Having a tendency to fidget, Lauren Secoy, senior, found the perfect hobby to occupy her hands: crochet. 

“My hands always like having something to do,” Secoy said. 

Secoy was first introduced to the craft when she was 12, after receiving a crochet kit from her grandma and inheriting crochet hooks and yarn from her great-grandmother. She had first struggled with it but picked it back up during her freshman year after wanting to create a gift for her family. 

Since Secoy’s freshman year, she has created items such as scarves, hats, bags, mittens, and a sweater. 

While Secoy does keep many of her creations, she said that she enjoys gifting them to her family members for birthdays and holidays. 

“I make scarves and bags because I think they work well as gifts, and they’re pretty beautiful,” Secoy said.

Secoy said her favorite creations have been a sunflower purse for herself, and Mario figures that she created for her cousin. 

Though Secoy can’t always find time to crochet during the school year, she said that she likes to spend time during breaks doing the craft. 

Secoy usually listens to podcasts or books while crocheting. Some of her recent favorite listens have been podcasts such as “The Porch” and “Set Apart”, along with an audiobook of Sherlock Holmes stories. 

Like Secoy, many other students and staff at MHS use crafts as an opportunity to destress or relax. 

Fellow crocheter Bryan Craft, senior, started crochet last year to create Christmas gifts, after seeing Tik Toks that gave him ideas of what to try creating.

Craft’s first project was a jellyfish, and since then has created flowers, gloves, mushrooms, and a sweater. He said that his sweater is his favorite creation, and that he is in the process of creating his second one. 

“I was really proud after I finished it,” Craft said. “After all that time I spent, I felt really accomplished knowing that I had created a piece of clothing.”

The sweater was Craft’s biggest project, which he said took around 40 hours to complete. For smaller items, such as his mushrooms or flowers, Craft said he usually spends three to four hours on. 

Craft also said that he can have trouble finding time for the hobby during school, but usually ends up crocheting two times a week.

“It’s when I get the opportunity to and when I really get inspiration,” Craft said. 

Though Katie Bauman, history teacher, doesn’t crochet, she is able to find the same comfort with knitting.  

“I use knitting as a way to decompress after a long day,” Bauman said. 

Bauman began knitting when she was pregnant, as she wanted to knit her soon-to-be daughter a baby blanket. After giving birth, Bauman put a pause on her knitting, but was able to pick it back up once she had more time. 

Bauman said she taught herself how to knit, starting off with simple items like dishcloths and working up to more complicated projects like cardigans and shawls. 

Her favorite project is a sweater made with a faded ombre yarn that goes from light pink to dark blue. Bauman claimed this as her most prized creation because she likes the ombre look and the neckline. 

Usually Bauman has three to four projects in the works, but she said that she is putting her focus on knitting leg warmers for her niece’s Christmas gift. 

“It gives me a sense of accomplishment that I get to actually wear the work that I create, or gift it to friends and family,” Bauman said.