A group of Boston University students gathered in a small classroom Tuesday night, knitting needles in tow, to relax for an hour of chatting and knitting for Katie’s Caps, a BU club that donates caps to children who have lost their hair as a result of chemotherapy.
Despite the meeting’s official postponement until next week because of the university’s Tuesday schedule change, Katie’s Caps still drew about 15 volunteers.
Club founder and President Shelby Ebert, a School of Education senior, said she started the club after her best friend, Katie Andryca, lost her battle to Acute Myeloid Leukemia in 2001.
“I learned how to knit this past summer, and then realized that I could knit more than scarves – I could knit hats,” Ebert said in an email.
Ebert said she began knitting the caps for young cancer victims over the summer. When she started her senior year at BU, she noticed that knitting was a growing trend on campus, “not just an activity that older people engaged in.”
“I put two and two together and thought, wow – I can give back to people that gave to Katie,” she said.
With the help of her friend Nicole Maisner, a College of Arts and Sciences senior and now the club’s vice president, Ebert formed the organization at BU in fall 2003.
After posting flyers around campus, the club grew from two members to more than 15. On Tuesday, knitting veterans mingled with curious first-timers at the group’s third meeting.
“Our group has grown tremendously, and we are always accepting new members,” Ebert said. “We even have guys knitting.”
Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences senior Anne Fecko said she was drawn to the club by the opportunity to learn something new.
“I always wanted to learn how to knit,” Fecko said she thought when she first saw the club’s flyer.
Others said they were excited at the idea of a unique community service project.
“It’s nice to do something, especially when it’s for a good cause,” College of General Studies sophomore Lindsay Dennis-Litinger said.
“It’s nice to have a project to do for someone else,” said CAS junior Alexis Lowe, who said her roommate told her about the club.
College of Communication freshman Kate Speach, a first-time visitor to Katie’s Caps, said “it seems like a really good thing to do.”
Speach said she had never knitted before and was surprised at the number of students who came with their own supplies and began knitting with ease. But students who had attended the club’s first meeting with no experience said the club was a comfortable atmosphere in which to learn.
The club’s officers begin each meeting by giving first-time knitters knitting needles and yarn. They then teach inexperienced knitters the basic stitch, while helping second-time visitors learn how to purl, or knit two patterns into a single piece. Sitting on desks, yarn trailing from their purses, everyone “sits around, knitting and talking,” SED sophomore Erin Rolek said.
While some chat, their hands flying as they expertly knit elaborate blankets or scarves, others concentrate on mastering “knit 1, purl 2” and good-naturedly compare their hole-ridden masterpieces.
“It’s a very friendly atmosphere,” said SED freshman Lisa Cheng. Although she learned how to knit before coming to club meetings, “the president helped clarify a lot of technical things,” she said.
Katie’s Caps member Brittni Homer, a College of Engineering freshman, said she now knits on a regular basis, after learning on her own.
“Engineering homework gets kind of old, and this is something new to do,” she said.
At the end of the academic year, the club will donate the caps to local hospitals.
“Hopefully they will allow us to meet with the children and teens that will be receiving our hats,” Ebert said.