Behind the Hook: My Journey to Brooke Grace Handmade

Every small business has an origin story, and ours starts with a YouTube tutorial and a ball of cheap acrylic yarn. In 2019, I was looking for a creative outlet — something to do with my hands while watching TV in the evenings. I stumbled across a crochet tutorial for a simple dishcloth and thought, "How hard can it be?" Turns out, my first dishcloth was a misshapen trapezoid. But something clicked. I was hooked — literally. Within months, I was crocheting blankets for every friend and family member who would accept one. When my sister-in-law posted a photo of a baby blanket I made and three of her friends asked where to buy one, I realized this hobby might be more than a hobby. I opened an Etsy shop, named it after my grandmother Grace (who taught me to sew as a kid), and listed my first three items. The early days were humble — my "studio" was the corner of our dining room table, and my inventory lived in a laundry basket. But word spread. Local craft fairs led to wholesale orders from boutiques in Weatherford and Fort Worth. When we outgrew the dining table, we took the leap and opened our brick-and-mortar shop on Elm Street in downtown Weatherford. Today, Brooke Grace Handmade is more than a shop — it's a community. We host monthly crochet circles, partner with local yarn dyers, and support guest artisans through our creator marketplace. Every stitch still starts with the same thing: a hook, some yarn, and a whole lot of love.