The Perfect Shade of Irony: Red Heart Glowworm & Vaccine Misinformation
Some yarns just stick with you.
For me, one of those yarns is Red Heart Glowworm—a neon green so bright it almost glows. I first bought a skein in college when its ridiculous vibrancy completely captivated me. It was an impulse buy that jumped out from a clearance bin and practically dared me to take it home. And I did—only to lose it in a move before I ever had the chance to use it.
At the time, I didn’t even know what it was called. I just knew I’d never seen that shade of green before. So I spent years casually searching for it, hoping I’d stumble across another skein on Etsy, eBay, or in a destash group. But without a name, I was searching for neon green yarn in a sea of lime, emerald, and chartreuse with no luck.
Then, about six months ago, I was at an estate sale, digging through a bin of old acrylic yarn, when I saw it—an untouched skein of the very same neon green yarn. This time, I checked the label: Red Heart Glowworm. I finally had a name for it, and more importantly, I had it again.
Of course, then came a new problem: What project was worthy of it?
Song Credit: Bad Blood, Taylor Swift
My Shift to Natural Fibers
In recent years, I’ve been making a conscious effort to use more natural fibers in my projects. Every fiber has its own characteristics, and while acrylic has its place, it traps heat in a way that just doesn’t work for clothing. Since I’ve been crocheting more wearables, I’ve started using more wool, cotton, and bamboo, which each behave differently. Wool is warm but breathable, cotton is soft and sturdy, and bamboo has an incredible drape.
However, I haven’t abandoned acrylic entirely because it does have its purposes. It’s affordable, durable, and great for projects not so concerned with warmth and breathability. Also, some colors, like Glowworm, just don’t exist in natural fibers.
Consequently, this skein sat in my stash for months. It needed the right project.
The Glow of Irony
Then, one of my pattern testers asked if I could design a "Vaccines Cause Adulthood" interlocking crochet square. Funny enough, it was already on my to-do list, and when I sat down to chart it out, I realized Glowworm was the perfect yarn for it.
For those who have dealt with anti-vaxxers, it’s common to hear them rant about "toxic chemicals" in vaccines. Even though the air we breathe, the food we eat, and half the products we interact with daily contain far more "toxins" than any vaccine ever could, they cling to misinformation, dismissing facts as irrelevant.
So when I realized that Glowworm—a yarn that practically glows green—would be the perfect color for this pattern, I couldn’t resist crocheting a pro-vaccine statement piece in a color that looks like it should be radioactive—the same kind of shade conspiracy theorists probably imagine when they talk about “poisonous injections.” The irony was too good to pass up.
A Statement in Stitches
However, this pattern isn’t just about the color.
Preventable diseases are returning, not because of some natural resurgence, but because misinformation has led people to reject vaccines:
Measles cases are surging—with over 317 confirmed cases in Texas and New Mexico alone.
Whooping cough (pertussis) cases have quadrupled, with over 16,000 cases in 2024.
Other diseases, like polio and tuberculosis, are also seeing concerning upticks.
Vaccines nearly eradicated these diseases, but as vaccine hesitancy grows, these diseases are returning.
Vaccines don’t cause autism. They don’t contain microchips. They don’t rewrite DNA. However, they do cause adulthood.
As a result, this crochet square felt like the perfect way to use this yarn. A color that glows, standing in contrast to the fevered glow of conspiracy theories. A discontinued skein, repurposed into a public health statement rooted in science.
