Club introduces students to knitting
What wears a mask, travels by night with maximum stealth and carries two needles? A Knitting Ninja of course.
Cy Whitling | Rawr
Rachel Foss, the president of Knitting Ninjas, helps Hannah LaPier with a project at the Ninjas’ first meeting of the year.
The Knitting Ninjas is a University of Idaho club dedicated to sharing the art and joy of knitting. Club founder Rachel Foss has been a dedicated knitter since the age of 10.
Foss said Knitting Ninjas simply provides a knitting community for anyone — faculty, staff or student — regardless of their previous knitting ability or experience. Foss said members use the club as an opportunity to meet others who share their passion, as well as a place to learn and practice knitting skills.
At the club’s first meeting of the year, members talked about projects from last year and helped each other get started on new ones as they munched cookies. The tone is laid back, the ninjas prefer to knit to music and cheerful conversation that punctuates the clicks of their needles.
In addition to working on personal projects, the members of the club are planning on doing some community service knitting in the upcoming year. The club plans on knitting hats for the local homeless as well as knitting blankets and sweaters for dogs in the animal shelter.
Foss is no stranger to charitable knitting. She has a history of wielding her needles for others that dates back to high school when she knit hats for people affected by the earthquake in Japan.
Knitting weaves a common thread through much of what Foss does. From a research paper on the stress relieving benefits of knitting to multiple knitting projects completed during class. Foss is a missionary for the activity.
Although Foss is officially the president of the Knitting Ninjas, her unofficial title is Sensei. The Ninjas prefer this title since it conveys a teaching aspect that they find to be important. As the leader of the Ninjas, Foss not only organizes and runs meetings, but also leads and helps less experienced knitters.
Foss said she continues to find new knitters all around her at the university. From her advisor to Mary Beth Staben, the university is full of knitters. Communities naturally form among knitters, the activity lends itself to conversation and knitters are always eager to share advice and projects, Foss said.
The club aims to foster and grow these communities by offering a pressure-free learning environment for beginner knitters, and helping more experienced knitters grow and progress in their skills.
Knitting Ninjas also focuses on passing down skills to the next generation of knitters. The members of the club are enthusiastic, and excited to introduce any and everyone to the activity. Foss’ elder sister Shannon, another Ninja summed it all up:
“Knitting is just all about the socialization.”
Cy Whitling can be reached at [email protected]