To give back to her school and community while pursuing her interest in the art of crochet, Westhampton Beach High School junior Angela Tran recently inaugurated Crochet Corner, a new crochet and knitting club at her school.

As part of the club, Tran is helping her peers to learn to crochet granny squares with a goal to sew them together into blankets that will be donated to the local senior center. As club members’ skills improve, she hopes that they can make beanies and other apparel to provide to local shelters and NICUs.

Tran says she began crocheting in December of 2022 and has taught herself to make bags, beanies and now amigurumi, which are crocheted stuffed toys.

“Crocheting is a genuinely gratifying experience,” she said. “It opens opportunities to DIY a bunch of cute apparel and items for yourself and your loved ones. It also allows you to slow down and focus solely on being present, which I have found to be my favorite part of the crochet process.”

Teaching crochet also takes patience. “It can get confusing when you're making rounds and lose count in your head, and the first few works may not be as clean because you're just getting used to putting the right tension in the string,” she said. “However, the more you practice, the better you'll get.”

When she doesn’t have yarn and a crochet hook in hand, Tran can be found participating in her school’s CURE environmental club, science club and art club. She also has a paid internship at a local museum and is a member of the Westhampton Ambulance Junior Program. In addition, she works at a local retail store and is working toward becoming a nail artist. She has a goal to pursue medicine and the sciences in college.

The new Crochet Corner club meets biweekly on Fridays before school in the school’s library.

Date Added: 2/4/2025