WHEN Kerrie Dunston opened Hooked on Molong in November 2024, she said she didn’t just want to create a job for herself, she wanted to create something for the district.
Almost two years later, the yarn and craft shop has become a hub for makers from across the region, with more than 150 people learning to crochet through Dunston’s lessons and many more dropping in to browse, chat or work on their latest project.
Dunston, who owns and operates the business, moved to Molong with her family seeking a better lifestyle.
Before opening the shop, she worked as a finance credit analyst before helping with her husband’s commercial air conditioning business.
Throughout these roles, crafting remained her enduring passion.
“I decided I would try to create a job, as well as offer this to Molong,” she said.
An avid crocheter, Dunston said it was her love of yarn that inspired her to open the shop.
She now offers crochet lessons, with participants learning to make a basic granny square while developing a range of skills, including tension and different stitches.
“I’ve taught over 150 people how to crochet,” she said.
Priced at $100, the two-hour instructional sessions cover essential materials, a crochet hook, stitch markers, and a learn-to-crochet guide.
Along with the lesson, Dunston extends a lifelong commitment to her pupils.
“I’m your teacher for the rest of my working life,” she said.
The shop regularly welcomes people from surrounding towns such as Orange, Canowindra, and Manildra and attendees traveling to attend the store’s social meetups have come from as far as Lithgow and Cowra.
Beyond serving in-person crafters, Dunston operates an online business that reaches customers across Australia and extends into New Zealand.
However, Dunston emphasises that her vision for Hooked on Molong goes beyond selling craft supplies.
While yarn attracts people through the door, she said aims for the shop to deliver greater value to the community.
To foster community connection, she hosts a free monthly social gathering with knitters and crocheters invited to bring any current project, regardless of whether the supplies were purchased at her shop.
These monthly sessions regularly draw between 12 and 20 participants.
Dunston supplies catering for the events, providing a welcoming environment where people can gather and create.
“I don’t just want this place to be a place where people come to just buy stuff from me,” she said. “I want it to be a safe haven.”
She also noted that several regular patrons visit simply to enjoy a cup of tea and a friendly conversation.
“I get lots of elderly people who just come in and sit,” she said. “You’d be surprised over a cuppa what they open up about.”
For Dunston, providing a welcoming social space is a deeply personal mission, as she said she recognises that loneliness can affect people of all ages.
“People are just lonely and I’m lonely here sometimes in the shop, too,” she said. “So, it’s always nice for people to come in.”
Accessibility is also catered for, featuring a flat-surface entrance located at the side of the building for wheelchair access.
Looking ahead to the store’s upcoming second anniversary, Dunston hopes to expand her space and share her craft with an even broader group of people.
For now, though, she is taking things one stitch at a time.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” she said.