A visit with relatives in South Africa led Stephanie Wilkins to an extremely satisfying, relaxing and rewarding hobby. In some ways, she says, it’s therapeutic to knit or crochet after a long day as a hearing support teacher at ARIN Intermediate Unit 28.

“It gives you time to think, but in a relaxing way,” she says.

“We were visiting my in-laws in South Africa. My husband is from there. I love to make jewelry and I wanted to make a beaded bracelet that was complicated. They told me I had to knit to make it, so the people at the craft store taught me how to knit.”

Wilkins stuck to jewelry for a while, but then ventured into projects that required different materials.

“I started making things with yarn,” Wilkins says. “Scarves were the first thing because they’re so easy, because they’re straight. I made a bunch of scarves at the start.

“Knitting was very hard to learn. I don’t know, maybe because I was already in my 30s when I started to learn. I don’t know if being older mattered, but when I taught my daughter she was probably 7 or 8; it was simple for her.”

The art of crochet was slightly easier to learn. While knitting uses two needles, crocheting calls for one hook.

“It’s the way you wrap yarn around the needle,” she says. “It’s hard to explain. It makes it look different. The pearl makes it bump out a little in the front. But there are a lot of different ways, like cable, you’ve seen sweaters that look like ropes, and then you can knit things to look lacy.”

When she returned from that inspiring trip to South Africa, she brought home plenty of supplies. Her house is now stocked with yarn. But, one can only make so many scarves. Wilkins soon graduated to making cross-body messenger bags.

“That was harder, and I made a lot of them,” she says. “If I make something I enjoy, I do it again. I actually sold a couple. People paid $40 or $50 for one.”

She then moved on to ponchos. But the one thing she won’t make is socks.

“They don’t excite me,” she says. “I don’t know why, but you can’t even see them. What’s the fun in that?

“I like making something I can use. If I’m sitting around watching TV, I feel I’m not accomplishing anything. But if I’m knitting, I know I’m producing something. I feel I need to be doing something all the time.”

She started knitting toys for children after her sister passed along an instructional book on knitting stuffed monsters.

“That was really hard to learn,” she says. “They’re maybe six inches tall. I made one for one of the kids and then friends started asking, so I made a whole bunch. They’re really cute.”

She offered to teach those who were interested and just starting out, and even taught two of her three children who showed an interest early on.

“I’d tell them to not give up because it’s hard at first,” she says. “I think it’s good for us to learn something new.”A visit with relatives in South Africa led Stephanie Wilkins to an extremely satisfying, relaxing and rewarding hobby. In some ways, she says, it’s therapeutic to knit or crochet after a long day as a hearing support teacher at ARIN Intermediate Unit 28.

“It gives you time to think, but in a relaxing way,” she says.

“We were visiting my in-laws in South Africa. My husband is from there. I love to make jewelry and I wanted to make a beaded bracelet that was complicated. They told me I had to knit to make it, so the people at the craft store taught me how to knit.”

Wilkins stuck to jewelry for a while, but then ventured into projects that required different materials.

“I started making things with yarn,” Wilkins says. “Scarves were the first thing because they’re so easy, because they’re straight. I made a bunch of scarves at the start.

“Knitting was very hard to learn. I don’t know, maybe because I was already in my 30s when I started to learn. I don’t know if being older mattered, but when I taught my daughter she was probably 7 or 8; it was simple for her.”

The art of crochet was slightly easier to learn. While knitting uses two needles, crocheting calls for one hook.

“It’s the way you wrap yarn around the needle,” she says. “It’s hard to explain. It makes it look different. The pearl makes it bump out a little in the front. But there are a lot of different ways, like cable, you’ve seen sweaters that look like ropes, and then you can knit things to look lacy.”

When she returned from that inspiring trip to South Africa, she brought home plenty of supplies. Her house is now stocked with yarn. But, one can only make so many scarves. Wilkins soon graduated to making cross-body messenger bags.

“That was harder, and I made a lot of them,” she says. “If I make something I enjoy, I do it again. I actually sold a couple. People paid $40 or $50 for one.”

She then moved on to ponchos. But the one thing she won’t make is socks.

“They don’t excite me,” she says. “I don’t know why, but you can’t even see them. What’s the fun in that?

“I like making something I can use. If I’m sitting around watching TV, I feel I’m not accomplishing anything. But if I’m knitting, I know I’m producing something. I feel I need to be doing something all the time.”

She started knitting toys for children after her sister passed along an instructional book on knitting stuffed monsters.

“That was really hard to learn,” she says. “They’re maybe six inches tall. I made one for one of the kids and then friends started asking, so I made a whole bunch. They’re really cute.”

She offered to teach those who were interested and just starting out, and even taught two of her three children who showed an interest early on.

“I’d tell them to not give up because it’s hard at first,” she says. “I think it’s good for us to learn something new.”