From the first stitch to a finished sweater, the Stitching Illini guides members every step of the way. The club is open to fiber artists of any skill level and provides advice, workshops and community. Currently, meetings are held in Everitt Laboratory on Wednesdays.
Beginners are welcome, with no experience required. The club works to teach members how to knit or crochet and provides all necessary materials. Membership director Fernanda Romero, senior in LAS, shared that immediate success is hard when it comes to knitting and crocheting, and new members should not feel discouraged.
“A lot of members here can get stressed because they can’t get it on the first try, you’re never supposed to get in on the first try,” Romero said. “You’re not going to be automatically perfect, you’ve just got to keep practicing.”
Amaan Khan, junior in LAS, joined the club when he was beginning to learn how to crochet last April. He came to the club seeking advice, and once he got the hang of it, he was able to progress quite quickly.
Khan has used crocheting to create items useful to himself, such as a blanket used to protect his bassoon when it is in storage. In addition, Khan has been able to create gifts for others around him.
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“I made a scarf for my Basque teacher; it was really pretty, and it had the colors of the Basque flag on it,” Khan said. “I gave it to her during class, and she cried tears of joy.”
Many members are self-taught, having learned to knit or crochet during the COVID-19 “craft era.” However, club president Rylee Hanlon, junior in Engineering, noted that while online tutorials are great resources, it can be hard to observe techniques due to camera angles and hand movements.
“It can get kind of frustrating, I had to quit a couple times and then come back to it,” Hanlon said. “I think it’s really common for people to give up, then come back to it and fall in love with it that way.”
The club is self-funded and works to provide its members with supplies without requiring them to pay dues. This is made possible through fundraisers where the club sells items it has made.
If the club does not need more revenue, members donate their creations. This past winter, the club held a winter clothing drive where it collected hats and scarves from its members and then donated them to the Illinois Student Council for distribution to students in need.
At the Stitching Illini, an otherwise solitary hobby turns into a connection and a place to meet peers with similar interests. While members’ skill levels range from beginner to advanced, a love for the community seems to be a connecting factor.
“(When I joined) I was really just looking for a way to meet friends and get to know other people in the fiber arts community,” Hanlon said.
