Knitting to unwind

Clickety clackety. \nThe steady sounds of knitting needles can be heard on campus this semester because of the steady rise in popularity of knitting among college students. The sudden interest has caused knitting groups to pop up like crocheted crocuses.\n"Student interest is very high," said Marla Dawson, knitting instructor at Yarns Unlimited. "It is the busiest I have ever seen it."\nDawson teaches a four-week beginning knitting class, which is comprised by 90 minute sessions and costs $50, which includes a book.\nThe store also has several free knitting circles anyone can attend, including one at Barnes & Noble at 7 p.m. the last Tuesday of every month and also at the store 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday nights. \nIf students are looking for a place on campus to knit, there are groups in both Collins Living-Learning and Read centers. \nAlice Broughton, textiles coordinator at Collins and junior Nicole Hindes, a resident assistant at Collins, are the co-coordinators for Unwind, which meets 8 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays in the Cheshire Café in Collins.\n"Colloquially, we just call ourselves the Collins Knitting Group, but we also go by Unwind," Hindes said. \nThe group members knit projects for themselves or for others as gifts. The group is composed of knitters of all abilities, and while some are beginners just learning how to knit, others are quite \nproficient, Hindes said. \n"We pretty much just knit anything at all," said Broughton. "Some of us crochet, and some of us even cross-stitch. Last year we knitted cat toys for the animal shelter."\nThe knitting group in Read Center, led by juniors Elizabeth Camp and Liz Waskow, met last semester from Thanksgiving to before winter break. Participants knitted hats for the program Hats for the Homeless every Saturday while they watched "The OC." \nCamp said most members of the group were beginners and were instructed on how to knit a scarf. Some knitted hats, too, and all projects were donated to Hats for the Homeless. \n"The best part was that there was so much interest," Camp said. "We put so many programs on in Read and not many people come here, but we had over 20 people the first week. It was nice to bond over knitting and do something good for the homeless."\nDawson agreed with the satisfaction that comes from being with a group of knitters, saying that it's a social activity. \nFreshman Tristin Allen, a freshman who has been crocheting since her junior year of high school, said that if she'd known about the group in Read she would have joined.\n"It's very relaxing, and to see something so small grow into something so big is gratifying," she said.\nJunior Jennifer Talbott is a knitter who likes to teach the craft. \n"I do very much like to knit, and I taught my roommate freshman year, and she loves it too," Talbot said. "I've knitted a lot of scarves and it's a great way to make personalized presents. It's something to do while you watch TV and unwind after working hard all day." \nThe popularity of knitting is creating an ever-expanding market for novelty yarns and easy patterns. Dawson noted that it doesn't take a lot of technical proficiency to create something beautiful, because there are so many specialty yarns on the market.\n"Scarves are very easy to do; hats are relatively easy, and they are good beginning projects," she said.