When Sharron Higgins was nine years old, she marched into her local library, picked up a how-to book, and taught herself to crochet. She never told me why a nine-year-old would do such a thing – spend a Saturday afternoon in the library, I mean – but the reasons now probably don’t matter all that much. Higgins is now well in her 70s and crochet is still her thing, perhaps even more so. While she paid her bills and spent days as a bookkeeper, she is now owner and operator and chief creative of Wild Texas beART, a craft business where she creates crochet animals. Most of them are humorous, like “Tater Swift” and “Frankenshine;” others a bit edgy. All of them fun.
“About six years ago, I kept seeing all these little crocheted animals online and thought, well, that looks fun,” she said. “So I switched from blankets to octopuses. The kids loved the little tentacles. I even made long-tentacle ones that looked like jellyfish. Since then, things have just expanded from there.”
I ran into Higgins at the Arlington Farmers Market, which is home to vendors like her, plus a lively mix of produce, meat, honey, tamales, jam, handmade goods, and enough pastries to make your Saturday morning feel like a holiday. Tucked at 300 W. Front Street, the market runs every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m…