FHC offers a multitude of after-school activities and clubs that students can partake in: one of these is the crochet club. The club is a place to learn and grow in skill and knowledge of crochet, where everyone is welcome. Junior Iman Hammad first created the club to share her love of crocheting with other people. 

“I really wanted to start something that the art department didn’t provide for students,” Iman said, “especially with my type of art that’s really different from just ceramics and drawing. I really wanted to allow others’ creativity to bloom without pencil and paper.”

Besides crocheting, Iman also believes that the club provides a positive environment that helps people destress after long school weeks. Although the club is, as of right now, just a place to crochet, she finds it’s a way to better educate people about the lesser-known art of it.

“A lot of my friends inspired me [to start the club],” Iman said. “I was asking around, ‘Should I start this club?’ and a lot of my friends said it was a good idea. A lot of people want to learn and get to know [how to crochet]. A lot of people also don’t know the difference between crochet and knitting, apparently. So I guess it’s my time to bring up the English definition and allow others to understand how great it is for not just myself to teach but also for others to learn and understand it.”

Currently, the club is a place to make your own designs, but soon, Iman hopes to expand to weekly projects and more lessons into the more challenging parts of crochet. Some of the projects she plans to start are crochet bees, granny squares, and garlands for teachers.

Even if you have no experience with crochet, the club is a great place to start and learn how to crochet in an accepting community. Along with newfound crochet skills, the club also provides new friendships with people who have similar interests. One student who shares this interest is sophomore Monia Abbas. She joined the club just a month ago and started with no prior experience in crocheting. 

“I joined the club about a month ago, and I had actually never crocheted before [joining] the club,” Monia said, “and Iman taught me some of the basics and encouraged me to try on my own at home with some YouTube videos.”

Monia, like Iman, finds the club a relaxing place and uses crochet as a distraction from some more stressful aspects of her life. She even brings friends there and considers the shared hobby an excellent way to bond with people.

“I wanted to start crocheting because I’ve always loved the idea of having a relaxing hobby to do while listening to an audiobook or watching a show,” Monia said. “My friend Audrey usually comes with me, and I like just being able to have a hobby that we’re learning together.”

Junior Lilian Krug also joined the club with barely any previous knowledge of crochet, and due to the great leadership of Iman—and YouTube—she has already advanced past some of the more basic patterns. She only joined last Friday but already finds that the community is one of the best parts of the club.

“I recently taught myself through YouTube how to crochet,” Lilian said, “and I thought it would be really fun to meet up with others who also share similar interests and to make new projects. My aunt [inspired me]. She is a really big crocheter, and she would always send [me] pictures of her latest projects, and I thought that they were really cool.”

The crochet club has brought together many people, and through fun projects and great leadership, the club will continue to grow in size and skill as they advance through all sorts of techniques.

“If you’re really fast at learning, [the club] is a great way to [incorporate] something new into your life,” Iman said. “[It’s good] to get a new hobby and meet people as well. It’s a great way to combine different grades and just get to know each other as people and not just as [strangers] we see in the hallways. I feel like people should join the club not just for their enhancement in skills and abilities, but to calm down and meet people. Crochet Club is a very open space where we let go of all of the negative things and enjoy our day as crocheters.”