How entrepreneur Monique Davis uses crochet to thread together community

Through her business Eina Crochet, Monique Davis has built a vibrant community in Adelaide — one scrunchie at a time. (Image: Rikky Lehman)

By Rikky Lehman | @rikko_mode       

The air is crisp and cool, and the sky is grey and ominous. It’s the perfect day to reside indoors and commit to a peaceful grandma hobby like crochet. For some imaginative individuals, this hobby can be seen as a business opportunity — an opportunity that Monique Davis saw back in 2024, preceding the birth of Eina Crochet. For her, crochet isn’t just a craft: it’s a conversation starter, a relaxer, and now, a thread pulling together a growing creative community in Adelaide.

On this frosty and brooding Friday morning — 10am to be exact, Davis and I met at a beach café tucked quietly between the businesses of Semaphore Road.

Eina Crochet mostly consists of scrunchies, scarfs and pins. Before Eina Crochet, Davis would sell bags, hats and other pieces on Depop for some “extra pocket money”.

“One day I started making and selling scrunchies too and I thought it was a really unique idea that wasn’t really replicated anywhere else,” she says.

Sitting across from me in her moss green toweling Adidas jacket, she radiated a down-to-earth aura and carefree mentality. She could flow a conversation with captivating ease. We cycled through various subjects, from our love lives to our favourite music artists. This magnetic and hospitable behaviour is likely what her newfound connections were initially drawn to — I know I was. 

So, of all things, what attracted Davis to crochet?

“It intrigued me because you can just create,” Davis says.

“It seemed close to me and feasible unlike other things, like sewing.”

In an age of doomscrolling and bed rotting, it’s seemingly harder to get up and really do something. In 2024, a study by Colorado State University found 51 per cent of Americans find it difficult to make new friends — a statistic we can likely apply to Australia too. Could attitudes such as Davis’s help decrease this statistic?

“There are so many people out there that have things to show off,” she says.

Because of Eina Crochet, Davis has met many like-minded people through organisations such as Household and the Second Life Market. After being involved in multiple opening nights and exhibitions at the “one of a kind” Household, Davis feels very connected to Adelaide’s art community — an experience once unimaginable without Eina Crochet.

“There’s nothing really like it,” she says. “[Adelaide] has a very small community of artists, but it isn’t as small as people think.”

Second Life Market Event Producer Ava Viscariello scouted Davis via Instagram.

“Eina’s brand identity and the work itself feels strong, genuine and beautiful, so it stood out to me,” she says.

“My first thought seeing Eina was ‘what a beautiful way to adorn one’s hair!’”

Davis alongside some of her crochet creations at Household Gallery. (Image: Rikky Lehman)

Throughout our meal, a mesmerised bulldog looks up at our food with intense desire. Eventually, in a demonstration of good nature, Davis asks the dog’s owner if she can share some of her food with the pet, and she does. The moment feels right — a quiet kindness that mirrors the spirit of Eina Crochet.

It’s this spirit that her customers notice too.

Davis’s very first in-person customer, Isabella Candeloro, expressed her excitement about her interaction with Davis as something “very wholesome and something that [she] won’t forget.”

Candeloro purchased Eina Crochet’s “Neptune Scarf” and praises the pieces versatility.

“It makes me feel very proud because I know I’m wearing something that a lot of time and care and effort was put into,” she says.

According to Davis, approximately three hours goes into one scrunchie: “something that can’t be replicated by machine,” she says.

In regards to Candeloro and her friends, Davis told me she thought they were all “dressed incredible and exhibited good taste.” She remembers feeling both excited and bewildered that “people with good taste like my stuff.”

“Everything felt considered, I loved her stall setup and that Davis and her friend were wearing her work too,” says Viscariello.

A tree and some beautifully lush grass look inviting as we search for somewhere to sit near the shore. Cross-legged, Davis removes her ballet flats and elegantly tosses them to the side, making herself comfortable in an effortlessly cool way. The ocean air continues to create an aroma of serenity.

“I’m by no means a master of crochet,” says Davis before opening her handbag to reveal some of the most insanely-adorable headwear and a colourful tote bag.

Davis crocheting. (Image: Rikky Lehman)

Here, Davis got vulnerable: “I think handmade gifts are more meaningful than anything else,” she says. For her grandma’s 90^th birthday, she made a scarf. The very same grandma taught her how to knit, evidently planting the seeds for Davis’s future.

“She gave me all my crochet hooks, her knitting needles so, now, it feels like I’m carrying her with me,” she says.

Mohair, alpaca, cotton, and other natural fibres are at the heart of what makes Davis’s work so uniquely striking. Much like her newfound friends and customers, Davis supports local businesses. She gets her resources from small business Wool Chambers based in Salisbury and quaint store Yarn Trader in Port Adelaide.

Eina Crochet may have started in 2024, but its spirit started spreading roots much earlier. The inspiration began when her high school best friend came to school with an “adorable” crochet plushie. “It amazed me that she could create something like that just in her free time,” she says. Before that, she didn’t feel artistic — she couldn’t draw — but through her best friend, she “found [her] artistic muse.” This led Davis to start a crochet club.

When asked how she wishes people feel wearing her pieces, Davis told me she “hopes it brightens people’s days.”

Candeloro, for one, feels “quite special whenever [she] wears a piece that is so one of a kind,” she says.

“Whenever I do wear a piece like that, that’s when I receive the most compliments.”

Some of Davis’s ideas and designs. (Image: Rikky Lehman)

When asked about what comes next, Davis confessed she would love to make clothing.

“I still want to have crochet scrunchies and crochet as the centrepiece, but now that I’m studying fashion in the coming few months, I would love to start making clothing.”

As we hugged goodbye, I felt oddly inspired by Davis — inspired to create and inspired to finally let mum teach me to knit. The inspiration hadn’t come from the craft itself, but the way Davis’s passion connected her to so much of Adelaide that I didn’t even know existed.

Beyond the physical items for sale, it’s clear that Eina Crochet stands for something bigger. It’s a way to meet unique people and keep busy. Davis’s business isn’t built on profit margins: it’s built on connection, community, and a shared love and devotion to the arts.