Fit to knit at Lena Whitmore
Dec. 16—For more than a dozen students at Lena Whitmore Elementary School in Moscow, Monday means a trip to Lindsey Lee's classroom for the knitting club. The students sit in groups on the floor — or in chairs — and chat while they work on their projects.
The students are working on hats of various sizes, colors and textures. By now, they all know how to make their stitches and use their looms so Lee, a fulltime fourth-grade teacher at Lena, walks around the room checking in and answering questions.
This week, the class session was also a celebration of the semester's work: 34 hats and counting.
Lee and her daughter, Naya, now in fifth grade, started the club last year with seven students. Naya received a loom knitting kit for Christmas and soon taught her mom the basics. Lee said she pitched the idea of a knitting club to the school administration and was given the green light to proceed.
"(Naya) and I came up with the idea to teach others (together)," Lee said.
The club last year finished 29 hats, all donated to Family Promise of the Palouse, a nonprofit that serves families experiencing homelessness in Whitman and Latah counties. Some of the students from the first group returned as student mentors to teach new members.
The students in the club do not need experience in loom knitting or any kind of knitting, Lee said, and spend the first few weeks learning how to start their hat, make the stitches and shape them. They also make pom poms to decorate the tops of the hats when finished.
Recently, the club was awarded $200 from Joann Fabric and Crafts, a $750 grant from the Moscow Education Foundation and a private donation of $150. The money will be used to purchase additional yarn or other supplies as the club grows.
The club is now broken into semesters due to demand, Lee said, with 15 more students being placed on the waitlist for the next class.
Lee said she asks students to set a goal and work to achieve it.
"Some kiddos will crank out a hat a week and some will do one hat the whole time," Lee said.
Ari Richardson and Olivia Hattenburg, both in the fourth grade, each completed five hats by Monday's celebration.
Richardson said it was her second time in the knitting club and joined because it sounded like fun. She said it was stressful at first but after a few weeks she got the hang of it.
This fall marks Hattenburg's first time in the knitting club, but she had the guidance of her older sister who had participated the year before. She said that it was fun to see her friends and help others.
"I think it's a really cool idea that we're knitting hats for those in need," Hattenburg said.
Nelson can be reached at knelson@dnews.com.
