William Stith. She wants to teach everyone in her community maybe even the world how to create something with their own two hands. But crocheting has always meant something more than creating a hat or blouse out of yarn to Byrd. Byrd joined digital artist Jaleel Campbell to form Off the Hook Crochet Club in January with the intention of creating a space for Black and brown people to get together and learn to crochet. Byrd learned the skill from her grandmother. She taught Campbell how to crochet when he was 8 years old while working as a site director for an after school program.
She wanted to pass along the skills to a younger generation. Crocheting became an avenue for Byrd to ease her anxiety as a kid and gave her something to do when she felt socially awkward. He and Byrd taught members the basics of crocheting during their meetups.
When CJ Goode joined the crochet club, she had no idea how to crochet. She was enticed by the social aspect of the club and wanted to pick a new hobby. Having the support of Campbell, Byrd and other members of the club were helpful in the process.
Last month, the club completed its first group projectβa community quilt. All 10 members made at least 50 granny squares each, said Campbell. Leading up to the quilt unveiling at La Casita in late July, Campbell was busy at work making as many squares as he could, curious and excited to see how big a quilt they could create.
So, to see crocheting become popular here in Syracuse again, it warms my heart. Campbell hopes to change the perspective of what crocheting looks like with the club and the community quilt, he said. Anyone can. I want to see this become this big community project where anybody can add squares to it, to just keep it going. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.
