Origins

This was from a camping trip my friends and I went on a few years ago. It was our first time camping and we had such a blast! I don’t have the beard anymore, but the same adventurous spirit lives on.

Being a male knitter, I inevitably turn heads whenever I ply my craft in public. I can only guess at what people are thinking, but I feel like I have a pretty good idea. Some might invariably think demeaning thoughts, but I believe most just want to know how I started, who taught me, how good I am, and what are some things I’ve made. Well, here is that story.

It began in the summer of 2002. I was nine years old, and my family was about to emigrate from Egypt in order to begin a new life in the United States. Literally the night of our flight, amid the darkened rooms and packed suitcases, I saw my mom crocheting some lace doilies. I asked her to teach me and she agreed! She showed me right on the spot. This incredible woman, despite having grown up in a very conservative culture (not to mention dealing with the stress, apprehension, and fear of the unknown that comes with moving to a whole different country), did not think anything of gender norms and just shared something she was very passionate about with me. I don’t know if she foresaw the significance of this simple act or the impact it would have on my life, but I am incredibly grateful to her for agreeing to teach me.

This is a rare photo of one of my early projects. Sadly I don’t have many photos of my projects because smart phones did not exist back then and the projects have been misplaced over the years.

Crocheting with my mom was among the very first memories I have from our new life in our new home. We were in Walmart one day and stumbled across some yarn and a little crochet book. We bought some of that variegated acrylic yarn everyone starts out with, the little book, and got to work. I quickly became proficient at the craft, and even learned how to read patters, which is something my mom could not do. Crochet helped me create some idyllic moments in an otherwise bleak time period. That continued to be the case as I continued living and practicing more fiber arts. I was always shy about wearing my handiwork, though. I didn’t feel like crochet looked masculine enough and I thought the fabric it made was too bulky and stiff. I would have preferred making knitwear, but I just could not figure out how to knit. Despite several attempts at learning, the needles proved too unwieldy and the overall process was too slow. Crochet was much faster and more enjoyable to me, so I stuck with it. That was until some very dear friends finally converted me.

Just for fun, this is what I use to store my crochet hooks. Yes, that is a 3D-printed bust of Julius Caesar.

The next chapter of this story opens up in In January of 2017. By then I was a young man serving in the Navy. I had already been in for four years and deployed twice. I grew, developed, and learned quite a bit during my time in the service. To me, this is when my life truly began. In a lot of ways, those were the best years of my life. In other ways, however, they were a bit destructive. Regardless, I am proud of my service to my country and will always cherish my time in the Navy and the trajectory it set my life on. To me, the positive impacts far outweighed the negative ones. Although I was away from my family and nowhere near home, I continued to crochet while in the service. Admittedly I was a bit shy about it. I would only tell people about this hobby once I felt really comfortable around them. But, this didn’t stop me from finding a local yarn shop in Virginia Beach and making it a little home away from home.

Circa 2016. This was a hat I crocheted while on my second deployment.

At this point in my career, I was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. The Yarn Club was the first ever yarn store I visited. Everybody remembers their first one. It’s an unforgettable experience and this was certainly no exception. This place was magical. They had yarns I had never seen and fibers I had yet to work with. I had no idea wool could be so soft and so colorful! It just seemed unreal to me. I felt like I stepped out of the real world, and into one of art and fantasy. The ladies there were incredibly warm and inviting. They freely shared knowledge, advice, and kept pouring on encouragements. It was a wonderful place for a young sailor to feel at home and have fun with some yarn.

At first I would only hang out there and crochet. It was a bit amusing because I was the only “hooker” there. Everyone else was a knitter. They would tease me about it but kept encouraging me to keep crocheting. I really loved spending my time there. Then one day, in that January, one of the ladies, Lora, decided to teach me how to knit. I was a bit apprehensive because of my past failures, but I was truly inspired by seeing what these amazing and talented women could do with yarn and a pair of needles. This time the lessons would stick. There were two innovations that changed the game for me: circular needles and continental knitting.

This place became my home away from home.

Lora’s instruction was impeccable. Within minutes she had me knitting, purling, ribbing, and cabling. Continental knitting came naturally to me because I already crocheted. The circular needles proved to be an incredible tool. They felt like little crochet hooks in my hands. I did not have to try and manage long, unwieldy needles anymore. I was thrilled! From that point on, I was a knitter. I traded my crochet hooks for Chiaogoo needles and haven’t regretted it one bit. I still crochet from time to time, but really only when I am teaching someone or working a border around a knit piece.

I miss the ladies at the Yarn Club tremendously. I really hope I get a chance to reconnect with them soon.