Marilyn Goldsmith says she had to develop “eyes in her fingertips,” because of her rapidly declining eyesight. It forced the 92-year-old to rethink how to do things that once came so easily, like knitting.

"I've had many challenges in my life, but nothing like this,” Goldsmith said. “I'm legally blind at this stage."

Goldsmith says macular degeneration, a disease that causes vision loss, stole much of her independence.

She loved working with her hands: Goldsmith made jewelry, pottery, and was once a photographer.

But everything was put on hold, until she met her upstairs neighbor Harriet Libstag, who introduced her to knitting.

“My mother used to go to the movies and knit, that’s what gave me the idea that Marilyn could do the same thing,” Lipstag said.

Libstag is a long-time volunteer with “We Care Blankets,” a Long Island-based non-profit that’s been around since 1999.

Volunteers knit and crochet blankets for children fighting cancer. They’re then shipped to hospitals across the country.

Libstag found the heaviest yarn and thickest needles she could find to help get Goldsmith comfortable knitting again.

 “I realized to do a regular sized blanket would be too much so we did it in strips, and it worked,” Lipstag said.

Goldsmith is now a dedicated volunteer. It’s been a year since she says she found her purpose again.

"Knowing it might help somebody, it just keeps me going,” Goldsmith said. “And it makes everything else fall away, nothing that I am dealing with can be as bad or as potentially devastating as what these children and their families are going through."

So for giving back to children in need one stitch at a time, Marilyn Goldsmith is our New Yorker of the Week.