By Liz Martinez; The Whetstone

Professor Susan Redington Bobby wears with pride the colorful scarf she knitted around her neck.

Bobby also wears a blouse dotted with sparkles; nearly every finger is decorated with rings.

Bobby lives an artistic life in and outside of the classroom.

Bobby takes part in some of her favorite hobbies beyond Wesley’s brick buildings – whether catching up with the news, reading a book, or her favorite, knitting.

“I just learned how to knit this past September,” she says. “I’ve been crafty my whole life but I’ve never taken to something so well. I’m extremely focused on it.”

Her crafts have caught the eye of a few Wesley students on social media.

“Some students saw all the stuff I was knitting and then messaged me asking if I could make hats for the Women’s March,” she said.

This is the first time Bobby has focused on something other than working on research, writing for publication, and editing.

She makes it clear that no one and nothing can get in the way of her and a ball of yarn.

“Maybe I’ll go back to writing, but for eight years that’s all I did,” she says. “I’ve become so burned out on it. I have a friend who’s trying to nudge me to write something but I’m just like, ‘get out of my face, I just want to knit.’”

Knitting isn’t the only thing that puts a smile on Bobby’s face. Being a professor at Wesley also does the trick.

Since she was hired in 1993, the college has become more than just a place she goes to work.

“I’m going to die here, but not literally,” she said. “It’s like a family here for me, and I intend on staying here until I quit and are done for good.”

Wesley is friendly.

“When my mother has come onto campus to visit, she always says at least three people have come up to her and offered to help her find her way around,” she said. “There’s just something really special about that.”

Bobby takes pride in her relationships with students.

“In class, I keep things pretty formal,” she says. “But outside of class, I’m very casual. There’s a handful of people I met at Wesley over the years that I consider my best friends.”

Bobby reaches for a bright pink book titled, “Why I March.”

“Just today I walked in here and this was slid under my door and it had a note from a student who bought this for me,” she said. “It’s filled with pictures from the Women’s March. I mean where else does this happen?”