Knitting & Crochet

You don’t need to know whether you’re a knitter or a crocheter before you begin. Instructors Melanie Mimms and Jill Astin support both crafts and can help you discover which one best fits your natural strengths and style. Complete beginners will work through guided projects designed to teach essential stitches and skills, from choosing yarn to reading patterns, so they leave feeling competent and confident enough to continue creating on their own. More experienced makers can strengthen their technique, take on new challenges, or bring a current project for hands-on guidance.

As the skills become familiar, the rhythmic, focused movements of knitting and crochet can give busy hands and minds somewhere to settle. Research supports what makers have long known: crafting can promote calm and well-being. People with demanding careers and high-stress lives often find these lifelong hobbies offer a welcome way to slow down, focus, and unwind.

With a mix of skill levels, everyone learns from and encourages one another. Past classes have become genuinely close-knit, with students continuing to meet and support each other through projects even outside of class. Whether you’re picking up yarn for the first time or returning to a longtime hobby, you’ll find a welcoming place to learn, unwind, and create together.

About the instructors:

Melanie Mimms has been Crafting with yarn since she could walk. After retirement, and finding the perfect Co-Teacher to teach with, she is happy to teach a class that takes students from the known to the unknown.

Jill Astin learned to knit at age 7. When she became serious about knitting, she took every class I could. Then she found out about The Knitting Guild of America's Master Knitting Program. She has completed 2 of 3 levels. She has taught for 25 years through the Adult Ed programs at both Granite and Salt Lake Districts.