Looping Together While Staying Apart

There are two things Tess Pacetti has an abundance of right now: time and yarn. A rising seventh grader at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School, Tess is using all that time to provide yarn-based craft kits to kids. 

Looking for something to keep herself busy over quarantine, Tess turned to crochet, something she had always wanted to learn. She taught herself this skill using online resources, and then taught a few friends over Zoom. Then she thought, “Wouldn’t it be great to make videos to teach other kids?” 

Along with video tutorials, Tess wanted to provide kids with free supplies. Mom Kimberly took to a local Facebook group to see who had yarn to spare. When they ended up with a garbage bag full, she knew they were on to something. She explained that Tess had “all this yarn and all this time to put together and do something productive.”

Tess has since created 100 crochet kits along with 100 finger knitting kits, using her own money and donated funds (some from her mom and some donated by members of a Facebook group). The crochet kits contain a hook, yarn and supplies for three projects, including making jewelry and a potholder or kitchen scrubber. Those kits are more costly to create, so she has started a GoFundMe campaign to help cover costs to be able to do more. 

For more information and demo videos, or to request a kit for porch pick-up, Tess has set up a website. She recommends the kits for kids in kindergarten and above. An avid cello and piano player, Tess wants to tackle growing rose bushes next. Hopefully she will learn, and then teach us all.