Students learned the process of turning yarn into hats in the Knots of Love: crocheting for good WinterMission course. All hats were donated to the Knots of Love foundation.
Knots of Love crochets for good
Over the four days of Wintermission, 14 students gathered to put their love and care into learning the skill of crocheting in order to create hats and donate them to the Knots of Love non- profit organization.
Founded in 2007 by Christine Fabiani, Knots of Love is a charity focused on donating handmade hats to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Upper School History Teacher Colleen Roche and Upper School Math Teacher Arlene Casey created this course on crocheting together after discovering the foundation in their Wintermission planning process.
Roche came across Knots of Love last summer through an internet search. “I went through a number of different groups before I settled on Knots of Love. There is a website called Charity Navigator that will give a score to charities, and they got 100% whereas some of the others I was looking at did not,” she said.
Roche and Casey decided to focus on crocheting for their Wintermission to be a power for good in the world; both teachers learned the skill at a young age and enjoyed its hands-on experience.
“We live in a time where so much of our day is taken up by electronics, so I liked the idea of making this course a chance for students to gain that skill and have that joy of creating something that is low-tech,” Roche said. We live in a time where so much of our day is taken up by electronics, so I liked the idea of making this course a chance for students to gain that skill and have that joy of creating something that is low-tech — Colleen Roche
Senior Grace Vogel echoed Roche’s sentiments, saying she also enjoyed the hands-on time away from technology. “It was really calming, and a spiritual experience. My friends and everyone in the course bonded through it,” she said.
For Casey, a highlight of Wintermission was seeing the students’ progression as they learned to crochet. “I remember having conversations with several people on day one being like ‘I’m not gonna be able to finish a hat for you’, and on day two people were like ‘I get it, it’s making sense,” she said. “It was really exciting to be able to see a visible product of their growth as hats there on the table.”
Aside from crocheting hats, the group also traveled together to Joann Fabrics, The Queens County Farm Museum, and talked over zoom with Knots of Love founder Fabiani. During the online meeting, Fabiani shared insights on how the company was founded as well as its impact today. “I started just from a passion of mine, and my son saying, ‘Make me a beanie’. And now here we are, we’ve donated our 500,000th beanie,” she said.
Fabiani also said to the students, “You are making something for someone that you’ll never know, and they’re going to receive it, for free. And knowing that someone handmade it means the world to those we donate to. Don’t worry if your beanie isn’t perfect, it’s a style, and remember that you can always plop on a flower.”