Shore to Shore: A hobby that became a passion and a saving grace

OCEAN CITY, Md. — In the newest edition of Shore to Shore, beach days are looking a little different for one woman on the shore: she’s teaching people to trade towels for yarn.

Amy Zaprowski, a knitter and crocheter who goes by AmyZKnits, said, “I’ve come to my place of Zen. I crochet at the beach a lot. My friends and I go pretty much every Sunday in the summer that we can.”

Her passion for yarn began 25 years ago, when she learned to knit from her husband’s grandmother, also known as Grandma Z.

“I was getting ready to have my first spinal fusion, and I was like, I need something to do. She handed me some needles, we got on the couch, and we were there all day,” Zaprowski said.

What started as making dishcloths for Grandma Z quickly grew.

“Right now, I’m working on a little baby beanie. I do baby hats, baby blankets, scarves, ear bands, dishcloths,” she said.

Zaprowski sells her creations through two local businesses: Read Recycle Repeat, in Norristown, Philadelphia, and Breathe Interiors, a boutique in downtown Salisbury.

Some of her work is inspired by the shore.

“Sitting here and looking out at that, watching the seagulls and the pelicans fly and doing another couple stitches, oh my gosh, there’s a dolphin and if you’re at Assateague, oh, here come some ponies,” she said.

Her hobby became a passion and along the way, it became her saving grace.

“I’m not sure if I can talk about it without crying. Living in chronic pain for 25 years has been very challenging. As silly as it may sound to some, just having a place for your brain to go that’s not in it has been really helpful,” Zaprowski said.

For now, she’s enjoying the view.

“It’s really cool to be able to sit here in nature and do something that I love,” she said.

If you have any recommendations for Shore to Shore, you can email me at Haley_rae@wmdt.com