Story By: Allyson BirdPublished On: November 24, 2025 at 7:54 PM CST

The Crocheting PawPaw | Building a business one stitch at a time

ZACHARY — When Nate Ford picked up a new hobby, he didn’t know he’d be starting a business, meeting hundreds of people, and earning a new nickname.

Ford, better known as “The Crocheting PawPaw,” taught himself to crochet by watching YouTube videos about four years ago. Since then, he’s gone from making hats for his grandkids to creating purses, sandals, and monogrammed items for total strangers.

Now, he sells his homemade goodies at local markets and you can catch him at the Zachary market on certain weekends!

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Allyson Bird

Allyson Bird is an Emmy-nominated journalist with more than a decade of experience in broadcast and digital news. She’s worked at television stations in Grand Rapids, MI and Charlotte, and later served as a supervising producer at NewsNation, where she helped launch and shape the national morning show 'Morning in America.' Her work includes breaking news and feature storytelling that focus on clarity and impact.