Crochet was introduced to my life when I was 12. I was working toward my Silver Award in Girl Scouts and another troop member’s grandma introduced the craft to us as a means of making blankets to donate. At first, I didn’t even like crochet, but by my fourth baby blanket, I would not be putting my hook down anytime soon.

I kept crocheting and quickly escalated my projects. Before I knew it, I was 14 and crocheting my first costume: The Scarlet Witch. (That’s where my name comes from.) From that project on, it was no longer a matter of what I could crochet, only what I was going to crochet.

I kept up this momentum enough to find myself going to an art university to study fiber art! I got to crochet for school and work on more challenging projects. It was a great time for my fine artist side to develop alongside my cosplay one.

Then things came crashing to a halt when a car hit me as I was walking to school. Over the next semester, I suffered both mentally and physically and dropped out. I couldn’t crochet anymore, I spent a good deal of time turning over the idea that I’d never pick up a hook again.

That is, until I started teaching the kids I was babysitting to crochet. After over a year of not using my hook, I began to feel connected to the craft once more. Over the next few months, I kept to smaller projects, working my way up to the big projects I was accustomed to. In May 2022 something clicked, and I felt as close to the old me as I ever have. Yes, my hands, always hurt now, but I can’t let go of crochet no matter how hard I try. And I've tried!