Crafting has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Birthdays and Christmases nearly always brought me a new book and some sort of craft kit to explore — embroidery, cross stitch, light refractors, crochet and all sorts of other creative adventures.

But of all the crafts I tried, the ones that stayed closest to my heart were the ones taught to me by my mother and grandmother: knitting and crochet.

As school became busier, my hooks and needles were put aside for a while and wool tapestry took their place. It wasn't until I was pregnant and wanted to make something special for my baby that I returned to knitting and crochet. From then on, there has almost always been something on my needles or hook.

Many years later, that love of making led me to YouTube.

I started my channel because I wanted somewhere to share what I was making and, more importantly, to pass on some of the knowledge I had collected over the years. Crafting also gave me something valuable personally. As an immobile woman living with a disability, I spend a great deal of time at home with my two cats, Maggie and Joey. Yarn keeps my hands busy, gives my mind something creative to focus on and, through YouTube, has opened the door to friendships with people I may never otherwise have met.

From Hooks and Needles to a Basket

My channel wasn't always called Sam's Yarn Basket.

Originally, it was By Hook or By Needles, a play on the old saying “by hook or by crook.” It seemed perfect at the time because that saying is all about determination — and I was certainly determined!

There was just one little problem...

Nobody could remember the name!

“By Hooks and Needles,” “By Hook and Needle” and several other variations appeared, and I realised that perhaps I needed something shorter, friendlier and easier to remember.

And so Sam's Yarn Basket was born.

I loved the idea of opening my basket and saying, “Here's what I'm working on today.” And with two cats already very much involved in everything I did, a basket seemed particularly appropriate. After all, what could suit a yarn-loving household better than cats, yarn and a basket?

Maggie and Joey had actually been part of the channel almost from the beginning — whether invited or not! Maggie, in particular, had a habit of wandering between the camera and whatever I was trying to film. Instead of editing those moments out, I left them in.

People loved them.

Before long, Maggie and Joey had personalities, starring roles in the channel intros and a reputation for a little mischief. I may technically own the channel, but I'm not entirely convinced they agree!

Then Came the Basketeers

When I started YouTube, my great ambition was to reach 1,000 subscribers.

I even began a Subscriber Blanket so I could create a physical record of the channel's growth. When it was completed, the blanket would be given away to one of the people who had helped the channel reach that milestone. I'm continuing that tradition with a knitted Subscriber Blanket, which will also be gifted to a subscriber when the Basket reaches 1,500.

But somewhere along the way, the numbers stopped being the most important part.

After my first year, I became involved in collaborations with other creators. The channel began growing more quickly, friendships developed, and I started to realise that perhaps we weren't simply building an audience.

We were building a community.

Calling everyone “subscribers” or “viewers” suddenly didn't seem quite right. I wanted a name that made people feel as though they belonged here.

And that's how the Basketeers were born.

Our motto, “All for Yarn and Yarn for All,” is, of course, our yarny version of the famous Three Musketeers' call of unity. I like to imagine the Basketeers standing together, crochet hooks held proudly aloft in the style of those wonderful old black-and-white Musketeer films!

It's a little silly, a little yarny and very much us.

More Than Just Stitches

Perhaps the thing that has surprised me most during this journey has been hearing from people who had previously given up trying to learn to knit.

I've encouraged them to give it another try with my beginner tutorials and promised that, if they became stuck, I would help.

And they tried again.

They succeeded.

Those moments mean far more to me than a number on a screen.

If someone contacts me because they're struggling with a technique, I don't want to simply point them back towards the same tutorial that didn't solve the problem the first time. I want to know which particular part they're struggling with. Whenever I can, I'll explain it differently or even make another tutorial specifically addressing that problem.

Because sometimes people don't need to be told that they can't do something.

They just need somebody willing to explain it another way.

And I think that has become a very important part of what Sam's Yarn Basket is about.

There's Still Room in the Basket

The Basket is still growing.

There are new patterns coming, including my mosaic and filet crochet designs, and some very exciting crochet-alongs and knit-alongs planned for 2027. There will always be new techniques to learn, projects to try, mistakes to make, questions to answer and probably a cat wandering across the camera at precisely the wrong moment.

But however much Sam's Yarn Basket grows, I don't want to lose what made it special in the first place.

I want someone discovering the Basket for the very first time to feel that they've found a friendly, comfortable place where they can learn, share what they know, ask questions without embarrassment and make friends along the way.

Because there's always room for another project in the Basket.

And there's always room for another Basketeer.