THE ROOKIE HOOKER

Take a glance at Ola aka The Rookie Hooker‘s Instagram page and one thing is very clear – this guy loves to crochet! “I never really had to learn to love crochet, I just learnt how to crochet, and instantly fell in love,” Ola tells us. “I learnt by following YouTube tutorials, and right from the very beginning, I knew I had found something special.” A self-confessed Disney devotee, Ola designs garments inspired by his favourite Disney characters, and with a wealth of iconic animations to choose from, inspiration flows. “I think the key to staying inspired in crafting is to find ways to infuse it with other things that bring you joy,” says Ola.

But that’s not to say that the design process doesn’t take work. “It often takes me numerous attempts to get projects and designs exactly how I want them, as I tend to be quite perfectionistic with my work, and painfully indecisive. Some days I spend more time frogging than I do actually making!” His recent projects focus on cardigans, jumpers and hats, but what is his favourite of all his creations? “I could never truly pick a favourite make, because every time I finish a new project, I always feel certain that it’s my new favourite… until I start something new – a feeling I’m sure numerous makers can relate to. But I think my biggest crochet triumph would be my hexie cardigan. It was my first attempt at designing a garment, and I made it while I was still fairly new to crochet. Honestly, to this day, I still look at it sometimes and I can’t believe that I actually made it with my own hands. It took quite a bit of brainpower to figure out how to make it work, and hours and hours of labour to bring it to fruition, but at the end of the day it was all definitely worth it.”

Find Ola on Instagram @therookiehooker for his WIPs, or see Ravelry @olatherookie for patterns.

“Some days I spend more time frogging than I do making”