Hooked on the web:

Jim Price claims he’s a “low-tech guy” who whittles crochet hooks and auctions them on his blog in order to fund a porch for his Deadman Creek cabin in Ferry County, up in northeast Washington.

“Low tech. Low money,” Price said, chuckling.

Price, a self-effacing, retired patent agent, began whittling when he was in grade school. In the years since, he has custom-carved hair sticks for women, hook handles, maple buttons, towel racks, quilt racks and wall hangings.

But he didn’t begin working on crochet hooks until he and his wife Karol bought 30 acres of land that once belonged to his family. The first one was for his sister, Sandy, who now lives in California. “We were little kids when we lived up there,” said Price. “So I try to send her a piece of something from the farm every now and then. … And I wondered if I could make (a crochet hook) from the old apple tree out there on the property.”

Now 61, “Jimbo” runs jimbosfrontporch. blogspot.com; its success derives partly from the large back-to-the-crafts movement taking place on the Web. One of the Net’s most popular online crafts marketplaces, Etsy.com, has more than 50,000 craftspeople selling products.

That site alone reports mind-boggling growth. For instance, crafts purchased on Etsy in November 2005 came to $40,600 in sales. In November 2007 that figure was $4.3 million.

The trend has spawned a vast international crafts fair, with Price being just one seller who enjoys making something useful and hearing feedback from happy Web customers.

Initially, Price made hooks from dried apple tree branches and gave them away. Then one day his son, Lance, said he could sell hooks on Craigslist. After finding a forum there for crafts, Price began socializing with other “hookers” who in turn directed him to Crochetville, another forum-based Web site.

Someone then suggested he start a blog. “I thought that (a blog) was some kind of wetlands or something. I just blew it off,” said Price, laughing.

His new friends didn’t. A couple of members from the forum put together a blogging site just for Price. JimbosFrontPorch allows Price a place to show his newly built cabin and porch, which “doesn’t have a roof yet,” as well as auction off his one-of-a-kind, ergonomic hooks.

“I decided to do auctions because I was too chicken to put a price on (my hooks),” Price said.

On the blog Price uploads photos, posts comments and promotes a lively discussion on topics related to knitting.

An opening bid for a hand-carved hook usually starts around $15. But Price said it’s not unusual to get $50 for one. Dried apple tree branches have now provided hooks to buyers in Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Iceland, Australia, Singapore, Morocco, England, Canada and the United States.

Price has carved custom hooks for people with tendonitis or arthritis. Some customers e-mail him a picture of their hands holding a crochet hook, and Price makes the hook fit their hands. He’s learned there are a “bunch of grip styles” out there.

The different grips didn’t stop him from trying an online experiment. On his blog, Price said he wanted to make a hook and see how far it would travel around the world. He would craft a hook and send it to someone who would crochet a square.

Hookers would send the squares to a central collector at Crochetville, and the hook on to another crotchetier. Ultimately the squares would be joined together to form a wall hanging, and both the hook and the wall hanging would be auctioned off.

Hookers visiting Price’s blog were excited about the idea, which is now in its second incarnation. The first traveling hook got lost or was forgotten, but the second hook, which began making its rounds in June, will travel to 23 states, make a detour to Canada, and be used by more than 38 Crochetville members.

Not all of the hooks are from the old apple tree anymore. Price uses a variety of woods including rosewood, tulipwood, maple, hazelnut, redwood, crabapple, cedar as well as other dried branches of brambles and “crick wood” he finds while walking his property.

And it is those 30 acres that keeps him whittling away at the crochet hooks. “The object was to sell these things to make the porch,” he said. “I’m in a partnership with the ranch, and the old apple tree helped me do that.”