Sarah Olson learned to crochet at the age of 15, more than half her lifetime ago. She had seen her grandmother’s crochet projects and asked for her grandma to teach her the craft. She went with her mother and grandmother to Walmart where grandma let her pick out yarn. She says, “It was the worst bulkiest yarn to learn on but I never gave up!”
Today Sarah has been crocheting long enough that it comes naturally to her. She doesn’t have to look at the stitches each time. She sometimes crochets alone but loves to have company when she can. A few years ago she would get together with a group of girlfriends every Wednesday and she taught them to crochet. Once they all knew they craft, they would bring their own projects and work on them while talking. They still get together and chat sometimes.
Sarah’s husband is very supportive of her crafting. She often crochets in the living room while he plays video games. He asks her to make things that he likes and has requested items for his co-workers. Sarah loves making things that people request. Her favorite items to make are blankets or cowls. She loves the soothing motion of the repetitive stitching.
Sarah is bipolar and believes that crochet has helped cure her. She says,
“it’s calming. It has eased my anxiety disorder. It is what I do in my down time. Crochet is soothing in my hands. The more repetitive the motion of the stitches, the more my mind relaxes and I forget about my problems.”
When asked to define the number one reason that she crochets, Sarah says,
“I crochet to share warmth, to be charitable, and to teach others how fulfilling a homemade gift can be, especially to those in need.”
Sarah has donated crochet blankets and hats to the NICU in the Dayton area. She has donated her projects to the Happy Hookers in her neighboring town. And she likes to make Head Huggers, saying, “someone I love has fallen ill with cancer so I yarn her up!”
What she loves most is crocheting anything that she knows someone is really hoping for. She says that crochet has shown her the true beauty of being selfless. And she has seen her sister learning this, too; her sister suffers from borderline personality disorder and has been learning selflessness in part through crochet. Sarah was the one that taught her sister how to crochet. She loves sharing the craft and adds,
“I can’t wait to teach my children to crochet. Crochet is passed down through the generations. I am a better crocheter than my grandmother was. I can’t wait to see how far my children take it!”
On occasion Sarah will crochet too much and injure her wrist, causing her to wear an arm brace. In place of crochet she sometimes enjoys scrapbooking and recycling clothing into totes but says that crochet is the craft that really has her heart. Her favorite things is to crochet late at night, with soothing hot tea and candles burning.
