Knit one, purl one. Knit one, purl one. A basic rib stitch pattern involves the repetitive motion of a knit and purl stitch. For Teresa Pham and Hanah Novotny, these stitches have grown into more than basic rib or garter stitches. For Pham and Novotny, they have stitched themselves into a community in knitting and crocheting.
Pham is a freshman elementary education and recreational tourism and nonprofit leadership student, and Novotny is a fifth year communications and family services student. The two are serving as interim co-presidents of UNI’s Yarn Club, as the president, Lauren Logue, studies abroad in Spain. Both Pham and Novotny have been crocheting and knitting for years, starting when they were young, and bringing their hobby with them to UNI.
“One year, my younger cousin brought knitting needles and yarn to Thanksgiving,” recalls Novotny. “And I told him, ‘you just have to teach me, please teach me,’” While Novotny learned how to knit, she felt constrained by the limitations of the needles, and turned to crocheting, where she feels like she has more room to express herself creatively. Pham had a similar experience to Novotny, beginning with knitting and moving to crocheting.
While Pham and Novotny aren’t new to knitting or crocheting, both of them are newer faces to the Yarn Club. While Novotny is in her fifth year, it’s her first semester in the Yarn Club. But, for both Pham and Novotny, they’ve found something of a community within a hobby that could be isolating. In the basement of Maucker Union, the Yarn Club gathered to watch “Barbie: Fairytopia” and relax while members geared up for finals week. Clicking of knitting needles adorned the soundtrack of the movie while members did what Novotny described as “parallel play.”
“We’re all sitting together, doing the same thing, we don’t even have to be talking,” said Novotny. “It feels like having a little community with you, because we’re all doing something we love.”
Pham echoed Novotny’s sentiment, explaining how fulfilling it can be to watch people make new connections within the Yarn Club. “You can see these little pods within our community of people who came with their friends, and they’ll talk to other people … it’s really nice to see those friendships, those connections happening,” said Pham.
The sense of community has allowed members of the Yarn Club to be vulnerable with one another, playing a role in each other’s lives. According to Novotny, members may come to a meeting looking stressed, or quieter than usual. For the next hour, they’re able to practice their hobby in a space removed from those stressors, and relax with a group of friends – a community.
The Yarn Club isn’t just made up of advanced knitters and crocheters who have been working with yarn their whole lives, the Yarn Club welcomes newcomers and beginners with open arms. Pham and Novotny acknowledge that it can be intimidating to start a hobby like knitting or crocheting. “It can be frustrating!” exclaimed Novotny. “Definitely was a stressor,” said Pham. “But when you get past that frustration, when you’re dedicated to it, it can be really rewarding,” Novotny elaborated.
The Yarn Club receives donations that include yarn, needles and hooks to help get their beginners started with projects, so beginner members of the Yarn Club aren’t tasked with figuring out one of the hardest parts of knitting and crocheting. Novotny assures that the community within the Yarn Club wants to help beginners, from finding what hooks are needed for a crochet project, to finding the correct yarn weight for a beginner’s first ever project. “Just coming in and being open to asking so many different questions, especially if you’re passionate, there shouldn’t be any barriers to let you learn what you want to,” said Novotny.
While people online may “gatekeep” hobbies like knitting or crocheting as content for the hobbies rise online, Pham and Novotny say that the Yarn Club welcomes anyone, at any skill level, to join them in the stress-relieving hobby. Pham also notes that although knitting and crocheting is a female-dominated hobby and industry, the Yarn Club doesn’t have to be. “People might think that because they don’t identify as female, ‘oh, it’s not something I can do.’ If you’re interested, drop by, talk to one of us. We’re here to help you,” said Pham.
Pham and Novotny believe that hobbies involving yarn are for anyone, not just a specific group of people. Regardless of skill level, anyone can knit or crochet. “Don’t let anything hold you back,” said Novotny, toward any person who wants to learn to knit or crochet.
“Everything everyone creates is unique,” added Pham, elaborating on the melting pot that the hobby can become. The devotion and time invested into their own knitting and crocheting projects, Novotny and Pham invest in the Yarn Club community, stitch by stitch, meeting by meeting.
For anyone interested in joining the Yarn Club, Pham and Novotny encourage students to email [email protected] to get information on meeting times and starting out as a beginner.
