America recently celebrated its 250th anniversary. To commemorate the patriotic milestone, 11-year-old Greyson Moore decided to crochet a one-of-a-kind American flag blanket.
Greyson impressively crocheted the 6-foot-by-8-foot blanket in record time—less than two weeks. He began working on it June 13 and finished it Friday, June 26.
“I wanted to make the flag because Fourth of July was a really big deal this year, and I wanted to honor our country and contribute something to the celebrations—and make something special for our family to remember,” Greyson told Upworthy.
Crocheting the American flag
On Instagram, Greyson documented the process of making the red, white, and blue blanket, which required a whopping 60 skeins of yarn.
“My Dad took me shopping for all the supplies. But we didn’t have enough yarn, so we went to three Hobby Lobbys,” he said in the video. “Once we had all the supplies, I started with a big blue rectangle.”
Greyson also explained that he worked on the blanket between tennis camps and baseball games—with a little “help” from the family’s dog, Penny.
After finishing the blanket’s blue section, he moved on to the stripes.
“I didn’t use a pattern, so we had to lay it out to see if the stripes would be long enough,” he said.
Once the stripes were done, he attached them to the blue section—a step that took multiple tries, but he finally got it. Finally, he stitched the stars and sewed them on. Greyson said he decided to make America’s original flag with 13 stars in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary.
“It was exciting to see it all come together,” he said.
Photo credit: sinclairandmoore/Instagram
Learning to crochet
Not many boys his age consider crocheting a hobby. But for Greyson, it all started with a classmate.
“I had a friend at school (also named Greyson) who had learned how to crochet and was making some pretty cool things, so I wanted to learn as well,” he said.
While his friend shared some helpful tips, he turned to the internet to refine his technique.
“Neither of my parents know how to crochet, so I watched a few YouTube tutorials that taught me everything I needed to know and shared helpful pointers,” he said.
Greyson said he watched the YouTube channel B.Hooked Crochet to learn how to crochet the blanket.
He also shared that he loves to crochet for its therapeutic effects.
“It can be really relaxing once you get the hang of it, as you can tune out and just let your hands do the work,” he said.
Photo credit: Jenny Quicksall (used with permission)
The flag’s overwhelming response
His dad, Steve Moore, told Upworthy that he knew Greyson’s crocheting process should be documented.
“I knew this blanket was going to be special and so started documenting the process of making the blanket for my own memory—and so no one could ever say that he hadn’t been the one to make it,” he said.
After sharing a few videos on social media, he realized that thousands of people were invested in Greyson’s creation.
“I think his blanket has had a significant impact on people and that it’s built a sort of bridge between what feels like a very divided nation,” Steve said. “No matter what side you fall on politically, I think that seeing the innocence of a kid diligently working on a project to honor his country brought a lot of hope to everyone.”
Seeing Greyson crochet has also inspired people young and old to try crocheting themselves.
“I’ve also heard from so many people (adults and other kids) who were inspired to get their crochet hooks out and start creating,” he added. “There is a lot of joy to be discovered and satisfaction to be felt when we put down our screens and create something with our own hands.”
