Yesterday after school between 3:15 and 4:00 PM, the high school hosted a meeting of the Thread Up Club, a club for fiber arts. The meeting was held in room 106, sponsored by Mrs. Connie Shoemaker and subsequent meetings will be held Thursdays every other week. 

The club was started by sophomores Mary Harris and Paige Gibbs, who wanted to create a fun environment to learn and practice fiber arts. Students pursue a variety of techniques, including crochet and knitting

“We’ve got one person who’s making a giant hotdog pillow and I’ve seen scarves, and then we’ve got some people that are just learning, so they haven’t really made anything other than just getting on the needles,” Shoemaker said. 

Students are encouraged to join, even if they have no prior experience, as a way to relieve stress, have fun, and connect with their past. 

“It’s more of an opportunity to bring back old age stuff that you don’t usually hear about or do anymore. It’s better to bring back the old techniques that we used to make stuff,” Harris said.

In the future, the club hopes to grow and begin to make projects that could be donated to a good cause.

“It would be nice if we could get a lot more people involved in this club and we can also teach them how to make scarves and hats for people who don’t have it,” Harris said.

The club also addresses the school’s lack of a fiber arts class by teaching students new techniques that can help them create the things they want to.

“I do teach a crafts class where we do baskets and things like that, but I haven’t really taught knitting and crochet, other than in the clubs, so hopefully I’ll have people who come and enjoy it,” Shoemaker said. 

The Thread Up club at Rolla High school is a great place to go after school every other Thursday for those who are seeking to have a fun time learning about and making fiber arts projects.

“[The club] is a very fun thing and you’re making useful, purposeful, [things] and there’s some fun people in there with the same interests as you,” Shoemaker said.