We’re definitely not in the time where we need to make our clothes from scratch, but at the same time, we shouldn’t throw away an article of clothing just because it’s missing a button that fell off. For all who want to learn the basics of knitting, relax, or learn a new hobby, Windham High School has started a knitting club and welcomes all.
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| Windham High School Knitting Club member Juliet Cox instructs Reegan Burke about proper knitting techniques. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
The club meets on Tuesdays after school from 2 to 3 p.m. in the high school library.
Michaud was originally raised in the Aroostook County and spends much of her time leading a local knitting Guild, knitting, teaching, and weaving.
She has been an avid knitter for the past 30 years, often designing her own patterns. Michaud says that knitting brings joy to her life, and she loves teaching it.
According to Michaud, knitting has always allowed her the freedom to create cloth and fabric from multiple strands of yarn and fiber. It helps her relax and turn down the volume and pattern work is one of her favorite areas of knitting that she enjoys.
After moving to the Lakes Region and joining the knitting guild in 2017, she volunteered first as the organization’s outreach coordinator and then moved into a leadership position.
“The LKGM was established in 2015 amongst some work buddies, which quickly grew and became a nationally recognized knitting guild,” says Michaud. “We are the largest knitting guild in the state of Maine and belong to The Knitting Guild Association. As some may know, craft guilds have been a very important part of communities throughout the world for thousands of years. They often define standards and play essential roles in educating people to keep a craft alive.”
The goals of Start2KnitMaine program were developed in 2019. They are two-fold starting with educating the next generation about the slow craft of knitting and informing young Mainers to the rich fiber resources available in our state.
A pilot program was launched in 2020, but abruptly halted by the impact of the pandemic. Michaud restarted the program in the spring of 2022 with in-person free classes for adults at the Windham Public Library. At that same time, Sue Ellen Gendron asked Michaud to work with a Windham High School senior, Reegan Burke, to meet her capstone goals.
“Burke was quickly welcomed to the LKGM, attending and learning during our guild meetings and teaching at the Cumberland Fair,” says Michaud. “During this time, Burke introduced me to a Windham High School teacher interested in creating a knitting club at Windham High. We met a few times to outline our goals, identify stakeholders, establish a program framework, and source equipment.”
Michaud says that she was very excited by the opportunity to link the LKGM with a high school.
The guild has a wealth of outstanding members with incredible skills and 14 members participated in the Cumberland Fair exhibition hall and loved it. Partnering with a local high school was an enduring way to share their love of this craft with the youth of Maine, Michaud said.
Amy Kneeland is the faculty advisor at WHS for the knitting club.
“Reegan Burke (a WHS 2022 graduate) was a participant at the end of last year, and she was the one who asked if I would be willing to take over as faculty advisor,” says Kneeland. “Possibly due to the pandemic, we have a strong interest in students who wanted to learn to knit. We have about 20 students currently, and most learned how to knit for the first time this October with us.”
Michaud provides lesson plans for the club and an "arc" for them to follow. She provides the instruction, and the club now has four volunteers from the guild teaching.
“They first taught us how to cast on, then to knit stitch. They helped us through a sampler of a handful of different stitches, and now the goal is for everyone to have a project to work on over break,” says Kneeland.
The first few knitting club meetings were spent looking at projects, different kinds of yarn, and getting a feel for using the needles. Many of the members struggled with casting early on.
Now, groups typically sit in the same groups with the same instructor, and work on their own project. The whole point is to relax, build community, and create something.
“We catch up with each other, get help as needed from the instructors, then we take a snack break about halfway through, and the second half is spent making sure everyone has what they need, skill, yarn, questions answered, whatever else is needed, to take their projects home for the next week,” Kneeland said. “We do have several members who don't knit at home and only knit here during club time.”
Kneeland said that the guild has a spot at the fair at the end of the summer, and she would really love to have some of the WHS students there next year to represent the Start2Knit program.
Annabelle Demar is a sophomore at WHS and a member of the knitting club. For her, the club caught her interest because she was interested in learning how to knit. She likes the club, the people, and the people who are teaching how to knit.
“I believe everyone needs a way to express themselves,” said Michaud. “There are so many ways. Teaching knitting is a way to share my joy.” <
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