Walking down the aisle of Walmart, senior Taylor Joens picked up a pair of knitting needles. Joens stood looking at yarn for 20 minutes before purchasing multicolored blue and green yarn.

Senior Melinda Paszkiewicz, freshman Taryn Knuth, and Joens went to Walmart after leaving the state volleyball tournament. “We walked in and Melinda knew what she was doing,” Joens said.

It was Knuth and Joens’ first time knitting and they were not really sure what to buy. “I just wanted one that was like a neutral color or not as good since it was my first one. So if I messed up it wouldn’t matter,” Joens said.

After that night, the girls started taking the knitting needles everywhere they went.

“It just kind of caught on with the team and everybody wanted to learn and everyone got a pair of knitting needles,” Joens said.

Many teenagers associate knitting with older people. Nowadays almost 20% of knitters across America are under the age of 34, according to the Craft Yarn Council. There are three main reasons for learning how to knit: busy work, stress relief and gifts. For the volleyball team it was so they could form a stronger bond. Knitting became something they could talk about in their free time and during games.

“We are already a close knit group, but this is definitely something that ties us together even more since we can all do it together,” Paszkiewicz said.

Word got around school about the new hobby of the volleyball team. “I think just us as a whole just sort of encouraged others to take it up,” Joens said.

Knitting became a trend around the entire school and people were knitting like there was no tomorrow. “I was a little bit obsessed and then it was Thanksgiving break so I knitted a bunch then,” senior Carmen Vajgrt said.

The assumption might be that knitting is only for girls. However, senior Carter Mehls also tried it. “When you think of boys knitting it’s just not the cool thing to do and that turns a lot of guys away,” Mehls said.

Some knit at school.

“I see people knitting in a couple of my classes and hear all about it on Twitter and Instagram,” Paskiewicz said.

The most popular item knitted is a scarf. Scarves cost around $20 each depending on where they are purchased. A ball of yarn costs from $3-8 at Hobby Lobby and a pair of needles will cost around $5. “It’s way cheaper,” Vajgrt said.

It is also the holiday season and that means there are gifts to be purchased. Creating a handmade scarf or hat makes a wonderful present.  “I think it means so much more to the person you are giving it to if it is hand made,” Mehls said. “It shows them that you care enough to take the time to make it for them.”

Knitting also makes the knitter feel good.

“You feel really proud of yourself afterwards,” Vajgrt said.