ANAHEIM, Calif. — Vanna White, America's favorite alphabet maven, periodically steps away from the "Wheel of Fortune" puzzle board to hook audiences on her favorite off-camera hobbies: crocheting and knitting.
White, 52, isn't the only celebrity closet crafter.
Actresses Scarlett Johansson, Uma Thurman, Sarah Jessica Parker and Catherine Zeta-Jones are among those who claim to click needles to relax.
But White has taken her pastime to a new level. She's the spokeswoman for Lion Brand Yarn, a 132-year-old company that has attached White's name to three of its specialty yarns and featured her on its instructional books.
Looking elegant in an onyx knit sweater crafted from her new Vanna's Glamour acrylic and metallic yarn, White co-hosted the Lion Winter Fashion Show at the 2010 Craft and Hobby Trade Show held recently at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Nearly 300 merchants crowded around a portable runway to hear the former model with Lion designer, Karen Tanaka, describe the season's latest cozy fashions.
Most of the models wore turtleneck tops and leggings in muted tones to emphasize the classic, and funky, embellishments fashioned from a wide variety of textured yarns. Ruffled scarves, cowl collars, leggings with lace-up yarn and wrist warmers headlined the 2010 Lion collection.
Vanna's Choice yarns, available in 23 solid colors and five prints, showed up in a "wind chime afghan," ribbed thigh highs, a "metropolis scarf" and "glimmering thigh highs." Links to the patterns are available at LionBrand.com.
Midway through the 20-minute mini-show, White surprised the audience when she introduced her daughter, Gigi Santo Pietro, 12, who bounced onstage in a "girl's circle vest" in a rainbow of colors. Mother and daughter crochet left-handed, she said.
Her son, Nicholas, 15, isn't interested, she said.
Between shows, White retreated to a refreshment nook to briefly spin her lifetime yarns.
Who knew the country's first female co-host of a game show sits in her dressing room between tapings crocheting blankets? In her first few years on "Wheel," White kept track of her output — 70 afghans in all.
Who knew the woman recognized in the Guinness World Book of Records as "Television's Most Frequent Clapper" keeps those hands agile crocheting aboard planes destined for exotic "Wheel" locations?
White's crafting image earned a wider audience many years ago when host Johnny Carson asked about her favorite hobby on "The Tonight Show."
Lion Yarn's Jack Blumenthal had been watching, and he jumped at a chance to sign the popular game show icon to a contract.
The next morning, Blumenthal contacted his cousin, David, chief executive of Lion Brand, and the two sent a package of products with a letter asking if she would promote their yarns.
"Vanna answered the next day with a handwritten letter," David Blumenthal said. "It turns out she was already using our yarns. She's been our representative ever since."
Her name hasn't hurt sales. As recently as last year, Lion Yarn posted an 18 percent spike in sales, David Blumenthal said. And the company has donated $500,000 from its Vanna's Choice sales to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
White was 5 when her grandmother taught her to crochet doilies in the family home in North Myrtle Beach, N.C.
"I was more interested in playing outdoors and riding my bicycle," White said. "I didn't pick it up again until 27 years ago, when my hairdresser was pregnant and I wanted to make her a baby blanket."
Dozens of baby blankets later, the personable blonde can whip up a coverlet in seven hours. And, yes, she's made an adult-size blanket for her "Wheel" co-host Pat Sajak, with his name woven into the pattern.
"I keep an antique wooden bowl by my bed that's filled with yarn," she said.
On weekends, she spends time with her financier boyfriend, Michael Kaye. Inside Kaye's ocean-view home in Orange County, Calif., White said she is inspired by the waters' brilliant blues, greens and turquoise tones for some of her handiwork. In her own home, she decorates in earth tones.
Among her latest creations, she has combined Lion Yarn's green tea, espresso and pumpkin.
Surprisingly, White, a one-time student at the Atlanta School of Fashion Design, has worn more than 5,100 gowns on "Wheel," yet has never dressed in one of her knitted or crocheted outfits.
As another crowd of conventioneers gathers for the afternoon show, White smoothed her slacks and sweater before perching on a stool to narrate another segment.
"I'm flying to the Caribbean tomorrow to tape another 'Wheel,'" she said, heading toward the stage. "I'm always fearful airport security will confiscate my crochet hook thinking it's a weapon. I spend most of the trip crocheting."
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.