Art teacher Sookie LeMahieu doesn’t know how to knit, but she did inspire Ellwood Elementary students to learn and use their creations to “yarn bomb” the Goleta campus.

Inspiration struck when LeMahieu saw other teachers online “yarn bomb” their schools, and she thought it could be fun to decorate one area of campus with yarn. When another Ellwood teacher suggested that students could finger knit, she decided to give it a try.

Now it’s hard not to find colorful, knitted creations while walking around Ellwood.

LeMahieu set out with the goal to beautify Ellwood and bring the community together. Last year, she got the school involved in making the world’s largest puzzle, which was 60,000 pieces, and this year, she taught students how to finger knit and then used the kids’ creations to decorate the campus. 

“With COVID, and the families not really being a part of the school and on campus as much for the last couple of years, I wanted to do something school-wide and community-wide,” LeMahieu said. 

Students finger knitted and made long chains to tie together and wrap around the school. To get the students excited, LeMahieu turned it into a contest to see which class could knit the most in four weeks.

The contest ended this month, and the winners were Taylor Loria’s fifth-grade class, who together knitted 28 pounds of yarn. All of the yarn used was donated or bought with a $1,000 grant from Village Properties.

“In my classroom, I’ve seen students who normally wouldn’t work together enjoy working together, seek each other out,” Loria said. “There’s just been a more calm environment from using your hands to create something and a lot of problem-solving and strategy-building.”

LeMahieu said she saw all kids from all grades get into knitting. She would notice kids at recess and lunch knitting and heard from parents that their kids were knitting at home and at restaurants. One student even knitted while watching the Super Bowl. 

One parent told LeMahieu that her daughter in second grade had started knitting with her grandma, a hobby that brought them together after the student’s grandfather passed. 

LeMahieu doesn’t know how to knit herself. She learned how to finger knit online and then taught students to do the same.

Students said they loved getting into the competitive spirit and seeing their creations throughout campus. One student started a knitting club during recess under the play equipment. 

“We were doing it at each recess and lunch, and we would just have different groups of people come and we would all knit together,” Sophia, an Ellwood fifth-grader, said. 

One student said they taught their mom and grandma how to knit and they are now working on their own scarves. Another student said they were able to teach their sisters how to knit.

In order for everyone to learn, LeMahieu had many of the older students teach the younger students. Candice Loretto, a fifth-grade teacher at Ellwood whose class came in second place in the competition, said she was amazed to see students working together. 

“It’s neat to see a kid walk up to another student and ask for help, especially if they are usually resistant to get help from even a teacher or a peer,” Loretto said. “The teamwork process was pretty amazing to watch; they took it and ran with it.”

Ellwood Principal Ned Schoenwetter credits LeMahieu for bringing students together and getting them excited about art.

“We always want to emphasize the arts with kids, getting them excited about learning how to finger knit, and then being able to display that around the school has been a very engaging and fun activity and brought our school community together,” Schoenwetter said.