The First Stitch

So this would actually be the first few stitches. We have already had 3 meetings, which have gone pretty well. We've had around 8-10 people each time, including me and Emily. There would probably be more, but some of our members also attend book club, which is at the same time, so they have chosen to come every other week. About half of the attendees have some experience in either knitting or crocheting, and a couple in both. For the others, well, we get to try our hand at being teachers. They choose which one they would like to learn, and we try our best to teach them. Emily teaches the crocheting, and I teach the knitting. Right now there are more crocheters, but I would like to change that. (No, there is no competition between the two whatsoever. Not at all. Why would you even think that?) Some people pick one up faster than the other, like Miriam. She tried learning to crochet, but ended up really confused. She decided to try knitting, and it looks like she understands it a lot better. (1 point for knitting!) On the other hand, her brother Ian could not pick up knitting at all. If he comes again, he'll probably try crocheting. (No point, he hasn't learned yet.) To each his own, I guess.

So what else do we do at these meetings other than teach? Well, we give everyone their own choice. We have patterns for whatever project we are working on at the time, or they can work on their own projects. One person had a blanket they were working on and needed to finish, and another wanted to crochet a poké ball. I myself have a blanket that I am crocheting in a granny square pattern that I really need to finish soon.

Each project that we choose will be worked on for about 2 weeks, then we'll choose something else. If you remember, for our first project we chose to make newborn items. We ended up with a couple blankets, a few sets of booties, and a hat. We are just waiting for a response back from the organization before we send them our. Our new project is making binkies (blankets) for children and teens in hospitals, foster care, and other such places where they might need them. These will be donated to Binky Patrol, who would distribute them. Full size blankets take a long time, but we have a crochet pattern that makes small hexagons that can then be sewn together into a larger blanket.

We have also been given the opportunity to create a small display for our club. The student senate acquired one of the showcases in the halls to put up displays from different clubs. This is what Emily and I put together, with a little help from our friend Ben.  It is hard to read, but I knitted the word 'KNITTING' and Emily crocheted the 'Crocheting' (though it's more of just a chain stitch than much crocheting, but whatever).

(P.S.: In case you know not a single thing about knitting or crocheting, a stitch is a single loop or set of loops in the whole design. (Some stitches, especially in crocheting, are made up of multiple loops.) There are different kinds of stitches for knitting and crocheting, but I won't confuse you with those quite yet.)

Casting On

So, as a requirement to graduate, we must do a senior project. This project must give back to the community in some way and show leadership. We were encouraged to choose something that we loved to do and work with that. There are a few of us in the class that have brought knitting or crocheting to school to work on, so my friend Emily and I decided to join together and create a knitting and crocheting club. We are required to keep a journal of our experience, so that is what this is. I will post random blogs about what goes on each week and I'll also have some pictures to document the experiences.

To begin, we had to submit our proposal to be approved. Pretty much, we had to write a short statement saying what the purpose of the club was, what we would be doing, and why. Our end goals were to teach others to knit or crochet and to make different projects that would then be donated to charitable organizations. We got the okay, set a date for our first meeting, and advertised by putting up fliers and putting it in the announcements.

To prepare, we had to get more yarn and hooks and needles so that we'd have enough for others to borrow and use. I had my dad put up an ad in freecycle asking for any donations. We were lucky and got one man who donated two whole trash bags full of yarn and a whole set of knitting needles and some crochet hooks, which had belonged to his mother. Emily also received some donations from an aunt, so we were all set with supplies. Our next step was to figure out what our first project and organization would be. We chose to make hats, booties, and blankets for newborns and would send them to the Angels of Love Charity.

With our supplies, patterns, and our first meeting set, we were ready to go and start creating.

(P.S.: For those of you unfamiliar with knitting terms, 'Casting On' is the act of putting the first stitches on the needle. You 'cast on' however many stitches you need to start your project. Only after you've done this can you really begin knitting. For those who prefer crochet, this is comparable to the first row of chain stitches that you will use as the base of your project.)