We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nhire King a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nhire, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I first learned how to crochet when I was in middle school, about 6th or 7th grade from a friend that was in my after school program. I learned using a pencil and used to make little bracelets that I sold in a barber shop. I stopped for a couple of years and started back in April of 2020 after my university sent its students home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first project I finished was a crossbody purse; it was cute for a beginning project but it had so many functioning and design flaws. I started watching YouTube tutorials to help with the basics and I eventually made my first bralette. It was a work in progress, but I was happy to have done something correctly. To speed up my learning process, I would’ve started with practicing the basics first before trying to jump into a project, learning the different terms, and practicing with different types of yarn. All of this would’ve kept me from constantly having to start over and second guess myself because things weren’t coming out how it looked on the tutorials. I think the most essential skill is in how you hold your crochet hook and yarn tension. These things impact how tight or loose a project can come out, even if you follow a tutorial exactly. There weren’t major obstacles that kept me from learning more; I was home, not working, and taking my classes virtually. I’d say a small obstacle would be wanting everything to look as perfect as possible even though I was a beginner. I had to truly learn patience while learning how to crochet.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Nhire King and I have a small crochet business. I recently graduated from Clark Atlanta University with my BA in Business Administration. I learned how to crochet in middle school and picked the hobby back up in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. I make clothing and accessories mainly such as cardigans, sweaters, hats, purses, etc. I have made adult sized and baby blankets, shawls, bralettes, and so much more. I really enjoy experimenting and trying new things because the joy I get from finishing a project is so fulfilling. I think what sets me apart from others is that I’m a young Black woman who crochets. This hobby is usually viewed as a “grandma” activity, and is mainly dominated by older white women. The Black crochet community is pretty tightly knit (no pun intended), but we’re growing as more and more people discover that you can make more than just blankets and sweaters with yarn. I’ve seen people make some amazing fashion pieces that left me in awe. I’m most proud of taking the risk and starting even if things aren’t perfect. For so long I wanted everything to go according to my plan, but sometimes we can get in the way of ourselves. I had to push that mindset to the side for now and step out on faith then let the rest follow. I’m truly grateful and blessed to have the support that I do from friends and family. I took a really long break from crocheting during my senior year of college because I was so overwhelmed with trying to pass my classes and prepare for graduation and post-grad life. I had lost my motivation and went through a creative block. This lasted until July when my line sister asked me to make her a matching set, something I had never tried before. It turned out great and she loved it; from there, I got a little bit of motivation back and wanted to pick my hook up again. Now here I am a few month later ready to take my business to the next level. It’s scary to start something new not knowing if you’ll get the support you want, but you’ll never know until you try. Take the risk, and you can be rewarded greatly.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

So far, the best sources of new clients are social media and word of mouth. Social media is a bit better than word of mouth, but they’re both quite effective in getting new clients/customers. My parents share my business page on Facebook where a lot of our family members are active and I’m also in a sorority and I have a lot of line sisters, so I utilize them to help get my business to different people. I’m also learning to use TikTok a little better and that has given me more exposure, but Instagram is easiest for me. It can be a little difficult to put out content often because I work a full time job, but I do what I can to be sure to keep followers engaged and up to date with the things we have going on. As far as word of mouth, that’s simple. A customer wears their custom piece, someone asks them about it, and they give out my crochet business page. I’ve gotten a few clients from people asking me out in public. I’m working towards getting business cards to hand out as well as send out when I ship out orders.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think the most rewarding aspect is seeing people wear the things I make for them and them telling me that they receive so many compliments. I’m confident in my skills but there are a lot of times where I feel like I’m not good at what I do or that people won’t like the things I make. I tend to second guess myself a lot and that is partially why I took so long to finally start my business. When my customers, and even strangers, tell me to keep doing what I’m doing, I can’t describe the joy it brings me. Even if it’s just one person, I genuinely appreciate every little compliment and the words of encouragement.

Contact Info:

• Website: crochet-by-nhi.square.site
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crochetbynhi/

Image Credits
Jcousinphotography