What started as two freshmen with a shared hobby has grown into one of the school’s newest and most unexpected clubs. The crochet club, founded at the start of this school year by freshmen Sofia Woster and Nitya Narayanan, meets every Thursday at 8:20 a.m and welcomes everyone from beginners to intermediate crocheters.
Club members gather for about 25 minutes of work time, collaborating on their projects and catching up with each other. More experienced members often step in to reteach fundamentals and encourage newer ones to grow.
“Even though crochet is often seen as a ‘solo’ activity, it can actually be very social,” Woster said. “Doing it with a group of people can be a lot of fun and very collaborative.”
In just one year, the club has built a tight knit community, and already made a difference in the other parts of Austin. Woster came across posts on social media about premature babies in the NICU at Dell Children’s hospital who would pull on their medical wires, mistaking them for umbilical cords and injuring themselves. The solution, she learned, was a crocheted jellyfish. Its tentacles mimic the umbilical cord, giving babies something safe to grab onto instead.
“I thought this project would be a great way to help support the Austin community and also give the crochet club members a chance to make a change in our city,” Woster said.
After navigating the logistics of a large-scale donation, and coordinating a drop-off at Dell Children’s Hospital, the group delivered 17 plushies to babies in the NICU.
“I was very impressed to watch them take on the jellyfish project,” club sponsor and geometry teacher Ainsley Pylant said. “It was a huge group effort, and they got to donate those in a really special way. It was a great way to use a simple, fun thing to bring a smile to someone’s face who might need it the most.”
The club operates entirely without school funding, with Woster and Narayanan covering expenses out of pocket. Meetings are open to all skill levels, and new members are always welcome.
“We are hoping that next year we can do more donation projects for the community and continue to expand the crochet club,” Narayanan said. “One of these projects is donating crocheted gloves, hats and more for the cold winter months.”
For a club that started with two freshmen and a shared hobby, the impact has been anything but small. For the leaders and members who show up to the meetings, it turns out that a little really does go a long way.
“It feels amazing to know that something we created made a difference in these kids’ lives,” Narayanan said. “It was a small way to help the community, but it helped nonetheless and made a big impact. It goes to show that a little goes a long way.”
