Vincent Green-Hite, also known as Knot Bad, had a desire to learn how to crochet. He watched YouTube videos, browsed through blogs and put in the time. Through trial and error, he learned how to design his own crochet patterns. Creating adorable amigurumi stuffies to crocheted garments, Vincent enjoys keeping his hands busy crocheting.
How did you find your creative path?
Crochet was something that has always interested me from the moment I heard about it in high school. All I knew about was scarf making; I tried to pick it up a few times, but I couldn’t get the hang of it. I tried again in college but nothing clicked again. It wasn’t until I went through an existential crisis period, I dropped out of school, and quit my job at the time that I finally learned to crochet.
My first thought was, “okay I really want to learn crochet. If I try for 8 hours, I will be better than I am now.” One could say I was feeling adventurous – it took me 7 hours to learn how to chain stitch. With no other creative background, I saw what you could do with amigurumi, like making Pokémon, and I’ve just continued doing it every day for the past 7 years. I’m really flattered that people take a liking to my work!
What did you do BC (Before Crochet)?
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.
Before taking his creative route, I was doing the very stereotypical college student work as a pizza delivery boy. I struggled hard with school and my mental health, so I decided to move back into the folks house. I had been trying to find my passion for a long time and I had a feeling in my bones that I wanted to seriously try to learn how to crochet. I then picked it up! I didn’t have any direction in my life so I thought learning something would help ground me in a way.
How did you learn to do what you do?
It’s all been very trial and error the whole way through! I got my start through YouTube tutorials to learn the basics and then I followed a bunch of crochet blogs and tried their crochet patterns. I knew I wanted to design from the get-go so I was actively practicing all the shapes!
What is amigurumi? How and why did that become a focus of your creativity? What else do you like to make?
Amigurumi is the Japanese word for crochet or knitted dolls. In short, you’re making plushies! Initially, I just wanted to make Pokémon – I then really started enjoying making the various food, animals, and other items that I could make. Nothing is off limits for amigurumi which I love.
I took a 2-3 year break from amigurumi to focus on clothing pieces including sweaters, scarves, and even a cloak! However, when the pandemic hit I fell in love with amigurumi again.
What is the main takeaway that you want readers to gain from your new book, Knot Bad Amigurumi: Learn Crochet Stitches and Techniques to Create Cute Creatures with 25 Easy Patterns?
The main takeaway should be how easy it is to make amigurumi.
The craft can seem really intimidating upon first glance but when you actually start making dolls, you come to see how simple the shapes are. You stick to one stitch 90% of the time and the sewing is minimal. After making a pattern, you should be able to come out with basic beginner skills and experienced looking projects. Amigurumi is just one shape at a time!
Are you a planner or improviser?
It’s a decent blend I suppose! I go into a project with a really basic sketch and work on the sketch and project at the same time. I will generally make the first version expecting not to like it. I just want to get it done ASAP, so I have something to be able to look at. The second time around is when I start trying way harder! Having the general shape makes me less stressed out.
What are the indispensable tools and materials in your studio? How do they improve your work?
The things I absolutely need to get working are my yarn and hooks! I’m particular with my hooks – I love Susan Bates for my standard amigurumi and Clover for jumbo projects! I really like using inline hooks. Since I’m doing a lot of doll making, polyfill is always in abundance in my space. Some things to invest in are pins, scissors, and darning needles. One thing I haven’t bought in forever are stitch markers. I just use the tail of my work. One other thing that I need to craft with are my headphones, I would consider them to be a mandatory work expense.
What do you do differently? What is your signature that makes your work stand out as yours?
That’s a hard one! I don’t know if I recognize entirely what makes my work stand out, but I do know that the faces I use for my amigurumi are part of my signature! I like to keep the safety eyes wide apart and have a long smile, eyelashes, and blush! I would say it’s easier to identify my style with my amigurumi, not so much with my work that includes wearables. I never quite got to the point with clothing articles.
What plays in the background while you work? Silence? Music, audiobooks, podcasts, movies? If so, what kind?
I’m usually switching between things! For the most part I am switching between twitch streams (video games typically), YouTube, or music. Most of the music I listen to is heavy metal and deathcore but I do enjoy most genres. Any kind of pop makes me happy too. Sometimes I’ll be watching something too but I usually save shows for eating and relaxing.
Do you think that creativity comes naturally to people, or do you think creativity is a skill that people can learn?
I’m sure there’s balance to it and it’s never a 100/0 split. I am not overwhelmingly good at crochet; it took me hours to get the hang of it and I still need to practice to keep my creativity sharp. I think even the most creative person in the world wouldn’t be able to come up with ideas if they didn’t at least attempt. Creativity comes from trying and everyone has at least one thing that is unique to them.
Tell us about your blog, what do you hope people will find?
I hope people find the motivation to create whatever you want!! I feel like there is an unnecessary amount of societal and internal walls that are barriers to feeling that crochet is for anyone. I want my blog to be very accessible – most of my work is free so you don’t have to pay and most of my work is really simple so anyone can try it out! Learning how to make my hands move just because I wanted to make something so bad is a feeling I won’t forget from when I first started.
Learn more about Knot Bad, Vincent Green-Hite:
Buy his book
Check out his blog: https://knotbadami.com/
Follow him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knot.bad/?hl=en
Follow him on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@knotbad?lang=en
Interview posted March 2023
Browse through more crochet projects and inspiration on Create Whimsy.