Your friend mentions an anime show and the next thing you know, you’re creating costumes and attending cosplay conventions. You go kayaking with friends and realize you have a new passion for whitewater kayaking. Perhaps you begin making Christmas cards and find yourself crafting hundreds of cards each holiday season.
No matter the hobby, for some, it soon becomes a passion—something they love so much it becomes an integral part of their lives.
For Erica Evans, that passion is cosplay. According to Evans, cosplay is essentially “costume play,” where participants, known as cosplayers, wear costumes to represent specific characters.
“During COVID, a few of my friends convinced me to watch an anime they were obsessed with. Although I was skeptical— I had never been into anime before— I decided to give it a try. I was instantly hooked,” she said. “The storytelling, the animation, and the character development were so good that it instantly became my favorite show of all time.” Evans found herself attending a local convention. “Anime conventions are essentially just comic cons, but more focused on Japanese pop culture than American. Since I’ve always loved dressing up for Halloween, it wasn’t hard to convince me to wear a costume. I had such a great time dressing up and connecting with other people who were also into anime that I immediately wanted to go to another convention.”
While the 27-year-old initially purchased her costumes, Evans soon began crafting her own wardrobe. “With each project, I started picking up more and more skills to make my own. You have to make accessories, props, shoes and wigs,” she explained. “My niche skill within cosplay is wig styling. Most anime characters have very unrealistic-looking hair, so in order to replicate the look, it takes a ton of work.”
Her skills aren’t the only thing that has expanded. “My equipment has grown with each project. If I realize that having a certain tool will help me, I’ll usually buy it. Now, I have nearly a whole room in my house dedicated to my craft supplies and cosplay storage,” she said.
Evans’ enthusiasm for cosplay has spread to others. “I usually cosplay with my sister and my best friend. It’s great having a solid group because we skill-share a lot—we each have different strengths. My sister’s is sewing, my friend’s is 3D prints props, and mine is styling wigs.”
Kyle Geist’s passion is whitewater kayaking. A few years ago, the former Floridian became interested while living in his home state. “It turns out there’s not much white water in a totally flat state, but I did learn a really good roll, which actually served me well when I really got into kayaking in Pennsylvania,” he said.
Geist fully delved into kayaking this past summer. “It’s grown from owning one kayak to owning three in a relatively short amount of time. When I first got into the sport, all these experienced kayakers had multiple boats—I know someone with more than 20—which seemed totally unnecessary, but I get it now,” he said.
What makes kayaking so appealing to the 33-year-old? “For me, it’s a great combination of getting to be outside and immersed in nature, developing the skill of manipulating your body and boat through a river, experiencing excitement, figuring out ways to center yourself and connecting with others,” he said.
Kate Rosenzweig loved knitting so much that she founded Knit PIT Yarn Club, a crafting community. “Our cornerstone event is the monthly Yarn Club. It’s a welcoming space where people come together to craft, exchange tips, and build meaningful connections,” she said. “In addition to the Yarn Club, we host workshops and lessons throughout the month. Coming up this spring, we’re excited to kick off a sweater knit-a-long and a three-part hat workshop, among other events.”
Rosenzweig started knitting as a college student in 2012. “My sister had left some needles and yarn at my parents’ house, so I brought them back to school with me and decided to give it a try. At the time, I was dealing with a lot of anxiety and had read that knitting could be calming,” she said. “Once I started, I became obsessed.”
Julie Stroup frequently attends Knit PIT Yarn Club and has been knitting since 2009, when she was a student at Duquesne University. Her boyfriend at the time (now husband) thought she needed a hobby. “He took me to Michael’s and said, ‘Pick something.’ I don’t think he fully understood the door he was opening for me. I picked knitting because it was something my grandma really enjoyed, and it was portable,” Stroup said.
“I knit because I need to do something with my hands. It really helps decrease the nightly doom-scrolling, and it gives me a sense of productivity when I’m binge-watching something,” she said. Stroup added that she takes her knitting everywhere. “It helps with my focus, so I don’t pick up my phone and get distracted.”
Donna Stolz has many hobbies, but most recently, she has been absorbed in making her own holiday cards. “I’ve been making my own Christmas cards since I was in elementary school,” she said. At first, her creations were simple. “This whole operation has evolved considerably over the years, taking hundreds of hours to complete.”
“Now most of my cards are very detailed and sometimes even use sophisticated light and electron microscopy imaging,” the retired Pitt biology professor said. “I make over 300 of them so both my husband and I can send them to family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and not-so-close acquaintances we wish to stay connected to.”
LEGOs have become huge lately, and Nick Van Winter has fully embraced the fad. “I was shopping with my girlfriend and passed the LEGO store, bought one out of interest and have been ‘re-hooked’ ever since,” he said.
“When I was a kid, it was all about getting a box full of pieces and building whatever my imagination allowed. Now, the sets I choose come with detailed instructions to assemble them exactly as pictured,” Van Winter explained.
Van Winter has also gotten his girlfriend, Emily, involved. “She was hesitant to get involved, but her favorite movie is Titanic, so I bought the large Titanic LEGO model, and we spent several weeks putting it together, a few hours at a time,” he said.
A plus for LEGO building is that anyone can start—young or old. “No skills required. Follow the instructions and build them, or if you just want to have fun and build whatever your heart desires, that’s fine too. The same thing that attracted me to LEGOs at the age of three and at the age of 31 is that it’s what you want to make of it,” he said.
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