AKRON, Ohio — Elmer Neitz rebuilds cars. So by sheer nature of his hobby, he's a guy's guy. Then Neitz broke his leg last summer, and what happened next nearly cost him his "man card."
Neitz was outside his Barberton, Ohio, home horsing around with a dog when he fell. When a neighbor asked if he was OK, Neitz replied, "I've fallen and can't get up."
Since Neitz, 72, is a bit of a wisecracker, the neighbor simply laughed. But this time it was no joke.
Over the years, Neitz has restored or is in the process of resurrecting cars that have seen better days, classics like a '69 Corvette, a '57 Chevy and a Model A Ford. And though he had plenty of time during his recuperation to dream about his rides, it didn't keep him occupied forever.
His boredom led to him pestering his wife, Nancy. Then one day, as he tells it, after he got on her last nerve, Nancy issued a proclamation.
"You're going to learn to knit," she said and scurried out to purchase yarn and a handheld loom.
He was willing to give anything a shot. But when his buddies found out — oh, boy, did they give him the business, saying things we can't print in a family newspaper. Neitz just laughed, telling them that he was at least doing something other than sitting on his thumbs waiting for his bum leg to heal.
"Really, the most embarrassing part was walking into Jo-Ann Fabrics and being the only guy among 30 people," he said, chuckling.
Turns out, Neitz liked knitting. It was something that he could do while watching football and NASCAR races on television, thereby keeping his manhood firmly intact.
Funny how life takes us on unexpected journeys. The Neitzes are volunteers at the Akron, Ohio, Blind Center, and when Kathryn Boles, volunteer speakers coordinator for the center, learned of his new hobby, she encouraged him and Nancy to teach some of the blind and visually impaired members how to knit.
"I feel good about helping," Neitz said. "I've been so blessed in my life, I wanted to give something back."
On a recent day, the table inside the center was covered with yarn — mint, purple, gray and pink. Volunteers sat with the blind and visually impaired, instructing them on how to use the looms to knit.
"Would you like to start a hat?" Neitz asked one member.
"You can do it. ... Don't be a chicken," nudged Paige Rackley, who was knitting with the help of a volunteer.
Mellissa Rivers, who is legally blind, cracked a joke as she worked on a hat. "This is my first one," she said. "Someday, I may actually be up to two."
While they teased each other, their hands were busy. They were proud to think of those who would be warmed by their handiwork.
Boles' daughter, Lisa Balough, a first-grade teacher at Akron's Forest Hill school, told her mother about students, including immigrants from various countries, who might enjoy receiving the hats. The members of the center energetically obliged, and the students got their hats on Wednesday.
Members have knitted hats for other youngsters, too, including those at Head Start. "The blind are so used to people doing things for them that they are thrilled to be able to do things for others. They don't have many opportunities to do that, so making hats for the children means a lot," Boles said.
Looking across the table at Neitz, Boles asked him: "Could you have imagined all of this would have come about because you learned to knit?"
Looking down at the hat he was creating, the guy's guy seemed to almost blush.
Almost.