"We all feel we can come out of the closet now but we have been doing it for years."
Juliet is in her 40s and her guilty secret is that she loves to knit. Helen, another fan, says she still feels rather self-conscious about doing it in public, such as on a train journey, but she is more than happy to pass on tips to people who want to learn; while Rebecca doesn't mind doing it anywhere and that includes in the pub and at work.
After years in the doldrums, all of a sudden knitting has become sexy. Celebrities love it. Madonna, Cameron Diaz, Goldie Hawn, Winona Ryder, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta Jones and Geri Halliwell are never happier than when they are clicking away with a pair of needles.
But it's not only the Hollywood set who are knitting.The craze took off in America several years ago when some wit started a club called Stitch 'n' Bitch and hundreds more sprung up across the country. Now it has spread to the UK and knitting groups are starting up all over the place. For the first time in 20 years, the Crafts Council has a major exhibition dedicated to the craft. Knit 2 Together taps into this contemporary revival, highlighting the work of 15 artists and their innovative and experimental work.
Visitors to the exhibition can see work ranging from the lyrical to the eccentric, say the Crafts Council. It features everything from knitted sex adverts to the knitted interior of a house. There's an area where people will be encouraged to share their first memories of knitting and, in recognition of the new fashion for knitting groups, it also features work by members of the Cast Off Knitting Club which organises "guerilla knitting" events in public places. Last year it got 3,000 people knitting at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The organisers of the exhibition say that knitting is undergoing a worldwide revival, not just because hand knits are fashionable – the Boho look is back again – but also because people value something that is handmade in our increasingly mass produced world.
Knit 2 Together – Concepts in Knitting is at the Crafts Council Gallery in London until 8 May after which it will go on tour and can be seen in Harrogate in November as part of the Knitting and Stitching Show.
The skill of knitting is one that has been passed down through generations but it seems to have skipped a generation in recent times. It isn't often taught in schools now and working mums are too busy to spend time teaching their children to knit.
Juliet Bernard, a spokeswoman for Rowan Yarns at Holmfirth, is so keen to get youngsters to knit that she teaches at two after-school clubs every week. "Get them at 10 and you have them for life," says Juliet.
A few years ago, Rowan even started to produce a yarn specially for the teenage market called R2.
It is on sale at Topshop in Oxford Street in London as well as at regular Rowan stockists.
Rebecca Kilner, 29, works at the Students' Union at Sheffield Hallam University where she is a volunteer co-ordinator working with groups of students and running various community projects. "I decided I was watching too much television and I wanted to do something that would occupy me. I didn't learn to knit at school so I was a complete novice. Mum showed me how to cast on and then I just muddled along."
Rebecca took her knitting into work and into the pub and she was so enthusiastic that several friends joined her. They formed a club called the Sheffield Knitterati and meet in their local pub once a month. As word spread, people from all over Sheffield started to join them. Then when the Students' Union moved into glamorous new premises at the former National Centre for Popular Music, Rebecca's boss asked if she would organise an event for the opening ceremony and she came up with a Knitter Natter.
"I wanted older people to come along and teach the students – usually it's the other way around with the students doing something in the community. It went really well and we had 53 people there, old and young, all knitting." Now Rebecca is planning monthly gatherings: the next one will be on March 18 and thereafter the last Friday of every month from noon till 2pm. People will just be able to drop in and either learn to knit or pass on their expertise.
"It's so infectious. You are learning a new skill and you are also getting an end product. It's a bit like meditation it's so relaxing. I tell the students it's the perfect thing to do just before an exam. Everyone seems to really enjoy it. You go at your own pace, it's not competitive, it's just really nice."
Helen Moore, 42, is an expert knitter who gives lessons and is also a member of another knitting group in Sheffield called Knitnet. Helen works at John Lewis where she is a consultant for Rowan Yarns, advising customers about suitable patterns for their ability and about the pattern instructions. She also gives lessons in the store on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays."We are getting people coming in who have never picked up a knitting needle but who want to make their own unique garment," said Helen. She has always knitted since being a child and a couple of years ago she and a friend started their own small knitting group. They go along to each other's houses once a fortnight to knit and chat.
"We are trying to encourage people to pick up their pins and start knitting and I think joining a club is a great idea."

To book a knitting lesson with Helen Moore at John Lewis, call 0114 2768511 ext 4840.
For more information about Knit 2 Together: Concepts in Knitting, call 020 7278 7700 or www.craftscouncil.org.uk