An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Articles
News | Nov. 8, 2023

Airman Knits Joy for Self and Others

By Tech. Sgt. Richard Mekkri 158th Fighter Wing

Senior Airman Emily Sorrell took a simple knitting hobby and created a rewarding side hustle by crafting mini creatures that she calls “plushies.” And she may have a common throat bacteria to thank for her success.

“I had chronic strep throat my entire life,” said Sorell, a Security Forces Defender with the 158th Fighter Wing. “It was almost a guarantee that whenever I had a cold, I would end up with strep.”

After years of pervasive pain and soreness, doctors decided to finally rid Sorrell of the cause of her discomfort—her tonsils. It was during her post-tonsillectomy recovery that she discovered her proclivity for fiber arts.

“In my Junior year of high school, I was out for two weeks, recovering after getting my tonsils removed,” Sorell said. “I don’t remember what prompted it but I needed something to do.”

That’s when Sorrell’s mother decided to take her to a local craft store. There, they went through a variety of options before Sorrell decided to try her hand, literally, at fiber crafts.

She began by “finger knitting”— a process that uses hands and fingers to create objects such as hats and scarves. These became gifts for the holidays. She then took up the knitting needle, when her then-expectant sister requested items for her soon-to-be nephew’s nursery.

“After that, I started to crochet Pokémon to have as collectibles on my desk and posted them to my social media pages,” Sorrell said. “I received lots of inquiries from people looking to commission and purchase my crochet Pokémon, that then snowballed into the crochet business I have today.”

Sorrell’s business, 'Red Mills Handmade Crochet,' specializes in amigurumi, the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed yarn creatures. These diminutive ghosts, gnomes, and cryptids have gained her a social media following numbering in the thousands.

Sorrell estimates that since she began knitting a year ago, she has created more than 500 tiny creatures. She sells them online and in local craft fairs throughout her home state of New York and in Vermont, where she drills and works full-time.

Sorrell said that she takes part in at least one craft show each month. Traveling to all of those craft fairs requires a lot of work: loading up her vehicle with hundreds of stuffies, traveling to another town, setting up booths and tents, arranging her creatures and engaging with the public—sometimes multiple days in a row. All of this work is what put her on track for career expansion: from security forces defender to Air Guard production recruiter.

Senior Airman Sorrell had been on orders working with the base family readiness team while they were looking for someone to permanently run the program. During this time, her diligence hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“One of my responsibilities is to seek out Airmen who would make great recruiters,” said Master Sgt. Renick Darnell-Martin, 158th Fighter Wing Recruiting Flight Chief. “I quickly identified Senior Airman Sorrell as one of those. As an airman she always had such a positive attitude and displayed an extremely hard work ethic.”

Darnell-Martin said that he encouraged Sorrell to apply and that she stood out from the other candidates as someone who would bring enthusiasm, energy, and positivity to the job. She interviewed and was offered the position in August. Since her time in the recruiting position, she has continued to exceed expectations.

“I have full confidence she will continue to excel and lead this team and Wing to great things,” said Darnell-Martin.

Since then Sorrell has been working her recruiting position and continues to fill in at family readiness. She also continues crafting her stuffies. If that sounds like a lot of work, it is.

“I just grind 24/7 during the week, I go to work, I crochet on my lunch breaks, I get home, I crochet for most of the evening and then I usually relax the day after the market or show,” said Sorrell. “If I happen to not have a market coming up, you can catch me gaming on my PC—right now I’ve definitely got an unhealthy obsession with a few new games.”

Although working what is essentially multiple jobs, Sorrell said that it’s not as stressful as it may seem. She finds joy and relaxation in what she does.

“I feel content and calm when I’m crocheting.” Sorrell said. “It makes me feel a lot of joy as well when I see how happy people are who buy or receive my items. I was actually walking in downtown Plattsburgh a few weeks ago and saw that someone had one of my baby possum stuffies sitting on the dashboard in their car. I felt like a giddy kid seeing that.”

So, if you find yourself with a two-week break in your life and are looking for something to do, Sorrell said that anybody can crochet. All it takes it a hook, some yarn, and a little bit of patience.

The official logo of the Vermont National Guard.

TAG's State of the Guard - April 2025

The above YouTube video link may not work on all government computers. Read the transcript of MG Gregory Knight's full State of the Guard here.

National Guard News
U.S. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...