Throughout students’ high school career, many will find themselves exploring new interests in their free time, whether it be delving into the arts, involving oneself into sports, or even getting themselves into literature. For senior Katie Ingram, she threw herself into her childhood hobby of crocheting. In December, Katie was able to spread her idea to Principal Randy Cobb and the Student Leadership Committee to create a club in which she can share her hobby with other artists and anyone aspiring to find a new interest in crafting.

Katie has been crocheting on and off since she was in elementary school and was inspired by her mom’s co-workers to practice after school in the cafeteria.

“It was nice [to have a group of people to crochet with] because having a group of people motivating me and encouraging me when I felt like I wanted to quit inspired me to keep going,” Katie said.

As her schedule started to change as she got older, Katie was not able to meet up with her mom’s co-workers as often and began to crochet less and less. She hopes for her club to be a place to help her members grow and improve at a constant, steady pace.

“If I continued to learn consistently when I was younger, I would have improved a lot faster,” she said. “But because I was so on-and-off with it, it took me years to be able to make consistent stitches.”

Being able to crochet can benefit students and families by being able to provide a second source of income or even just for personal forms of clothing or accessories.

“I really wanted to get better at crocheting to be able to make useful things,” she said. “ It’s a handy skill to have. I like being able to have the option of a secondary source of income if I ever need it.”

For any beginners who hope to try their hand at crocheting, Katie suggests staying within a social circle of other crocheters and using resources like YouTube to help them learn while at home.

“Without being inspired by other people around me, I don’t think I would have continued with as much passion as I do now,” she said. “That feeling of getting praise from your friends when you finish a project is like no other.”