Help to Start a Crochet Club

[RebaC]

I am interested in starting a crochet club in my rural area. I envision members meet according to their needs, get help on their projects, just share time together, ladies night out, etc. Can anyone tell me how crochet clubs actually work? How often they meet? How much are dues? Any rules? I'd appreciate your help so I can start a group.

 

Reba

[loopyliz]

I belong to a crochet club of sorts, just six of us that met while I was teaching and the others were taking my classes at a local craft store. We became friends and decided we wanted to keep getting together even after the classes were no longer being offered. We meet once a month at one of our homes (I live the farthest away at about an hour's drive; the other ladies all live within minutes of each other).

 

We basically just bring a project to stitch on and spend two hours drinking coffee, chatting, and crocheting (some of us knit, too). We often start our gatherings with "show and tell" and bring something we've finished since our last meeting so we can all "ooh and ahhhh". We also schedule yarn shopping trips where we go out of our local area to check out some yarn shops, and once a year we all go together to The Wool Gathering, a fiber festival here in Ohio. Our other "big event" is our annual Christmas party where we have a potluck, handmade ornament exchange and cookie exchange. We plan to spend the day together that day and it is always loads of fun.

 

While we call ourselves a "crochet club", we are really a closed group, as it were. We formed simply to keep in touch and we are not seeking "new members." We do not pay dues. If I were trying to set up a group involving people I didn't already know, I might start with advertising a monthly "sit and stitch" and see what might come from that. Good luck! It is so much fun to meet with others who are as crazy about yarn and crochet as I am.

[kel]

I started one when I moved to VA and didn't know a soul. I started with Meetup.com and paid the dues for 3 (or maybe 6) months - when it was time to pay the dues again I really didn't want to ask people to pay to stay so we decided to move it over to Yahoo Groups. We have been going strong for 2 years - we began with once a month meetings, then every other week, and now its weekly & in 2 different locations because we live in a widespread area, so one meeting is on the peninsula & one on the other side of the water & we try to get the entire group together every few months.

I really like Meetup and its a good way to find people in your area who are interested.

[LadiBug329]

imo you can make the rules as you see fit. If you are in a rural area, and just want to get together with others who crochet, i would start with a local library or coffee shop....you could use that as a meeting place and place a flyer there for interest. If you want to open it up to needlecrafts, you can. If you charge dues, then people are going to want to see what the dues go for...rent on a meeting place, snacks, etc.

 

I live in a very rural area, in a residential campground. There are over 2500 lots in here, with about 250 year around residents, and the rest all come down on weekends, vacations, etc. Most people who come more than 1 or 2x a month live within an hour or 2, others live farther and come usually during the warmer season. I started a craft club in November...right now we have had 3 at the most, with 3 meetings so far. We have one this Saturday, and one again on the 24th. Those are special meeting days for admin and board, so more people come down. My hopes was to get the residents to participate, but right now, I'm the only resident and the other 2 are weekenders. We don't have dues, or any rules. Its a come if you want thing. We have an online forum with over 200 people signed on, and I have a thread on there, reminding people when we are meeting, and what happened when we did meet. I think in the spring we will get more people to participate b/c more people will be coming down to get their places ready for the summer season.

[hmltwin]

I just started a crochet and knitting group a few months ago at my church. At the moment, we only meet once a month. We've got about eight people and a few others who are interested who just haven't come to any of the meetings yet. Since it's organized through my church, we don't have dues. We don't really have rules either. People bring whatever they have to work on. We chat and have snacks while we work on our projects.

 

If there are people who want to learn how to crochet (we've had a few in just the short time we've been meeting), I'm the one that's been teaching them. The idea of bringing recently finished projects is a good one. I'll have to mention that to the people in my group.

[Goldiepel]

I love the suggestions ladies. I'm thinking of getting one going in the greater Peoria Il area. I have not really ran across any. We will see. Probably after this summer, i'm sure there are not many who want to meet in the summer. With vacations and children home from school. Then again, it might be what they need for an escape. I'll have to ponder it some more. I'm so glad I ran across this post.

[chiliz345]

I love the suggestions ladies. I'm thinking of getting one going in the greater Peoria Il area. I have not really ran across any. We will see. Probably after this summer, i'm sure there are not many who want to meet in the summer. With vacations and children home from school. Then again, it might be what they need for an escape. I'll have to ponder it some more. I'm so glad I ran across this post.

 

 

Hey there Central IL! I'm in B/N, about 45 minutes away from you. I've been thinking about starting up a crochet club here as well, but I really don't even know where to start. We have a few yarn shops in town, and they have knitting get-togethers, but I don't want to go and be the only one hooking! I have even thought about posting something in the Community section of Craigslist, who knows? Good luck in getting things going

[norwinmom]

You guys are so lucky to have crochet groups. I have always run into very nice helpful people here in the 'ville. I would love to be a part of a group that meets on a regular basis and crochets together and talk crochet. But with my work schedule, it's just not possible. I get stuck working every Sunday, and I don't get to go church with my family. So it would not make sense for me to post something on a bulletin board because no one would know who I am. If I were to ask off to be able to go to church, I would probably get grief over it.

[CLLinda]

I joined a group that was started at our church by some women right after 9/11 disaster. It was a way to do something for others.

 

We mostly make things to donate to local charities. We can also work on any projects that we have to finish. No set rules. Some people knit and others crochet, and I do both.

 

It's just a fun group of women that meet every Friday morning from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. We call ourselves "Stitch and Chat", because that's what we do. I'm the youngest, but I learn so much from these women. It's a fun morning out for all of us.

 

Yarn from church members also gets donated, so we use that when we can. We have about 10 members now and you come out when you can. To me, it's just a great start to the weekend.

 

Good luck, and I hope you find or start a group. I enjoy mine very much.

 

[tnkycrochetnut]

I am so glad I came across this thread. I would love to belong to a group. I love visiting Crochetville and the group here but it would be nice to meet with others face to face. Just to sit and talk and to show and share what our latest projects are. Maybe I will start such a group. I already have 2 friends who crochet (just not as much as I do) who I would love to see more often. The added plus to that is our husbands are friends also. So maybe the guys could do something while us gals sit and crochet and gab. MMMMMM.

[CLLinda]

Gabbing is the best part of a crochet/knitting group. I love the ladies in my group and look forward to all the wonderful conversations.

 

It's just a great thing to be part of a group. I sure hope you all start ones soon.