in the 50 states, including three in Massachusetts. (She said that in 2003, the association had only 11 member guilds nationwide.)

Among other things, it’s relaxing and a stress reliever. “In times like this, those things are important,’’ Sitler said. “A lot of people are looking for ways to remove themselves from their worries.’’

But on the other hand, the activity is ever-more geared toward the 21st-century crowd — rather than their grandmothers.

For starters, yarns today are bold-colored, glitter-sprinkled, chunky, furry, or crafted from sustainable soy, bamboo, and hemp, according to the Knitting Guild Association. Then there are all the new designs: crop tops, cellphone and iPod cases, felted bags, gloves based on the “Twilight’’ phenomenon; even lingerie.

This variety is what keeps Bob Jaeger of Plymouth interested — there’s the choice of sweaters, mittens, hats, scarves, and kerchiefs; and wool, suede, mohair, and acrylic novelty yarns.

“It’s infinite,’’ said the 51-year-old. “You never get bored.’’

Yes, you read right: a male knitter.

Although women dominate the pastime, men are (quite literally) needling their way in.

Jaeger, for his part, has been a dedicated knitter since his childhood, when his grandmother taught him; he got most absorbed in it in the 1990s. Now, he’s the sole male member of the South of Boston Knitters Guild.

“It seems to transcend gender,’’ he said. “We’re all just there to knit.’’

And with gusto. Judy O’Neil, another guild member from Rockland, prolifically crafts Icelandic sweaters and socks, and stitches intricate cable patterns and multicolored weaves.

“I like the creativity of it, the relaxation, the challenge,’’ said the 66-year-old, who also teaches knitting.

It’s hard to put down, she acknowledged. “When we travel, I always talk my husband into driving, so I can knit,’’ she said with a laugh.

And she travels quite a bit. “I can honestly tell you I have knit on all seven continents,’’ she said.

Other yarn addicts, meanwhile, are content just to gather around a table in Hingham.

Specifically, a class assembles every Friday morning at the fiber shop The Creative Stitch, nestled downtown.

One recent Friday, brushed nickel and bamboo needles worked steadily on sweaters, scarves, hats, and purses.

Yarn in various colors wound its way from skeins tucked into bulging pocketbooks or plopped on an oval table beside BlackBerries and Dunkin’ Donuts cups.

Owner Kristin Ross wove among the knitters, repositioning hands or helping to decipher patterns.

“It’s relaxing for me,’’ explained 50-year-old Maria Gibson, of Hingham, peeking over red-lensed glasses at her project, a cardigan in mohair and Kidsilk. “If my mind is racing, I pick up my knitting.’’

It keeps the hands busy, agreed Donna Clifford, sitting nearby. “You spend all day multi-tasking,’’ said the 45-year-old Hingham mother of three boys. “It’s difficult to just stop.’’

Especially in her case. She started knitting at the end of September, and has since made four Christmas stockings, several kerchiefs, and she’s now working on an intricate woven suede handbag.

In awe, her fellow classmates say she has a natural talent.

Still, she insisted, “Anybody can do it, with the right guidance.’’

Across the table, Carole White of Abington was looking for exactly that — she was having a little trouble with a wool-and-cashmere hat.

“I goofed up,’’ the 76-year-old, a knitter for just about a year, said with a shrug.

The solution: pulling out the last line she stitched on the navy blue-and-white hat, and doing it over.

“Sitting and watching television is boring,’’ she said as she worked to remedy her mistake. “This gives you something to do with your hands.’’

And, in many cases, therapeutically.

The group gossips, vents, and shares things that they might not even divulge to longtime friends.

There’s a “closeness,’’ explained Janet Holleran, a 49-year-old from Hingham. “We know it’s safe here.’’

Taryn Plumb can be reached at tarynplumb1@gmail.com.