Boston Globe, City Weekly  March 16, 2003:   Losing Their Religious Store, Gaining a Studio By Tara Murphy   It’s a frosty Thursday night, and once again the North End’s hardcore knitters are gathered around the table at 44 North Bennet St.  Soft music plays in the background, a basketball thumps on the courts across the street, and the conversation inside varies- from sweaters knitted for ex-boyfriends, to the design of ancient Mayan temples, to a “really good” documentary about skateboarding someone recently watched.   Not exactly what one would expect from a bunch of knitters.   In this case, though, the women unfurling the half-finished scarves and sweaters are the 20 and 30-something professionals who  make up a growing share of Boston’s most “Old World” neighborhood.  And their meeting spot is the tiny storefront that for 60 years housed the Saint Store, a local landmark now redone as a neighborhood art studio known as Make Art.   Deborah Jacobs, a North End resident of nine years, opened the miniature studio two years ago this March.   “I was interested in helping people make the things they wanted to make,” said Jacobs, her own painted canvases displayed on the wall behind her.   As a licensed art therapist and working artist, Jacobs said the idea of opening a place in which people who “spend their time doing something very different” could explore their creative side had been in the back of her mind for awhile.  It wasn’t until Summer 2000, however, when her landlord offered her the former Saint Store that she has the means to bring her vision to life.   Jacobs remembered that she had to tear down a wall, rip up two layers of tiles, and cart away “four or five truckloads” of empty boxes to find an art studio amid the Saint Store’s dusty shelves and crowded display cases.   She said she didn’t know what to expect when she finally threw open the door and invited the neighborhood inside.   “I think it’s a great way to relax,” said Annick Perrillat, a self-described “supporter of the arts” who dropped by Make Art one recent Saturday afternoon to chat.  “And it’s a place to discover hidden talents.  You feel comfortable here right off the bat.”   Karen Rubin said she only disovered her talent for knitting when she ventured into Make Art’s Thursday night knitting studio, which costs $10 a session, last Fall.  Rubin, a speech therapist by day, rattled off her knitting accomplishments: “Two hats, three scarves, the beginning of one sweater, and the beginning of one sock.”   Of the 80 or so people who have added their name to Make Art’s e-mail list, Jacobs said, many, like Rubin, have told her that they have not painted or drawn or made any sort of art since childhood.   “I’m really proud of all the people who take a risk and come through the door,” Jacobs said.   Although now and then, she said, it turns out to be just a slightly confused former North Ender, back for a visit and hoping to buy a saint.