Want to learn how to crochet, but don’t know where to start? Or what if you just want to do something with your hands to relieve stress? Fiber Folks can help.
Though this is the focus of the “club”, many different kinds of art styles are discussed and celebrated at meetings. Each attendee only needs to be looking for a creative outlet and fellowship among students. The yarn, needles and a good amount of chatter is already there. If you don’t know anything, that is OK with them.
“It’s not a club or a class,” said Gillian Kaminski, the student instructor. “Either one would be too much paperwork.” However, the group prefers it this way. Club regulations on campus seems too demanding for the goal of Fiber Folks.
“Anyone can come,” said Kaminski. “Even if you’ve never picked up a hook or a needle.” A “hook” is the crochet hook, which Kaminski recommended for people getting into textile art for the first time. So are you ‘hooked’ already?
Check out this video of what they do.
“I got into textiles out of spite,” said Kaminski. “In high school, my sister brought home a bunch of knitting stuff for a girl scout badge and couldn’t do it, and I thought I could.”
Once Kaminski started knitting, the progress she made was almost instantaneous.
“My first project was a misshapen blanket. I felt bad giving it to my cats,” she said. “But I always encourage keeping your first project to look back on whenever you finish something new.
From there, Kaminski learned to crochet, knit, and embroider, all things that her employer Beth Moore, an administrative associate in the School of Art and Design at WCU, was looking for in a student instructor.
“I made it easier for them because they only needed one person, and that was me,” Kaminski said.
Kaminski is also an art education major at WCU, making the work she does with Fiber Folks a welcomed form of experience in her desired field. This isn’t the first job Kaminski has taken in the art department on campus, previously working as a studio safety supervisor and even a nude model. “I had a life of working outside of the art field, and I never want to go back,” Kaminski said.
“I enjoy teaching art because I love getting to foster creativity within individuals,” said Kaminski. “It is such an honor to see people learn and grow and know that I have a hand in it.”
Meeting times are Tuesday 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the UC and Thursday 6-8 p.m. in the Bardo Arts Center- or check their Engage page.
