Crafting classes connect adults, tap into new skills
The laughter fills the lounge at Cleveland and then carries throughout the neighborhood branch.
At a typically quiet time on a weekday morning, Hooks and Needles bring together a lively group of women for crocheting or knitting.
“It’s a therapy you can’t pay for,” says Nyta Tilford. She’s attended the program since it began in early 2024 and loves the social aspect.
“This crew is so amazing and pleasant to be around,” she says.
From young adults to retirees, the group talks, sharing tips and catching up on their personal lives while working on blankets, hats, oven mitts or other projects.
Sometimes the subjects take a serious turn — to talk of husbands in hospice, mothers in nursing homes or life’s other difficulties — but it always finds its way back to smiles and laughter.
Programs like Hooks and Needles offer adults more than something to do. Participants find social support and tap into their creativity.
The people who attend often find deeper connections with their peers, too.
Helpful friends
After retiring from a career at Elkhart schools as a secretary, including at nearby Cleveland Elementary, Nyta says she was looking for ways to stay busy and plugged in.
“I love people,” she says.
Nyta and her husband David are avid readers and frequently come to the branch for reading material. Living across the street from the branch makes it convenient, too.
She couldn’t ask for a better neighbor, she says.
“The staff keeps it nice and is so welcoming,” she says.
When she isn’t checking out books about Applachia or the west, she loves finding craft programs to work on skills and make something new.
She started crocheting 25 years ago when her first grandchild was on the way. After making more throw blankets and hats than her family knew what to do with, she gives away most of her projects to shelters or nursing homes.
However, the people in the group keep her returning.
“It’s mostly socialization,” Nyta says. “This crew is amazing — so welcoming, helpful, pleasant to be around.”
Nyta brought her friend Carol Kunst with her to the first session back in February 2024. Carol says she was still new to needlework.
“Nyta taught me how to do hats, then I learned to make blankets here,” Carol says. “I was the beginner.”
The first project she brought to the group, a dog blanket, was causing her issues.
“I needed it tight so the dog’s nails wouldn’t go through it,” says Carol. “I told the ladies I couldn’t figure it out. My wrist was sore. I didn’t even know the names for the types of stitches. It turns out I was whipstitching the whole thing.”
Whipstitches are usually only on the edges or seams of a project, she says.
“I’ve come a long way since my first stitch,” Carol says, laughing. “They’re a wonderful, beautiful group of ladies.”
The group of regulars continues to expand, with younger adults, as well as other retirees, showing up to join in.
“It’s nice bringing the young and the old together and having something in common,” Carol says. “They’re here to learn. We help them along the way and it’s enjoyable to have them come join us.”
‘Finding community’
Tori Stack came to Osolo Branch’s Sit and Stitch program looking to get better at crocheting.
“I could only get so far with the videos online. I saw the (Sit and Stitch) posting online and it was like ‘oh my gosh, this is something I need,’” says the 33-year-old.
Tori first came to the monthly program at Osolo in the spring of 2026. She hasn’t missed one since.
“I’ve been coming religiously,” she says.
For her, beyond learning the new skills, it’s bonding with others and sharing what she learns with her daughter, Addison.
“It’s the community,” she says. “We text in the Sit and Stitch group and send stuff back and forth.”
According to Tori, her skills have improved and now she’s helping other newcomers.
“There are more seasoned people that know the craft and the new people that are learning just like you. Or like me six months ago,” she says.
“It’s not a bunch of grannies. It’s finding community that are peers…like-minded and have that diversity,” Tori adds.
Beyond skills, crafting programs build bonds among them, participants say.
‘These are my people’
Jackie Treadway didn’t need to come to Hooks and Needles at Cleveland Branch to get better at needlework.
Far from a beginner, Jackie has been crocheting since she was 12 and taught herself to knit a few years later.
She enjoys listening to podcasts and watching videos about crocheting and knitting. But she finds being in a room with others, sharing the experience, is more rewarding.
“The community when you’re with people is much better,” she says.
Jackie calls herself a ‘gift knitter.’ Most of what she makes, she gives away. Working with her hands is something she loves.
At home, she says she knits or crochets while her husband works on wood projects.
As longtime residents of the Cleveland area, Jackie and Carol say most of the attendees knew each other casually. Whether from working in the schools or through their now-grown children, they’ve crossed paths socially.
“Cleveland is very important to me,” Jackie says. “My kids went to Cleveland Elementary and some of the ladies here worked there when my children were there. I saw these are my people. I’ve met some other wonderful ladies that are my friends. My children came to Cleveland (Branch) as little ones.”
The relationship between the people and their homes meets at the library, she says.
“That’s what it’s all about doing activities together. Just like you would in your church community…you do things together, you serve,” says Jackie. “Here, we’re doing things together, we’re helping each other, it’s our Elkhart community…The library has evolved and (it) gives so much to Elkhart…it’s everything.”
Plus, it allows people like her to continue learning and growing as a person, Jackie says.
“The more you do, it enhances who you are. Everything you learn enhances who you are. It gives you a broader scope,” Jackie says.
Exercising the mind
Cheri and Jim Morauski began attending Coffee and Canvas at the downtown library in the winter of 2025.
They were looking to get out of their home in the winter, they say.
“It’s something that’s fun to do and free,” says Jim.
And Cheri adds it’s cheaper than buying supplies and starting something she might not enjoy.
“It’s an opportunity…to try something new, rather than going out to the store and purchasing all the kit and everything,” she says.
Now, over a year and a half later, the laundry room wall in their Cleveland Township home is nearly full of two copies – his and hers — of each painting they’ve done.
“We’re trying to decide where to (put them now) because the wall is full,” Jim says.
Cheri says the classes, led by local artist Linda Pieri, offer a chance to meet others.
“We’re both retired, and we tend to hibernate,” Cheri says.
Each program is typically only an hour, which Jim says works well for his energy level and breaks up the usual routine.
“When you’re retired, every day can be the same. It’s nice to get out and do something for a couple of hours. I’m not up for doing a five- or six-hour thing,” he says.
Cheri says with Jim being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, using creative and fine motor skills helps him exercise his brain.
“I think it’s helped — the learning, the socializing, the fine lines,” she says. “It pushes him to use part of his brain he doesn’t usually use.”
Before attending their first painting session, Jim says he had no experience.
“I never painted a thing in my life,” he says. “(But) I really enjoy it.”
Even if he says his work never turns out like the original.
“You have a photograph in front of you. My paintings never look like the photographs and I’m disappointed. But then the painting isn’t bad when I get home. (When) you take away what it’s supposed to look like, it looks pretty good,” says Jim. “I’ve got to get more confident to just paint my painting and not worry about what the photograph looks like.”
The couple began branching out and visiting other crafting programs, too. They also sign up for teen and adult painting sessions at Dunlap with their granddaughters.
Jim says he doesn’t mind often being the only man at the programs. He hopes others will join him.
“The guys need to come out, too. It isn’t just a girl thing,” he says.
To find upcoming crafting or painting classes, visit MyEPL.org/events.