Greece, N.Y. — Rosa Ferrigno spent the winter knitting herself a new suit out of plastic Wegmans bags.
Ferrigno, 75, constantly tries to stay busy, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. In warm weather, she tends to her yard and garden at her home in Greece, outside Rochester.
But in winter months, she's always looking for a project.
The idea for the suit grew from earlier plastic bag knitting efforts, the D&C said. After seeing a guest at a family picnic carrying a purse made from recycled bags, Ferrigno was intrigued.
She and her daughter sought out instructions and videos online and she ended up making two purses, including one from Wegmans bags. She decided to knit the suit to match, according to the D&C.
To make the suit, Ferrigno cut the bags into strips and tied them together to make longer, yarn-like strips that she could knit. The task required enormous knitting needles she whittled herself from wooden dowels, the D&C said.
Ferrigno began knitting and sewing as a child. She grew up in Sicily and moved to the United States when she was 16.
She worked as a seamstress before having children and has been making clothes for her family for years, according to the D&C.
The Wegmans project took about two months to complete. Ferrigno didn't even use a pattern and the suit fits her perfectly, the D&C said.
She wore it earlier this month to a brunch following a family wedding.
“Everybody went crazy,” Ferrigno’s daughter, Fran Bertalli said, according to the paper.
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