Wesley Kron

Members of Carlmont’s Homemade Club set up the material for the day’s meeting. They’re preparing yarn and crochet hooks while other members eat lunch and talk to their friends. “We wanted to create a place where people could relax but also do the things that they love,” said Homemade Club co-founder Clare Wang.

Carlmont’s Homemade Club encourages creativity among students through exciting crafts and activities.

Carlmont sophomores Clare Wang and Daniela Cuadros founded the club, which has had an exciting debut this year, emphasizing the creation of crafts and engaging in charitable activities.

Most meetings occur during lunch in A15, where members pile in to eat their food and prepare for the activity ahead. 

The crafts planned by club leaders each week follow a loose structure that intends to make a stress-free environment based on friends instead of deadlines.

“I like that I can just hang out with my friends or people I don’t always hang out with and just do whatever we want,” said Carlmont sophomore Valeria Lehman, a Homemade Club member.

The club is comprised primarily of sophomore girls. However, anybody can join anytime without fear of being left behind.

According to Wang, projects can last anywhere from a week to an entire month, depending on the project they had in mind. While most meetings focus on the current project, some are freely oriented, where members can try new things and be creative.

“It’s just fun to be here with my friends and make stuff together,” said Carlmont sophomore Maya Tse, another Homemade Club member. “I like the long projects because of the finished products, but the days when we learn new crafts are the best.”

Wang and her co-founder Cuadros intended to combine their creativity with knitting and crocheting to create an environment built on their passions. 

“We both just really liked crafts, and we thought it would be fun if we started a club based on it with our friends,” Wang said. “Even though we started with yarn, we quickly realized we could also be making other things.”

According to Cuadros, club members created vision boards at the beginning of the year to see their group’s goals and create a list of potential ideas. So far, completed crafts include making bracelets and bookmarks, both taking about a week to complete.

The group is currently working on learning the basics of crochet. This art form uses yarn and different hook sizes to create interesting patterns and designs. 

While the club’s primary focus is to create individual designs at Carlmont, they also plan to donate their project to people or places that need them the most.

“We thought that donating our projects would be a good purpose to the projects we are making,” Wang said.

So far, they have donated the bookmarks they made to the Redwood City Library and intend to donate their crochet projects to the Samaritan House organization located in San Mateo. They also plan to make dog toys and other commodities to donate to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

The club plans to continue creating a fun environment for young crafters to let their talent flourish, and its leader hopes that it will grow in the following years.

“Crafts have been a big part of my life for many years, and I’m glad I can share it with my school,” Wang said.