BEVERLY — Kamaca Champion has always been a Chicago Bears fan, “through and through.”
Even on the city’s most frigid Sundays, Champion has donned orange and blue and cheered for the team from Soldier Field’s parking lot. When she taught her husband how to knit, his first completed project was a Bears-themed scarf.
So when Champion opened Miss Purl in 2021 to “build and sustain community through personal expression,” she brought the Bears there too, she said. For the past three years, knitters have convened every Sunday during football season at Champion’s yarn shop, 1824 W. 95th St., to knit, talk and catch the game.
How A South Side Yarn Store Helps Stitch Together A Community
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In late May, one of the store’s football-inspired creations — a 62-inch blue and orange scarf — made its way to Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. The scarf is broken into 3.5-inch segments, each representing a week from the football season with designs that signify whether the team won at home, won an away game or lost.
“That scarf shows wins and losses, but together, it’s just one beautiful pattern,” Williams said. “It’s one bigger thing. Caleb can know that there were people sitting with him for entire games. He might not have felt that sometimes, like when he was in the middle of a loss, but to know that people are rooting for you in a tangible way, I hope that will be an encouragement to him.”
Aaron Champion (left) poses with Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (right) as he wears the scarf knitted by Kamaca Champion at Miss Purl. Credit: Provided
‘A Scarf Represents A Hug’
Miss Purl is a gathering space where neighbors can shop for colorful batches of yarn and create together at a knitting bar. Champion said she added football to the mix to inspire visitors to meet consistently for a set number of weeks at a coordinated time at the shop, she said.
“For Miss Purl, one of the things that was important to me in this store was creating a space where people could see themselves, be themselves and love others,” Champion said. “You can connect with people when you find a place where you can be who you are and be that freely. Meeting together on Sundays to watch the football game was a perfect way to build community with people.”
Knitting continued as usual at Miss Purl through the years. Then the Bears drafted Williams as their starting quarterback in the 2024 NFL draft.
Fellow knitters joined Kamaca Champion at Miss Purl over the 18-week football season to create a scarf for their favorite team. Credit: Provided
Williams was only a sophomore at the University of Southern California in 2022 when he won the Heisman Trophy — college football’s most prestigious individual award. That same year, he received other esteemed honors, including the Maxwell Award and being named Walter Camp Player of the Year.
“When drafting Caleb became a reality, there was the excitement of it being a phenomenal year,” Champion said. “I thought, ‘Man, we have to do something special. Why don’t we knit a scarf together?’”
Champion was inspired by the “big block colors” on European football — or soccer — scarves when crafting an idea of how the scarf should look, she said.
Knitters were invited to choose between two designs for their scarves. If they weren’t fans of the Bears, they could follow along with custom colors for their favorite team. Almost everyone made Bears scarves, but there were Ravens, Eagles and even a Green Bay fan scarf in the mix, Champion said.
“To me, a scarf represents a hug,” Champion said. “It’s something that you can wrap around your neck. It’s a source of comfort and a source of pride. Knitting together also allowed us to mindfully think about the game and have conversations with people about the game afterwards.”
The Football Fan Scarf was an 18-week activity that gave knitters a chance to weave together team-themed designs while watching games at the yarn shop. Credit: Provided
Champion never thought Williams would receive the scarf, she said. But things have a way of coming together “when you’re aligned in purpose and community,” Champion said.
That alignment came in late May when Williams wore the scarf as he spoke to Whitney Young High School students after the school’s football team won the 2024 Chicago Public League championship.
Champion’s son, Aaron, who was mentored by the Caleb Cares Foundation, was chosen by Whitney Young’s principal to be one of the students to interview the star quarterback.
Champion begged her son to bestow Williams with the scarf when she found out he would meet Williams, she said. Her wish was granted when a friend sent her a photo of her son interviewing Williams while the quarterback donned the scarf.
“I was running around the house, running up to my husband, shaking the phone in his face like, ‘Oh my God, that’s the scarf. That’s the scarf. Caleb is wearing the scarf,’” Champion said.
And in a personal video, Champion was gifted with another treat.
“I just got your gift. I love it,” Williams said in a video to Champion. The Bears quarterback learned how to knit in high school for two years, he shared in the video.
“It’s pretty fire. I’m wearing it,” Williams said.
Champion is still “screaming” about Williams wearing the scarf, she said. The garment is a visual representation of the quarterback’s rookie year and, hopefully, “reminds Caleb that he’s awesome, and good luck,” Champion said.
She’s already brainstorming what the next scarf will look like for the upcoming football season.
“It was fun for me, but it really is a story that we can all relate to,” Champion said. “We don’t have a strong arm like Caleb, but we all have something that we have to do that people are depending on us to do, and when we keep showing up, we end up with something bigger than we are.”
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