Jonah Larson refers to himself as "Jonah Hands" on his Instagram account. It seems appropriate, since the 11-year-old Wisconsin boy sure knows how to use his hands. In a hobby that traditionally is linked to grandmothers, Jonah is a crocheting prodigy.
Jonah, a sixth-grader at Lincoln Middle School in La Crosse, got hooked on crocheting as a 5-year-old, the La Crosse Tribune reported. Now, it's not unusual for him to come home from school and get wound up in his work.
“In the basement we have 20 totes (full). He gets boxes of yarn from all over — England, Canada,” Jonah’s mother, Jennifer Larson, told the newspaper. “I think they’re worried the art of crocheting is going to end, and they’re just excited a young person will carry it on.”
When he was 5, Jonah found a crochet hook in his aunt's bag of craft items, KARE reported. He found a basic crocheting video on YouTube and began to stitch, finishing a dish cloth in an hour, the Tribune reported.
"And from there on I was hooked," Jonah told KARE.
Jonah has other interests, too. He runs cross-country and plays basketball and baseball -- but crocheting is his passion.
When he was in kindergarten, Jonah entered his work in the La Crosse County Fair -- and, this is no yarn -- he beat out all “the grandmas” competing against him.
"Considering the circumstances, it felt awesome," Jonah told the Tribune. "I'm really proud of all the things I make."
Jonah took home seven ribbons as a first-grader and now has around 70.
He’s fast, too. Jonah can finish a blanket in eight hours, the newspaper reported.
"His fingers are just ablaze, churning out this stuff that is just gorgeous," Jeff Thompson, who asked Jonah to make mermaid tail blanket sets for his granddaughters and their dolls, told the Tribune. "His work I think is extraordinary for a young man his age. He's a fascinating young man who is very bright and very capable."
