GREENFIELD — At 92 years old, Westfield resident June Burns has knitted 1,536 baby sweaters for Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s gift shop, and she has no intention of slowing down.

Burns, a native of Huntington, Long Island in New York, moved to Greenfield in 1971. Despite now residing in Westfield, she continues to make the trip back to the area that inspired her knitting efforts whenever she has a new batch of baby sweaters to donate.

Knitting first came into Burns’ life during World War II, when she was only 12 years old. It was her neighbor who taught her how to knit, and from there she began to experiment with knitting her own socks. It wasn’t until she met the man who would later become her husband that she began to knit for others.

“In 1949, I met my husband. We were just kids. I was 17 and he was 19,” Burns recalled. “I started making argyle socks for him, and that was the only knitting I did until I was pregnant with my first child in 1959.”

She began with simple, all-white designs before graduating to making baby sweaters of all different colors, patterns and styles. Burns would often knit for herself and her husband, too, but she always felt drawn to knitting for babies.

“One of the things that is personal for me is that I have had three children,” Burns said. “I had two boys and a baby girl. She died when she was 2 days old. It’s the memory of her, it’s my purpose. She would now be 61.”

Burns’ hobby and passion has not gone unnoticed, with her family members appreciating her efforts, too.

“Besides knitting for the hospital, my sons have friends that are now grandparents, and I’ve knitted for their grandchildren, so it’s been a couple of generations,” she said. “I’ve knitted for a lot of friends’ babies over the years and I get nice ‘thank you’ notes and pictures of the babies. I appreciate that, it makes it all worthwhile.”

When asked about the very beginning of her time knitting for Baystate Franklin, Burns thought back to 1980 when she worked at Wilson’s Department Store in Greenfield, which closed in 2020 after 137 years in business.

“I started knitting for [Baystate Franklin] in 1980. At that time I was working part-time at Wilson’s and I used to take my knitting to work with me,” Burns said, noting that she would knit on her lunch breaks. “I had a friend that worked with me and she asked if I would ever consider working at the gift shop. I said I wouldn’t work there, but I would knit there.”

The process is simple, but time-consuming. Burns picks the yarn, Baystate Franklin buys it and then Burns spends upwards of 40 hours to make one set containing a sweater and a matching hat. Since Burns keeps meticulous records of how many sets of baby sweaters and matching hats she’s made over the years, she was able to quickly reference that she has made 23 so far this year, with her last delivery arriving at Baystate Franklin in early October.

Burns has even recognized her work before, worn by a customer’s child. The moment served as a pleasant surprise and reminder of the impact she’s had on others.

“I just went over to look and I asked, ‘Where did you get this sweater set?’” Burns said. “And she said her friend got it for her at the gift shop, and I said, ‘I made that.’”