OLIVE TOWNSHIP -- The first time our paths crossed, Mike Bronkema was sporting an Olive Township Fire Rescue T-shirt and knitting a pink sock on a hand-crank antique circular sock knitting machine. We ...

In a workshop that’s a refuge from the world, Dorothea Campbell uses her hands. Her right hand turns a crank, or manipulates dozens of needles arranged in a circle. With her left, she holds tightly to ...

There are a pair of maps on the wall in the front office at Erlbacher Gear & Machine Works in Cape Girardeau. One is a map of the United States. The other a map of the world. Both are adorned with ...

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been corrected to reflect David Erlbacher had the first patent for the Gearhart sock knitting machine in more than 85 years. A family-run machine shop in south Cape ...