When many people think of knitting, they imagine elderly women rocking back in forth in their chairs while carefully knitting baby booties. The Knit Wits upset this idea by engaging their peers in knitting for a cause.

“When we wrote the constitution for our organization, we decided that helping our community was our primary goal,” Knit Wits Treasurer Madison Danovsky said. “The Knit-A-Thon is a way for us to accomplish this goal.”

The Knit-A-Thon will take place on May 6 from 12-5 in GLC 103E, where students can come to learn to knit 8×8 inch squares to be sewn together and donated to Bridge for Youth, an organization that provides shelter for homeless youth and focuses on LGBTQIA+ identities, abused and chemically dependent people. While students knit, they can enjoy pizza and watch Lady Bird.

“When we took over the club, we knew we wanted to engage in knitting related community service,” Danovsky said. “ There are plenty of people in the Twin Cities area who do not have access to basic necessities such as gloves, hats and blankets. We wanted to make something that people could use year round. So we decided that blankets were a good choice.”

The Knit Wits are not only focused on how they can help others by knitting them goods, but also the good that can be done by knitting.

“We have a couple things we hope students take away from this: we first want to teach students how to knit/crochet and that this hobby can have many positive benefits on mental health issues that are common among college students. We also want to show students that they can help others while also enjoying themselves,” first-year and Knit Wits President Paige Daniels said. “Finally, we want everyone to know there is a community of people who want to give back to their community at Hamline.”

Even students with knitting experiences of frustration and knots are invited to attend and can learn knitting. The Knit Wits encourage anyone within the Hamline community to attend the Knit-A-Thon.

“We will be teaching everyone who comes that doesn’t know how to knit. We look forward to helping them learn a new skill. There will be plenty other people there that don’t know how to knit,” Daniel said. “We hope to see everyone there!”

Knitting needles and yarn will be supplied, so all attendees need to do is show up ready to learn. For Danovsky, learning how to knit opened up doors not only within the knitting community but within Hamline.

“This event is for anyone who is interested,” Danovky said. “Personally, I did not even know how to knit until this fall, and now I am the treasurer of the club. Knitting is fun! It’s never too late to learn a new skill and there’s no better time to than when it will help out the community.”