By Pauline Odhiambo
Clara Ndinda Kyumbua grew up in the crochet era of the 90s, characterised by older women spending hours stringing together yards of yarn to make intricate tablecloths and sofa covers that would adorn their homes.
But it wasn't until 2018 that Clara's interest in the art of crochet was piqued by watching an older cousin make beautiful creations using makeshift needles.
"It was fascinating to watch because she was using broomsticks to knit!" the 26-year-old Kenyan recounts to TRT Afrika.
"I thought it looked interesting and uniquely beautiful," she says.
Her fascination grew when she saw her mother undoing an old sweater and using a crochet hook to make cleaning cloths from the yarn.
“My mum taught me the steps, but I found those complicated. She bought me yarn the next day, and I decided to watch YouTube tutorials to learn the process better," says Clara, then a shy, introverted university student.
Awkward and bullied
Although her designs were initially far from perfect, crochet became more than just a distraction for Clara when she wasn't studying film and broadcast production in class.
"Some of my classmates would make fun of me. They branded me 'Granny Clara', painting a picture of an awkward girl fixated on an 'old woman's thing.'"
Undeterred by their taunts, Clara focused on making simple garments. "I crocheted a scarf for myself. It was so ugly, but I felt so proud of myself," she recalls.
After graduating in 2019, Clara struggled to find employment despite applying for jobs wherever there were opportunities. Crochet came to her rescue.
"I then decided to purchase crochet materials with the money I had been gifted on my graduation," she says.
"I made a beanie in a week and posted the photo on social media. So many people wanted to buy it, encouraging me to start a business making beanies."
Crossover crochet
With an initial capital of US $50, Clara started a venture built around selling her beanies cheaply. As orders began trickling in, her margins and pricing grew.
"There were other crochet artists at the time selling beanies for 100 shillings each, but I decided to sell mine at 800 (US $6). I knew the passion that went into my work and the product's neatness. Turns out customers were willing to pay for that," says Clara.
A client once ordered seven beanies at a go and paid the amount in full. "It took me about a week to make all seven beanies because I had gotten faster at crocheting by then," she says.
But what started as a business named Beanie Hub eventually evolved into one producing many other garments. She was now also making crocheted sweaters and tops.
"It took me three days to make my first sweater. It wasn't perfect, but it looked amazing," she says. "I decided to make a second sweater and did a TikTok video of the process that garnered more than a million views and hundreds of comments from people interested in purchasing."
By the end of that day, Clara had 10,000 new followers to add to the 200 that existed before the video was put up. "People flooded my inbox with orders. It was overwhelming, although I didn't feel too confident about my sweater-making skills."
Twist of fate
Unable to cope with the demand, Clara deactivated her social media, re-activating it much later with a pinned disclaimer stating that her sweaters were not for sale.
In the meantime, she worked on perfecting her sweater-making skills while making more beanies for sale.
By the end of 2022, Clara's sweater-making skills had greatly improved, but she was still unsure about selling them.
She distracted herself by attempting to get an office job as a TV reporter at a local media company, only to get conned by a fake recruiter.
The final nudge to expand her business came after she narrowly survived a near-fatal motorcycle accident.
"I broke a leg and also damaged my hands. My mum had to bathe me because I couldn’t even move my fingers, let alone hold a crochet hook," says Clara. "I didn't know if I was ever going to heal. That's when it dawned on me how my life depended on my skills."
Matching sets
As her healing progressed, Clara slowly resumed taking orders for sweaters.
"I went back to my old messages on social media and responded to inquiries on sweaters from people who had reached out to me before," she says. "Many people were still interested, and one man even ordered a matching set for his whole family!"
As the orders came flooding back in, Clara also started teaching girls interested in crochet.
"The hardest part is the first lesson – holding the hook and the yarn to make the first chain," she explains.
Many of her students are reduced to fighting tears of frustration while starting lessons, a struggle she remembers from her first lesson with her mother.
“We can spend up to about two weeks on that particular thing, but once my students get the hang of it, they are good with it. This makes me glad," says Clara.
➤Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.
