Nell Hornsby first took interest in crocheting at 13. She picked up a hook and some yarn, and after an hour of attempting a hat, she gave up. It wasn’t until a year later that she decided to try it again. This time she persisted, watching videos, learning new stitches, and practicing over and over again until she had her first ever finished project. A blue jellyfish. After that, she kept going, completing project after project, some successful, and some not. Having spent much of her own time and money on the craft, she realized that what she wanted was to use her knowledge of crocheting to teach others, and that is how Crocheting With Care was born. After recruiting Fern Duffy to join the team, the course began taking shape. The goal was to teach the simple steps of crocheting, helping students learn at their own pace, and supporting them in making a final product they could choose to keep or donate to homeless individuals in Philadelphia. The pair implemented it in their high school’s mini course program, and in February of 2025, Crocheting With Care began.
The first session of the mini course went well. Week 1 was focused on telling the students what the course was about, how it would play out over the next couple of months, and some of the simple skills like holding the hook and yarn. The next week, they went over the chain stitch, and those who seemed ready to move on were able to. In the following weeks, Nell and Fern answered individual questions and helped students at different levels. By the end of the course, the students would come in, and all work individually while a movie played in the background. When the second session rolled around, some small revisions were made to the lesson plan, and a similar week-by-week schedule was followed.
After the second session of mini courses, Crocheting With Care had nearly 40 participants in total. Most students came in with no previous knowledge of crocheting, and each left with the ability to work at their level without the help of Nell or Fern. Though they didn’t get as many donations as they had originally planned on, many students completed personal projects and left the course, expressing the wish to continue crocheting in the future. Here’s what a few members of the second session have to say about the course:
“My mom does crocheting and I got to go and show her what I learned.”
“One thing I liked was how relaxing it is and the instructors are nice.”
All in all, doing this project is an amazing experience that Nell is extremely grateful to have. Throughout the course, she had the chance to exhibit the leadership skills she learned at Alzar while staying in touch with everyone through the CLP calls and check-ins. Nell felt like she learned a lot through doing this project for two rounds of mini courses, and thinks in the future she wants to pursue more opportunities in teaching people. She’s not yet sure what she wants to study, but is hoping to do something science-related, or work more with kids. As for future leadership opportunities, she maintains that she won’t go out of her way to find them, but when given the chance, she feels much more confident that she can handle it than she did before Alzar and this CLP.
There are currently no plans for this mini-course to continue next year. Nell would be ecstatic for someone else to pick up where she left off, or maybe start a club with similar goals, but for now she’s happy with how she’s leaving it.