A few weeks ago, I walked into the library on a mundane, slightly rainy afternoon and found it adorned by the creations of NASH’s Knitting and Crochet Club.
The library, plentiful in surfaces, makes for an exquisite canvas for this artistic endeavor. Pops of color hide underneath exhibits of books, a rainbow of knitted webs of varying size and color hang above the shelves, and like snowflakes, their intricate, spiraling patterns differ subtly, drawing the eye to them. The display distracts and captivates the students returning books, printing papers, and studying around the sprawling space.
The club’s current President, senior Kiki Majerac, shared how she stumbled into the role.
“Last year I was part of the club and Mrs. Rhinehart approached me about helping her run it, so I said yes,” she said.
The project came about through their mutual desire to have an objective, something for the club to aim for and collaborate on over the course of the year.
Majerac said, “This year we both wanted to work towards a goal, that’s when we decided to create a big display in the library.”
Rhinehart reflected on her time as the club’s sponsor as the year wraps up.
“It is a pleasure to host Knitting and Crochet Club. I learn from them, and the energy they have and the passion for the craft is just amazing to see,” she said. “I love their creativity, their ideas for projects, and the way they work together as a group.”
In the midst of the project, senior Jackie Junko, one of Mrs. Rhinehart’s AP Literature students, noticed a heap of yarn on the floor of the classroom from the club’s work, clearly lacking a proper home, so she decided that she would craft a place to store them. She got inspired in her woodshop class, choosing to make a bookshelf, a fitting gift for an English teacher.
She recruited a friend and fellow woodshop student, senior Jules Fuchs, to assist in the effort.
“There was a lot of math and fixing small things that went into the project,” Junko said. “It was kind of a spur of the moment decision that I dragged Jules into, but we had fun building it.”
Looking back on the project, she said, “I mean how many people can say they built a bookcase their senior year of high school.”
Co-collaborator Jules Fuchs offered her perspective of the process.
“Jackie came to me one day and told me that we were building a bookshelf for Mrs. Rhinehart,” Fuchs said.
She recalled her uncertainty of taking on the project at first.
“I was very hesitant because that’s a big project, but it ended up being a lot of fun. It took us about two months, and we did an unbelievable amount of math and got a lot of splinters,” she said.
For Fuchs, the reward was well worth the work.
“In the end, though, I’m glad we did it,” she said.
Art is a cherished gift passed from students to teachers from the rudimentary drawings of kindergarten to the intricate and stunning creations of seniors. As students grow into themselves, they find the confidence to explore, to investigate new mediums of expression.
The bookshelf and other artwork, knitted and crocheted, contribute to the beauty of our school. And with students’ time at NASH soon coming to a natural close, the legacy that we leave, the marks we make–physical or otherwise–will remain long past our departure.
