What do you get when you give a quarantined teen a ball of yarn? A new hobby!

After getting stuck at home during the spring of 2020, Gwenith Pasker (9) made the most of her extra time.

“A lady on YouTube had a tutorial on basic stitches, so I just watched a bunch of her videos. Then, eventually, I figured it out!” Pasker said.

Pasker has already completed a crop top, a headband, and a granny square and is most proud of the headband because it turned out the best. She’s currently working on a blanket and a bag.

“Once you know the basics, you can pretty much do whatever with it,” Pasker said. “It was pretty easy to learn how to (crochet), but to be able to do it over and over without it looking like a mess took a very long time.”

Crocheting also has a nice side effect.

“It’s something I use all the time to destress,” Pasker said. “It’s very grounding because it’s just the same movements over and over again, and it really helps calm you down.”

Not only does Pasker crochet, but she’s also picked up another skill.

“I know how to knit because the lady on YouTube had a knitting video, so I watched it too,” Pasker said.

Pasker plans to continue crocheting for fun.

“I’ll probably just keep it as a hobby, but maybe down the road I’ll start selling stuff!” she said.

Pasker’s projects vary in the time they take. For example, the granny square didn’t take long; on the other hand, she’s been working on the blanket since summer.

“I’m not even close to being done!” Pasker said. “But smaller things, like the bag I’m doing, don’t take super long if you do it regularly. But yeah, days, hours…it takes a while.”

She planned on giving the bag as a Christmas gift.

“But it’ll most likely be an Easter present!” Pasker said with a laugh.