Former Yarn Shop Owner Turns 110; Calls Craft 'Lifesaver': Report

WHITESTONE, QUEENS — Rose Girone spent her 110th birthday knitting; a craft that she credits with saving her life.

Girone, of Whitestone, used to own a beloved knitting shop, aptly named Rose's Knitting Studio on Austin Street, but she picked up the craft much farther from home.

Born in Poland and raised in Germany, Girone learned to knit as a child. In 1939, at eight months pregnant, Girone and her ex-husband fled Nazi Germany to Shanghai, China, where the then-young mother was able to help provide for her family by selling her hand-knit sweaters, the New York Jewish Week and JTA reported in a recent birthday feature.

After nearly a decade in China — the last years of which were "really horrible" since Girone and her family had to live in a Jewish ghetto — the young family immigrated to the United States, the outlets reported.

Knitting proved beneficial then, too, since Girone sewed $80 into her hand-knit sweaters, defying a rule at the time that said people could only leave China with $10, according to a Patch neighbor post.

In 1968, after a divorce, Girone met and married Jack Girone and the couple moved to Queens, where the knitter went on to open stores in Rego Park and Forest Hills.

Although she sold her business in 1980, Girone continued to knit at a non-profit in Long Island and for fun, often spending days knitting with friends.

"Rose cannot imagine her life without knitting," Girone’s daughter, Reha Bennicasa, 83, told the New York Jewish Week.

Read the full article here, and see a Patch tribute to Rose (written on her 99th birthday) here.