Spanning from Oct. 24 to Nov. 14, Craft for a Cause, the four week knitting series which gathers participants to create blankets for the YWCA women and children’s shelter, will take place in Reid Campus Center.
Michelle Keith, a Whitman alumna and owner of Knit-o-Chet, and Lina Menard, the Center for Community Service coordinator, inspired this event.
“I stopped by her yarn shop last fall. Michelle offered to donate supplies and volunteer her time to teach Whitman students how to knit for a good cause,” said Menard.
Whitman students, faculty and staff can participate alongside members from the Walla Walla community. The first class within this series is a beginner’s class which is restricted to only Whitman college members, but after that this affair is open to the knitters within the Walla Walla community.
The cover charge is $5; those who want to participate in this event can stop by Lina Menard’s office in Reid Campus Center starting Monday, Oct. 20. With the cover charge one receives a Craft for a Cause kit which includes six patterns for the squares, and yarn. Experienced knitters need to bring size nine needles for the project. Participants are to attend the gatherings every Friday from 1-3 p.m. for four weeks. In the final week, Keith will help stitch together the final product. At the five week mark, the 6×6 squares created by all the participants will be assembled into blankets.
Craft for a Cause is put on in collaboration with the Arts and Crafts Series and the Center for Community Service. This year the coordinators for the Arts and Crafts Series, Mary-Eileen Gallagher and Aakanksha Veenapani, are expanding the series. The craft series has a blog (collegecrafts.blogspot.com), they are hosting more events and are providing community service opportunities through crafts. This isn’t the first time Keith and the Arts and Crafts Series have collaborated on a project. She was an integral part and leader of a knitting workshop put on last spring.
The Whitman staff and faculty are being reached through The Fountain, their newsletter, and Menard also visited Walla Walla’s Stitch ‘n’ Bitch group.
“The Arts and Crafts Series is about fostering creativity and building community,” said Gallagher. Whereas Arts and Crafts Series workshops are normally approximately two hours long with a limited number of participants, Craft for a Cause allows flexibility. “What is so great about Craft for a Cause is that it will continue for five weeks and bring all sorts of knitters–beginners to advanced–together for a greater purpose,” said Gallagher.
