Steve learns how to crochet mostly to cope with the stress of feeling responsible for the safety and wellbeing of so many kids who never seem to want to listen to him.
The first person to find out about this secret hobby is Robin. His parents stop helping him out financially when they realise he's not just taking a gap year to figure things out and has in fact decided not to go to college. Steve doesn't have the money to get her something fancy for her birthday so he instead buys wool and buttons in her favourite colour and crochets a cardigan. He's never seen someone react so enthusiastically to a present he gave them before and every time he sees her wearing it he feels a surge of pride at the fact that he created something she loves so much.
The second person is Eddie, who complains everyone's ears off about how thin the hospital blankets are and how cold his room is while he's recovering from the demobat attack. Steve crochets a blanket for him. It's basic, black with thin red stripes, and the entire time Steve is wondering why he's even spending so much time making it when Eddie will be discharged before he knows it. He hands it to him one day when he's visiting with Dustin and Robin.
"Oh nice, you bought me a blanket," Eddie says, immediately opening it and spreading it out over his lap.
"Actually I made it," Steve corrects. "I'm still a beginner so it's not the best but it should be pretty warm for-"
Eddie's gaze snaps up from trailing over the intricate little knots of wool.
"You made this?" Eddie asks, his eyes wide.
"You made this?" he repeats, holding up the corner of the blanket and pointing at it as if it wasn't obvious what he was talking about.
"That's what I just said, yeah," Steve responds.
"Sir Steven Harrington," Eddie grins. "You continue to surprise me. Who knew jocks could knit?"
Steve rolls his eyes and lets out an exasperated huff.
"It's crochet not knitting. And if you don't like it I can-" he reaches to take it back, but Eddie snatches it away in a tight grip, pulling the edge of it to his chest like he's protecting something sacred.
"No way, Big boy." He refuses. "You've bestowed this precious gift upon me and I have accepted it. No takebacks. I will take care of it and protect it with my dying breath." His expression changes to something unsure. "Wait, is it okay for me to keep this or did you want it back when I leave?"
"Please don't talk about your dying breath when you're sitting in a hospital bed after almost bleeding out," Steve chastises, crossing his arms, unimpressed. "And yes you can keep it. I made it for you."
Before he can say anything else, Eddie drags him down into a crushing hug, not giving a shit about the tube attached to his wrist or his fairly recently stitched sides. Dustin later describes the noise Steve made as sounding like a cat having its tail stepped on. Robin points out in a teasing way that it took Steve a suspiciously long time to disengage from that hug, just making a perfectly casual observation.
The next one to get a handmade gift is Dustin. He wouldn't let go of the fact that Steve had made something for both Robin and Eddie before him even though he was supposed to be Steve's best friend. That christmas Steve gifted him a handmade sweater with a lightsaber design on the front, which meant he had to make things for the rest of the teens not long after because of course Dustin went around wearing it and bragging at every possible opportunity.
Soon all the people Steve cared about the most had something made by him.
Then one day Eddie asks him to teach him how to crochet so he can make something for Wayne to show how much he appreciates him. Steve thinks it's a really sweet idea, so he agrees. Eddie found a photo of a sweater he wanted to try and make for him, but he's finding it really tricky even with Steve's help. So in the end, Steve makes the sweater and they both work on a much easier blanket pattern together.
Steve's spending a lot of time in Eddie's room, sitting very close to him and occasionally gently taking hold of his hands to guide him when he gets stuck. This is how he finds out that Eddie still sleeps under that blanket Steve made for him over a year ago. It's also how he ends up making out with him on top of said blanket.
Wayne is so touched when he gets his handmade gifts that Christmas that he cries. Eddie teases him about it until Steve, who's spending his first Christmas with the Munsons as Eddie's boyfriend, reminds Eddie that he practically ripped Steve's hand off at the hospital when he tried to take that first blanket back.
"Yeah, well, it was important to me. You made it." Eddie shrugs. Then he picks up a large, slightly lumpy present and shoves it into his hands. "And you still haven't opened your gift. Less talking, more opening."
After that Steve is the one trying not to cry, because the second he pulls back the wrapping paper, a blanket pours out onto his lap, navy with white stripes. It was clearly made by Eddie because it smells like him, and some of the stitches show mistakes that he made when they were working on Wayne's gifts together.
He gently takes the material into his hands and runs his thumbs over each bump in awe. No one's ever put this much effort into a gift for him before. "I love it," he says, his voice slightly shaky.
"Are you sure?" Eddie replies, self-conscious. "I made a few mistakes, and I ran out of wool at one point, but the store didn't have any left in the same shade of blue so there's a small part at the bottom that looks slightly different. I can get you something else if you want. I know it's not as good as yours."
Steve leans over and shuts him up with a kiss on the lips, something he's learned is extremely effective over the course of their relationship.
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