BETHEL - Crafters selling wares Friday at Bethel's Local Crafts and Wares Fair - one of the last Western Maine craft shows of the year - drew plenty of people who were buying items mostly under $20.

Midge Leighton of South Paris and Cheryl Simonds of Hollis said they were doing well, despite the economy. Still, both said people at the Bethel fair were only buying items priced under $20 for Christmas gifts.

"Business has been fairly good," Leighton, 79, said while knitting a special-order white Norwegian sweater featuring red hearts of varying sizes.

Business "started out a little slow and then it picked up before noon. There's been a good crowd here all day. Everybody was out and about," Leighton said.

Leighton and her twin sister, Gloria Sawyer, also of South Paris, have knitted sweaters and other clothing for 40 years.

On Friday, inside the Bethel Inn Conference Center with 35 other crafters, Leighton and Sawyer sat behind their table, which was covered with brightly-colored acrylic sweaters, caps, scarves and mittens.

They were also selling a few dolls from their church, the First Congregational of South Paris.

Like Leighton, Sawyer, too, was busy knitting. Only she was making a purple tote cap in between waiting on customers such as Elizabeth Logan, 9, of Waterford.

Logan bought a cute stuffed animal mouse from the church wares, then returned about 10 minutes later and purchased a fluffy pillow decorated with woodland designs.

"If we got paid by the stitch, we'd be able to go to Bermuda or wherever," Leighton said. "Leavitt (in Turner) was our biggest show, which had well over 100 crafters. Last week, we were at the Central Maine Medical Center Employees Fair. Our niece works there. This is our 10th show this fall and summer. We had real good fairs this year," Leighton said.

She stopped short, however, of blaming the economy for a downturn in sales.

"We've been doing this show for four or five years and everybody thinks it's the economy, but people are buying more practical. They'll buy our sweaters. We do special-order knitting - a lot of Norwegian flakes, hearts and squirrels. My sister does a lot of the Christmas things," Leighton said.

Both will celebrate their 80th birthday in January, but don't call them "old."

"I keep telling people I'll let them know when I'm old. I'm not old yet," she added.

Crafts offered by other vendors ranged from photography and paintings to jewelry, clothing, knitted items, puppets, wood crafts, pottery, and more.

Among the items Simonds, a 30-year crafter, was selling as ABC Quilts and Crafts, were embroidered fabric bags and aprons, sewing catch-alls, hand-collected seashell lamps and wreaths, and candle displays using different species of acorns and nutshells mounted on a wooden base.

She and husband, Harold, and her sisters Anita Parslow and Brenda Edgecomb run the business, which is based on craft art taught to the sisters by their mother and grandmother while growing up in Mexico and Rumford.

Friday was their first foray into the Bethel venue.

"A lot of people think the economy has slowed the buying down, but we've had a lot of interest. Our less expensive items have gone better. Anything under $20. People don't hesitate to buy it if it's under $20. Last year was a little iffy, but this year, we've had a lot of customers. But, it's the lower-priced items that are selling," Simonds said.