Who is Michael Sellick from The Crochet Crowd?

Mikey is Michael Sellick, who lives in Nova Scotia, Canada, but is originally from Ontario, Canada. Born in 1973, he grew up confused about life and trying to figure out where he belongs.

Mikey's report cards as a child would say he was daydreaming, and they were not wrong. In 2023, Mikey was diagnosed with ADHD because of the constant need for stimulation and creative outlet. He would create worlds in his mind and constantly think about processes and procedures and how they could improve.

Mikey's mother, Sandra, would be instrumental in rephrasing and giving the teacher's lessons more insight through fun games. Mikey jumped schools often as his parents chased the work and were unafraid to pick up and move. Schools attended five schools, each at a different learning point for the same grades. It would put Mikey behind instantly.

Example: Confusion About Learning

Mikey would come to learn French in kindergarten to grade three. Next school didn't start French until Grade five. Next school started French back in Grade three. Math and spelling were similar situations.

Michael Sellick

Michael has turned his learning disabilities and attention span into a direction that will help others with their creative journey.

Michael is one of the world's leading crochet creators on YouTube. The Crochet Crowd was developed in 2008, officially became a business in the fall of 2010, and renamed The Crochet Crowd. Coming into the industry as a complete fluke, Michael quickly realized that if he attended shows with other creators in the same space, fitting in wouldn't happen for him.

The industry is very clichy and even goes as far as saying that many of the creators work with each other when they have to, but there could be a background of competition and ambition that gets in the way. Michael believes there is space for everyone, while there is a strong sense of people wishing other creators roll off the face of the earth and die. It's blunt but feels like a reality.

The Crochet Crowd Book

Since the Creation of The Crochet Crowd

Computer Programming: Michael has learned to program for website content and use various programs in Adobe. Both sectors are major successful points that explain why The Crochet Crowd thrives.

Community Development: Market and run social events and maintain the online social platform and content.

Author: Mikey has written thousands of articles and is the author of an official book.

Constant Room for Improvement: Everything above. This industry is constantly evolving.

Michael Sellick and Daniel Zondervan

Personal

Michael and Daniel Zondervan have been together since January 2009. They met nearly a year after the YouTube teaching had started. Daniel was born in 1974 and is a year younger than Michael.

Daniel was a professional musician who played several instruments, including the violin, viola, harpsichord, pipe organ, and piano. He retired from his music career in 2013 but couldn't afford to continue as the gigs and payments for his university-trained profession were over.

Daniel moved to behind-the-scenes of The Crochet Crowd. He loves to create digital artwork and more.

Michael and Daniel are known to friends as "The Boys." Neither has had children and lives a good life in Nova Scotia. They have two Great Pyrnees dogs named PuppiDawg and Salti. They also have two rascals of cats named Puss Puss and Binky Boo.

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Background

As a child, his mother introduced crafts to get through the evenings in the small tourist town, which had only two TV stations. Creativity through crafting, which included knitting, spool knitting, drawing and creative play through building popsicle sticks, was the outlet.

On Wednesday nights, family nights at home would occur. The TV would be turned off, and they would sit together and share their days. There were also sing-alongs. His mother would write out the words of hymns, and together, on the dark winter nights, there was a family singing hymns and giving appreciation.

Two songs that burn heavily in Michael's mind are about his mother. Pass It On and Because He Lives.

At the same time, Michael, along with other kids, was part of a pedophilia situation in the same small town. It was a secret, and he would keep this secret until he was in college, but it forever shaped who he is today.

Michael is confused about where he belongs. He didn't have the sense of curiosity about girls as he did with his male friends. Michael would come to realize that his pedophilia situation was wrong when he was eleven years old. Feeling like the world knew what he was doing with the friend's father, he secluded himself. He felt the world could see that in him.

He had very few friends and the jump from high school to a new area created four years of bullying and heavily suicidal moments for him. Due to the seclusion, he couldn't understand social behaviour with kids his age—a complete utter disgrace of a human being.

Dealing with Mental Abuse and Personal Trauma

Alcoholism and Mental Abuse

What was kept as a hidden family secret was his mother's alcoholism, which she quit when he was young. His father had a way of degrading his mother through mental abuse, such as her looks and thought capacity. It was not noticed until Michael was in high school. The differences between the parents being superhuman beings and having flaws became apparent.

During a plane trip back from England, his mother would have an alcoholic drink, which spawned the rest of Michaels's childhood in watching his mother drink her emotions away into tall beer cans. She would buy just one tall beer at a time and, in the middle of her drinking, would drive to get the next beer and so on. Michael would call the police to report his mother driving, not to land her in the drunk tank but to keep her from harm's way, as negotiations with a drunken mother were impossible.

His father, frustrated by the drinking, would sit the kids down and tell them to decide to keep living with either him or their mother. Michael would choose him as he was the more balanced of the two at that moment of his life.

Growing up, the ridicule of others in the form of racism became more accurate and obvious. Knowing Michael had a secret to keep, his mother would quote the Bible for 'Adam and Steve' nonsense, and his father seemed to hate other cultures. By his teenage years, Michael had already realized the value of different cultures. It was a disconnection point.

Religion

Michael's parents were heavily involved in four churches growing up: the Nazarene, United, and two Pentecostal Churches. Michael's mother got a divorce before his birth, and it was a family secret for half of Michael's childhood. She was originally Catholic, but the divorce forced her out.

His parents were ushered out of two churches as they were running the children's programming, and they loved it. However, with over 100 kids in the program and problem children, the parents were at odds with other parents in the church.

His mother sang in the choir, and I guess another parent had words with her prior to service. She came off the stage and went directly to the family, and usually, she would sit with them for the remainder of the service. The Sunday was different, and she told us to get up and leave. His mother's wailing in the hallway leaving the church is unforgettable.

They moved to another church, and a similar situation quickly showed up within less than a year. You know, Christian kids are always perfect. In school, they ignored Michael, but at church, they were fine. His father would leave that church and never return to a religious setting.

Michaels's mother continued to attend many churches and found some that she stayed at for several years. Tithing is a huge deal in the church. His mother was exceptionally generous, giving to the church at the cost of her own well-being and financial situation.

Today, Michael is not religious but does believe there is something bigger than him. In sitting in Sunday Service as a child at the pastor's would preach hatred towards gays and lesbians, he would come to realize that the same building he is sitting in isn't a place for him to be. He is highly uncomfortable in church buildings, so he will leave early as it's too overwhelming to stay.

In 2024, most of the hate and death threats that come into Michael through social media are fueled by quoting the bible(s). He knows firsthand that attending a church, even for tourism, is not something that he should be doing as it supports the hatred he endures.

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Michael wants to live a happy life and channel his creativity to others. In person, he is socially introverted but can turn on his extroverted personality when needed for the camera or live social events.