A knitting club at Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School has expanded to include people from all over the community, from neighbors to grandparents to nursing home residents. Visiting Minnie Krauthamer, 91, second from right, who has been knitting blankets for their project, on a recent Friday, are, from left, Jessica Listhaus, Deena Buechler, and Diana Izrailova. Photo by Johanna Ginsberg
May 15, 2008
A high school crocheting club is stitching together generations while comforting Israeli families.
Members of the club, which meets at Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston, crochet blankets for babies at Shaare Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem.
The club’s ranks have grown beyond the original 11th-grade girls to include parents, grandparents, neighbors, friends, and residents of the Daughters of Israel nursing home in West Orange and CareOne senior care facility in Livingston.
Three young members of the club came to Daughters of Israel on May 2 to drop off material for Minnie Krauthamer, 91.
“I’ve been doing this for years. No one in my family ever bought a sweater,” Krauthamer said proudly, as she handed off about 10 blankets she had just finished.
Krauthamer has knitted for a variety of organizations, from NCJW to Jewish Family Service of MetroWest to the Red Cross.
“I always have to do something with my hands,” she said. “I do this for other people because this is what I am. I love babies.”
Krauthamer and her high school-age visitors chatted briefly — but mostly the students oohed and aahed over Krauthamer’s skill, while picking up a few tips.
“I like seeing what she does. Her blankets are really cool,” said Jessica Listhaus, whose mother, Barbara, a faculty member at Kushner, started the club last fall.
In a few weeks, the group plans to head to a knitting store with Krauthamer for a joint outing.
None of the girls knew how to knit before the club began.
“It sounded fun. I like crafts,” said 17-year-old Deena Buechler of West Orange.
Since the fall, the Kushner knitting chug, or club, has knitted and collected over 200 blankets. Over the next few weeks, they plan to send them to Israel.
“It’s a lifetime lesson,” said Diana Izrailova, 16, of Livingston. “I could even make blankets for my own kids someday.”
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