Members of Dickinson’s new club, Stitch It Up, are hoping to see the group’s goal, which is to create a group that allows students to try various types of fiber arts, in action soon. 

 What they might not know is that the club, which began this fall, was years in the making. “That actually started over the class page before school started freshman year,” co-founder Ilana Fay ’19 said. “People were saying how they could knit…it’s been in the works for four years.”

 “I got dragged into it,” co-founder Julia Bray ’19 added jokingly, referring to how she learned several fiber crafts after her first year at Dickinson, having never sewn before. 

 Whenever Fay, Bray and co-founder Lena Friedman ’19 would ask others about their thoughts on the idea of a crafting group, they consistently received positive feedback. They eventually decided to form the organization, securing a club sponsor and progressing through the approval process. 

 Initially, the club received a strong amount of interest during the Activities Fair on Sept. 9, where 105 students signed up to join Stitch It Up. 

 “We’re a club that’s really open to anyone, if you’ve never touched a ball of yarn in your life or if you compete and you’re entering knitting competitions,” Fay said. 

 Their biggest plan for the year is to make Stitch It Up an established presence on Dickinson’s campus—to “get this club started”, in the words of Fay. With three seniors serving as the current executive board, keeping the organization sustained past their graduation is a priority. 

 Besides giving students a place to develop skills in fiber crafting, Fay, Bray and Friedman also envision Stitch It Up collaborating with charities both national and local. They hope to contribute to Project Linus, an organization which distributes volunteer-made blankets across the nation to children in need. Carlisle C.A.R.E.S., a local group providing emergency shelter and resources for the homeless, is another potential option. 

“I want to yarn bomb [the statue of Benjamin] Rush,” Bray said, referring to the act of covering a public structure in knitted material. “Give him a sweater and leg warmers.”

 “But we have to make sure we can do that,” Fay laughed.

 Stitch It Up holds meetings every other week; interested members can contact the group through Engaged for upcoming times and locations.