Making it through the sixth grade is significantly easier when you have a cool skill or talent. For Jonah Larson of La Crosse, Wisconsin, that skill is crocheting, and he is very, VERY good at it.
Jonah began crocheting at the age of five and now, six years later, he's a veritable master of the craft.
He speed crochets without any difficulty, talking and looking at other things while his hands do all the work that needs to be done.
His mom, Jennifer, thought his crocheted creations were so impressive she started an Instagram account for him.
A month ago, it had 2,400 followers—not an incredibly huge number, but certainly enough for any sixth-grader to be proud of.
All that changed when his local paper, the La Crosse Tribune, picked up his story. That profile got the attention of producers at Inside Edition, Good Morning America, and NPR, who blasted Jonah's crocheting into the stratosphere!
He now has over 46k followers and attracts new ones every day!
Jonah is gifted in many ways, scoring so high on an IQ test in elementary school that his parents had him skip a grade.
His mother believes crocheting helps him focus:
"I think his mind is just always very busy, and it turned out that crocheting is something that calms him down and makes him feel good. I think of it as medicinal in some ways."
Working with his hands once he's done with assignments has also helped Jonah, who can be easily distracted and bored, behave better in school.
"His fifth-grade teacher encouraged him to bring his crocheting into school, and after assignments he was allowed to crochet. It was just wonderful because then he wasn't bored anymore."
Jonah makes crocheted gifts for his friends and even fills the occasional order to a paying client.
Since going viral, the sixth grader is receiving roughly 3,000 orders a week.
But Jonah's mother is careful not to let Jonah take on very many orders.
She believes it would defeat the point of his calming hobby:
"He only has two little hands. I don't want to overwhelm him, plus he likes to make things on his own terms."
Jonah himself echoed the sentiment when asked whether he prefers to crochet for profit or pleasure:
"I enjoy both. It is always nice to have your wallet full. But crocheting just what people want to buy can get repetitive, and I always want to try new things. Plus, I need to do some things for family members too. Like, my dad is bald and needs a hat. It gets very cold here in Wisconsin, so I need to do that soon."
Twitter couldn't have been more impressed by the young craftsman!
Keep up the good work, Jonah. You're bringing out the crafty in all of us!
