One of the many beautiful things to have come out of my continued search for names to to add to the POC Designers & Crafters list is that I’m always discovering something or someone new. In particular what I love about Instagram is that I don’t always have to actively search for a name, sometimes a comment or a tag on a post in my feed is all I need before I’m off looking at new work, podcasts, video channels or blogs.
This is how I came across the work of Jonah whose account @jonahhands is on Instagram. He began teaching himself to crochet around aged 5 and now aged 10 he’s started creating his own designs but not content with just churning out granny square after granny square Jonah likes to mix it up when it comes to yarn weights and size of hook. From simple pot stands and mega chunky baskets to colourful afghans so big you can barely see his beautiful face behind them to say this young man is prolific would be something of an understatement. Oh and you should see the speed at which his hands work – he crochets like lightning. I asked Jonah to tell me how he got started and I thought it would be nice to use his own words to tell his story.
“When I was 5 years old my Aunt gave me and my siblings a bag of unwanted craft items from her basement. In it was a crochet hook and knitting needles. I asked mom what to do with them and she told me you made pretty things out of yarn with them. She doesn’t know how to knit or crochet so she told me to go online and find a video. And I did. I started with knitting and made a long tail winter hat. Then I used a crochet hook to make mom a winter ear warmer. Crocheting was easier for me. It was hard to hold the knitting needles when I was five. I will try again some day.
I liked the feeling it gave me when I crocheted. I felt calm. My mind is very busy and it made me focus. I made many items and then mom put them in the county fair. I won 4 ribbons (and I was against the grandmas- not the kids). So, I kept on watching videos and making things for people. Everyone loved my gifts. When I was in grade school I wasn’t very well behaved because I was bored. I am very advanced in math … I’m 10 now and take high school classes. When I was misbehaved last year in 5th grade my teacher let me crochet when I was done with my work. I didn’t get any more behaviour slips at school! I even taught other kids.
People think I will get teased or bullied but I don’t. Because I crochet fast and they think it’s cool. My big brother even likes my crocheting. My grandma crochets but lives far away. When I do see her I go to the bottom drawer of her dresser and take out all the doilies she’s made. So nice. She shares patterns with me and give me new hooks”.
You can tell from the beaming look on his face that Jonah lives to crochet often making things for his Mum (who must be hugely proud of her son) or making items to sell using the money he makes to either donate, invest, save for college – remember he’s 10 years old – …or buy more yarn. I really admire that as a young black boy he’s confident enough in his creativity to share his skills with other kids at his school and has a generous heart that makes him want to gift what he produces to other people. Interestingly the fact that crochet also helps him to feel calm, and to still his ‘over busy’ mind makes me think that Jonah is probably pretty advanced for his age. I’m so glad to have found him and absolutely love what he’s doing particularly when he posts using the hashtags #guyswhocrochet, #adoptionrocks #kidscrochet #menstitchtoo and #jonahlovestocrochet in fact I think he’s a genius….. we should keep an eye on him.
You can keep up to date with what young Jonah is up to by following his Instagram account @jonahshands here
J x
No 1 Skeete Road is a lace design worked on a 4.50 mm needle and for those of you who love a stashbuster project – and let’s face it who doesn’t – it takes just one hank of 4ply / fingering weight yarn. This design came about through me falling in love with a yarn back when I wrote the Yarn Reviews for Knitting Magazine. As someone who’s a bit of a sucker for an alpaca yarn I knew from the moment I unwound the hank of John Arbon’s Alpaca Delight that knitting a sample swatch wasn’t going to be enough, somehow I had to keep hold of the rest of the yarn. Promising to create a design that would take just one hank meant that not only could I hold onto it for just a bit longer but I could also scratch my creative itch too.
It’s always interesting to see how my designs are styled in magazines and Christine Boggis Knitting’s editor has gone for a classic feminine look in the current issue whilst I’m more likely to wear it wrapped back to front around my neck as a scarf. And as Alpaca Delight is a deliciously soft blend of 70% Superfine Alpaca / 30% Organically farmed Falklands Merino it’s guaranteed to keep me warm without that irritating tickle. In terms of colour the 7 pastel shades available in Alpaca Delight are all very delicate so if for example Raspberry which I’ve used here isn’t your style, why not search through your stash and dig out 100g of fingering weight yarn in a much bolder colour? I’d love to see the results.
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