Marsha Sorrells working on her current project. (Image Courtesy of Marsha Sorrells/Crooked K Creations)Marsha Sorrells may not be a truck driver, but she married into a family of them. Her father-in-law, husband and husband’s brothers all work as owner-operators.
“I don’t drive a truck, but I’m from part of a family that that’s all they do. I just love to be able to make something they love for them,” Sorrells, of Atoka, Oklahoma, said.
Last Christmas she wanted to honor her father-in-law’s trucking legacy: He’s been driving for 63 years.
Sorrells, a veteran crocheter, custom designed and crocheted a blanket with the vintage Kenworth logo matching the one on a truck he drove in the 1950s. He was floored when he received it, she said.
“That I could give him something that meant something to him that showed part of his life was amazing. It was amazing to be able to give him something like that,” Sorrells said.
Her husband shared pictures of the blanket on Facebook and it received such a positive response that she decided to start taking orders for truck-inspired blankets through her Facebook page, Crooked K Creations.
She’s been making these custom truck blankets for almost a year now and has made 15 of them. She spends about two weeks on each blanket, customizing it to fit each truckers’ specific bunk size and color requests.
A Kenworth blanket and CAT pillows custom made by Sorrells. (Image Courtesy of Crooked K Creations)“They’re as passionate about their trucks and customizing their trucks and all that as I am about my fiber art and creating something that someone is passionate about, that they love, just makes it all the better,” she said.
The first logo she created, the vintage Kenworth logo, was a challenge because she didn’t have a pre-made pattern to work with. She had to create her own, but she’s been crocheting since she was 5 years old so her experience with it helped. It takes over 150 individual stitches to make the vintage Kenworth logo.
Sorrells also takes orders for other truck brands and while she has mostly made Kenworth-inspired blankets to date, she has made a Peterbilt blanket and CAT pillows.
“That passion for that vintage Kenworth logo has just been amazing to me,” Sorrells said. Her husband himself drives a 2015 Kenworth T680 and hauls flatbed.
Sorrells plans to continue making her trucking-inspired fiber art. She’d like to get her work out to truck shows in the future.
“I’m going to stick with it. They’re my people,” she said.
While Sorrells has been staying home more because it’s easier to work on orders there, she frequently rides along with her husband. When she goes with him she brings her materials and works on the orders from the truck.
