OLV students crochet scarves for nursing home residents

Dec. 12--William Wright listened in awe as his grandmother, Julia Garcia, taught him how to crochet.

"I am really close with my grandparents. I love them so much," William, 14, said. "This is a hobby she likes."

Two weeks before class, the Our Lady of Victory Catholic School eighth-grader unknowingly prepared for school through the hobby he wanted to enjoy.

"I wanted to start before I knew it was an elective," William said. "I saw it and said, 'Yes, I have to do it.'"

The eight-student, eighth-grade crocheting class, made of two girls and six boys, sat in a knitting circle as they chatted about their schoolwork and teachers while they made two frilly-knit scarves each for the residents at the Twin Pines Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Cerulean and cornflower blue and olive and moss green ruffle yarn with touches of gold and silver metallic thread glistened inches from the floor as students compared their scarf-making progress.

Andrew Rivera's azure scarf trailed down from his lap along the white classroom floor.

From a difficult first experience, he developed his own crochet technique.

"I lay it on my leg and go through 13 times," Andrew, 13, said. "It's hard to explain."

William Carrasco picked each dark blue yarn loop with his left hand one by one, one by one.

Learning to crochet as a left-handed person was difficult, he said.

"I think about how it looks, feels and think about the project," Carrasco said.

To keep the spirit of knitting alive, William Wright plans to share what he learned with his grandmother. Before then, he said he looks forward to delivering the scarves to the nursing home residents.

"I hope they feel happy, proud, joyful," he said.

The group taught by Teresa Childress, an Our Lady of Victory English teacher, always ends the year with a community project.

Andrew said putting thought and hard work into their projects is what counts and makes them special.

"I hope it brings them hope," he said. "Someone still cares about them."

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