Join the CVHS crochet craze with a simple project for beginners

By Nicki Anahita, Managing and News Editor|November 8, 2021

Isabella Evans

Junior Isabella Evans shows off her collection of crocheted stuffed animals.

Yarn tugs against sore fingers, a bright hook flashing between loops. A form emerges–a hat, a scarf, a small animal. From the English Hall to the Math Hall, from Social Studies to Science, crocheting has been sweeping Carnegie’s campus and hooking the hearts of its students.

Crocheting as a hobby and art form has been around in some iteration since the 1500’s. Recently, it has invaded teenager’s imaginations to a degree previously unheard of. Though some may see it as simply another way for students to avoid doing their work, others have expressed how it could actually be beneficial to the morale on campus. As Senior Shir Carasso puts it, “it helps me focus… [and] center my thoughts.” 

The desire for a creative outlet within CVHS’ highly academic school environment is nothing new, with the school having countless art-related clubs and activities available to students. Theatre, art classes, and drawing clubs to name a few. However, where crocheting differs from these other outlets, is its ability to be done virtually anywhere. This unique gift of the craft has served to widen its popularity among students, who oftentimes, simply need something to do with their hands to keep themselves occupied.

Trends with similar inspirations have come and gone, Rainbow Loom in 2013 as a memorable example of students finding anything creative to do with their hands during class. The need to be able to express yourself in school has always been a heavily sought after commodity. Ms. Harris, a CVHS English teacher, expressed her thoughts on the matter saying, “I feel like [students are] more attentive when they have something to do that isn’t just like, staring at me.” 

The past year and a half has been incredibly difficult for people in so many different ways.  Many people lost loved ones, stable income and housing, and were isolated from others for an extended period of time. Due to this, sometimes, there is simply a need for students to have an escape. Junior Isabella Evans explains how she uses, “crochet as distraction [from life]” because for her, “it’s a simple task [that] doesn’t require a lot of brain energy.”

IMG_0650
Isabella Evans' crocheted Bernie Sanders

The crocheting epidemic might be linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. As so many of us were stuck inside during quarantine, crocheting saw an unprecedented boom in popularity.  Last year, our yarn club averaged around 8 members who showed up regularly. However, this year, that number has skyrocketed to 30-40 regularly attending members. This occurred because many students were left to their own devices for a year, allowing them to have the time to pick up new hobbies. All it takes is a simple Youtube search, and suddenly you have the ability to make anything you can put your mind to. More recently, many students have also taken to teaching each other in an attempt to grow the crochet community. From yarn club to unofficial hangouts to learn and teach, Carnegie crocheters are doing all they can to weave more people into loving their craft. 

All of this in mind, I decided to take a crack at the crochet trend by making myself a brand new hair tie.

I started by trying to choose a soft yarn with some give so that it wouldn’t hurt my hands and ultimately decided on the black Charisma acrylic yarn. The yarn recommended a 8mm crochet hook, and I made a slipknot onto it.

IMG_1675
Slipknot on crochet hook

From there, I looped through some yarn held from the working end.

IMG_1678
Looping Through

I continued doing this until it was around the same length as my favorite scrunchie.

IMG_1682
First crochet row

After that, I single crocheted all the way back to the beginning for one row.

IMG_1684
First single crochet loop

I then cut my working end and tied it off. I weaved the working end through both ends of my long crocheted strand until I felt the loop was secure and then tied them into place, creating my very own hair tie.

IMG_1686
Tying off the strand

Though I am not a total beginner, I still struggled in making this hair tie. Keeping my stitches the right size consistently was a challenge I often failed at. However, the experience of making the hair tie was extremely rewarding. There certainly is a thrill to slowly seeing your vision come to life, something I hadn’t thought of before. Being able to have a tangible object that I can point to and say “I made that” is very exciting and makes me feel as though anyone could pick up some yarn and hooks and create. Crocheting can also be slightly addicting, causing you to constantly want to improve or create a new thing.

In an attempt to replicate many student’s experiences, I crocheted my hair tie while watching a video lesson for one of my classes. I personally do not believe that it aided me in focusing on my assignments, and might have even hindered my ability to pay attention. This could also have been caused by my inexperience in the craft–more of my brain power was put into figuring the crochet out rather than learning.

All in all, I can definitely see the appeal in crocheting, as it helped me take my mind off of my stresses for the brief time I was participating in it. However, I do not believe that I will continue to crochet because it is simply not for me. The art of mastering it is a time consuming process that I personally don’t have the time for.