We all know activities come and go for children. What they like at 5, they
often tire of a year or two later. But a boy from La Crosse, Wisconsin is
the exception. As Boyd Huppert shows us when Jonah Larson wound himself up in
this hobby he did so for the long run. In this corner house in La Crosse, Wisconsin
a grandfather clock gives beat to many a grandmother's craft. "I turned 11 on
January 5th, Saturday." Jonah Larson has two grandmothers... they just don't crochet
five hours a day. Jennifer Larson is Jonah's mom. [Jonah] "Been doing it for half my life."
[Jennifer] "Sometimes he gets up early before I even get up and he's at the table of
crocheting at like 6:00 in the morning." Morning and night. [Jennifer] "'I'm going to sleep now, mom.'
but underneath that cover there's his crochet hooks and a flashlight."
A light first lit when Jonah discovered in a bag of discarded craft
items his aunt's crochet hook which led him to YouTube.
[Jonah] "Found a base stitch video and from there on I was hooked." Hooked ... seriously. [Jennifer] "He made a
dishcloth for his first project and he mean it perfectly." That's the first hat
Jonah made. He was 5. [Jonah] "Here's a personal favorite ...
It's my sunset afghan with a border I made. [Jennifer] "He's are crochet prodigy."
[Jonah] "It's a Scandinavian throw." [Jennifer] "I think you were about 8 when you made that one."
Jonah's mom hosted the first of several of his projects on Instagram. [Jennifer] "It was a
afghan he made of 800 flowers. He was probably 7 at the time."
"You had that group that was absolutely fascinated, then you had the doubters ...
'What? You gotta be kidding me. There's no way that kid did that.'"
[Jonah on YouTube] "Hi fellow crochers! Today in this tutorial, I'm going to show you how to make these adorable baby shoes." Today Jonah has
thousands of social media followers, his own catchphrase: "Goodbye and crochet away,"
and a cowl-neck trend he started by crocheting one for his mom.
[Jennifer] "Thousands of people started making it and they just refer to it as the Jonah Cowl."
Jonah also gets fan mail ... mail and gifts from around the world.
[Jonah reading] "'Dear Jonah, You are an inspiration to so many people.' These are some nice colors."
[Jennifer] "One day I came home and there was five boxes about this size on our porch. I do have a
picture of that once we dumped all that yarn out Jonah was sitting in the middle of it."
But the kid who may as well have a thousand out-of-town grandmas started
his life alone. [Jonah] "Yeah." That's Jonah at the orphanage in
Ethiopia after he was abandoned as a newborn by his mother
[Jennifer] "There was a really high possibility he would have some cognitive delay.
He was very sick ... he was malnourished. [Jonah] "Yeah ... lucked out."
Jonah adopted by the Larsons at 5 months, now has in his grasp
his own slice of the American dream. [Jonah] "My family, my two dogs and crocheting."
Jonah's favorite time ... crocheting with his mom close by.
Keeping tabs on the hundreds of orders for his work, a yarn company sponsorship
offer, and an upcoming national talk show appearance. [Jennifer] "We would fly
you and Jonah and on the 30th." All while mastering advanced 9th grade algebra
in the 6th grade with bigger plans ahead. [Jonah] " I'm planning on attending West Point to
the academy and then becoming a surgeon." A surgeon. [Jonah] "This is kind of helping me
prep for that." Doctor Jonah Larson's patients will be in good hands.
[Jonah] "Well when you only have a short time, you got to make the most of it ." [Jennifer] "That's true."
Boyd Huppert, KARE 11 News La Crosse, Wisconsin. What an incredible young man. Jonah told
us that he was a bit of a rascal in elementary school but his behavior got
better when his 5th grade teacher started letting him crochet in class.
It helped keep him focused. Now if you'd like to check out more of Jonah's work
you'll find an Instagram and Facebook link at kare11.com. I was talking to Boyd
earlier this week and he said that Jonah's mom has often been accused of
the what of doing the work ... oh yeah ... because it's so good but she said the
only crochet needles she ever picks up are the ones that she finds he leaves
around the house, so it's all him. Interesting how he was attracted
to do that and then became great at it right I mean just you find something on
YouTube and you learn how to do it and you become so good at it it's only good
things gonna be coming for that young man in the future doctor a great story