It’s the lunch hour on campus, and a group of staff from the Kelley School and SPEA meet on the fourth floor, as they do every Thursday. But instead of economics or public health, these staffers are talking about knitting, crocheting and sewing.

An interest group formed last February to give staff hobbyists a place to practice, and now four to five staff gather each week to discuss and work on crocheting, knitting and other needle projects.

“We were batting around names for the group and came up with Twisted Stitchers – We figured that covered everyone,” said Tammy Martin, director of finance and administration for Kelley Indy. “It’s for anyone interested in any kind of needlework. Mostly we get crochet and knitting because those are our interests.”

The four regulars also include Sherri Hendricks, retired administrative assistant to the dean at Kelley Indy; Barbara Fisher, assistant director for Executive Education at SPEA; and Cindy Grubbs, administrative assistant and recorder for Executive Education at SPEA. The group is currently working on a unique service project.

“We talked about doing a service project, and since we’re so environmentally conscious at SPEA, we decided to repurpose plastic shopping bags to make sleeping mats for people living with homelessness,” explained Fisher.

Using a crochet hook and strips of plastic bag tied together into what they call “plarn” (plastic yarn), the Twisted Stitchers have recycled thousands of plastic bags throughout the project. But crocheting with plarn is quite different from their regular material.

“You’re knitting with plastic and it’s double ply, which is more difficult,” says Martin. “Plus, you have to cut the bags into strips and roll the strips into a ball instead of just buying yarn and getting started,” added Fisher.

The three-by-six-foot mats will be donated to Horizon House, a center for people living with homelessness, and the Twisted Stitchers will be looking for another service project. But while they enjoy stitching for a cause, members work simultaneous on their own projects, too.

“There are knitters who are ‘process knitters,’ who just like to knit, and then there are ‘project knitters’ who like to have something done. I’m definitely a project knitter,” said Hendricks. “I joined the group as I was retiring from Kelley, but I learned to knit at 12 years old. When Tammy decided she wanted to try a sock, we started getting together to knit and then the group formed.”

Hendricks has knit nine pairs of socks and is working on Christmas stockings for her grandchildren, Max and Tessa. Plus, she enjoys making custom-fit socks for herself and her children.

“I like to knit because you have something when you’re finished; you’re working toward something,” she said.

“Knitting gives my hands something to do,” adds Martin. “I found myself watching TV in the evenings and falling asleep. Knitting is relaxing and it gives me something to do.”

“I learned to knit, crochet and sew at a very young age. In fact, I sewed my first dress when I was seven years old,” said Fisher. “But I hadn’t done any projects for about 20 years, until I decided to knit hats for the homeless a couple of years ago. Cindy, Tammy, Sherri and I talked about forming a needle-art interest group here at work, and that is how this group was formed. It’s nice to get together with people of similar interests.”

And as a group based at a university, the Twisted Stitchers never stop learning. Not only do they bring particularly challenging projects to meetings for advice from one another, the group also features demonstrations by various staff members.