Local Mastered Crochet at a Young Age

By Misty Cryer

Many people experiment with the craft of crochet over their lifetimes and have unfinished projects to prove it. That is not the case for a young girl in Carlsbad who has mastered the craft of crocheting and often gifts her finished projects to others.

Eleven-year-old fifth-grader Piper Daugherty said her Memaw taught her how to crochet. When talking about the types of projects she has done, she said, “I like making monkeys a lot.”

Piper said that monkeys are animals she really likes. “And also, the arms and the tail are like the same pattern, so it’s really easy,” she said.

Piper’s favorite thing she’s ever made is the caterpillar, which she said has everything he ate in it. When asked why the caterpillar is her favorite, she said, “Because I feel like it has the most use. I’ve used it the most, played with it the most.”

With several pets between her and her family members, including sugar gliders, ferrets, cats, and dogs, Piper said, “I also like making small blankets for our animals.”

When asked which of her pets she liked the most, she said in her sweet demeanor, “That’s a really hard question.” She said she really likes her ferret.

“Sometimes, when I’m crocheting, my cat, Gary, he comes and sits on my lap,” said Piper. She said that when she’s working and touches the cat, he just stays there and purrs about it.

“I can do single stitches, doubles, increase… There are like two that I don’t know the name of,” said Piper when discussing the stitches she uses.

When asked what she likes most about crocheting, Piper said, “It just like keeps my hands busy, that’s probably what I like about it.” She added, “I like making plushies and stuff.”

In addition to crocheting, Piper said she likes drawing and playing sports, and sometimes she enjoys doing stuff on the computer.

Piper’s favorite subjects in school are math and science. She said she has done science experiments, but not in school. “One time, we did one with an egg to see if the shell dissolves in vinegar,” she said.

Piper said that often, she and her sister do vinegar-and-baking-soda experiments. “When you put the baking soda in the vinegar, it like foams up,” she said, adding that it can blow up a balloon.

Piper said she has two sisters. “My little sister crochets a little bit. My older sister, I don’t think she knows how to crochet,” she said.

Piper’s mom, Jennifer, said she was happy that someone noticed the talent her daughter has. She provided a photo taken in 2024 of her two youngest daughters, Ellie and Piper, giving a monkey to Tyrie Ballard, who she said was very important when their dad passed. “It was the very first she made one on her own,” she said.

Ms. Ballard bought yarn for the girls, said Jennifer, so Piper made and gifted her the first of many monkeys.

“Life was actually picking on them. But she just crocheted, and crocheted, and crocheted, like all the time,” said Jennifer, adding that Piper gave away most of everything she made. “Most of what she gave away was to kids that she felt got picked on,” she said.

“Crocheting helped her feel better. She was doing good for others, but it did her good, too,” said Jennifer. She said she supposed that crocheting was part of healing.