“I really enjoy crocheting. To me, crocheting shows my tenacity and that I don’t give up.” On a regular weekday, you can find Dinah (one of my best friends and my first year roommate) crocheting in her room. Though she has been crocheting since middle school, this summer Dinah has stepped it up a notch and created her own crochet business (@thehookup_crochetdesigns). 

During my FaceTime with Dinah, I took this screenshot of the square she was crocheting for (most likely) a bandana.

For the first part of my FaceTime, I silently watched Dinah crochet for five minutes. Sitting still in her bed, Dinah continually wrapped the loose white yarn around her left index finger as she crocheted, keeping the pattern of the square in tact. As she progressed, the square grew larger. And the fascinating part (at least to me) is that Dinah made no eye contact with me nor the yarn while she crocheted and little facial emotions. Her concentration was on a book. Children of Virtue and Vengeance to be exact. Needless to say, I was intrigued and simultaneously impressed by Dinah’s efficiency: her machine-like ability to crochet the square while catching up on her summer reading. How does she do it?

This is a dress that Dinah crocheted and adorned with buttons.

The second part of the FaceTime, I interviewed Dinah for ten minutes. During the interview, I specifically chose to ask questions about Dinah’s story with crocheting and how crochet guided her through the pandemic. You can say the spirit moved me to ask these questions or you can say that I knew Dinah well enough to know that she has a rich history and a bright future with crochet. But the story goes like this: when Dinah was in seventh grade, her mom wanted to learn how to crochet. Dinah learned to crochet so she could teach her mom; learning to crochet was a long and difficult process filled with YouTube tutorials and stopping points. She picked crochet back up in high school and learned to work with different materials and designs. And now, stuck at home due to COVID, Dinah has “accidentally” started a crochet business, as she puts it, thanks to her younger sister’s selfie on Snapchat. Essentially, Dinah attracted orders when her younger sister posed in clothes that Dinah designed and crocheted. Currently, Dinah is venturing into the creation of face masks and expanding her business through photoshoots of her work. Despite her recent success, Dinah remains humble and determined as her favorite place to crochet is still in her room at home. Furthermore, Dinah crocheted while talking about her business and future plans, which I take as a symbol of her tenacity. The same tenacity that made her smile only three times and pause once during the ten minute interview because she was focused on her square. The same tenacity that allowed her to go from needing YouTube tutorials to try new things such as business ideas, designs, and materials. The same tenacity that has made Dinah into an expert that can turn sown clothes into crochet items. And for Dinah and many others that tenacity is called crochet.

A bucket hat and bralette that Dinah crocheted. To keep up with Dinah and her crotchet, follow her on Instagram: @thehookup_crochetdesigns