The number nine has been kind to Gene Saunders, aka Crochet Dad. Handy with a hook, his nine-pointed afghans and “lapghans” and his hats with nine cables, have brought him a modicum of fame and a smidgen of fortune (if you loosely define the word).

Gene Saunders and the nine-pointed afghan he crochetedBaha'is use the number nine, the largest single-digit number, as a symbol of unity and of their Faith. Mr. Saunders, a Baha'i, says using the number nine motif “helps me connect more with the Faith. I think about being a Baha'i and what it means while I’m crocheting.”

Mr. Saunders and his wife, Lorraine, also a Baha'i, are used to all the gender jokes, the mock and real teasing, the smirk behind the hand. None of it bothers them a bit, hence Mr. Saunders’ online “handle”: Crochet Dad

Looking for a creative outlet in the early ‘80s, Mr. Saunders, remembered that he knew how to crochet; his grandmother had taught him when he was about 10. He found some yarn and a hook and started turning out caps, lap warmers and the like.

Mr. Saunders, 66, a retired computer analyst, joined online crochet groups for ideas. Eventually, “The computing part of my brain got me to create my own patterns. But they have to be perfect,” he says, referring to a quote from the Baha'i writings: “In everything we do we should always try to attain a standard of excellence.”

As his inventory grew, so did demand, especially from Baha'is, for his patterns and products.

His daughters Cambria, Ciera, Tracey and Karen, his son, Christopher, and his three grandchildren have been recipients of his handmade gifts. Crocheting for them, Mr. Saunders says, “makes me feel closer to them.”

Mr. Saunders’ crocheted items have yielded other rewards. He won first place this year for a nine-cabled hat at the San Diego County Fair, which he has been attending since a child. He also came in second in a crochet speed contest, second place for a hat made from recycled plastic shopping bags and third place for his nine-pointed star afghan in the afghan/lapghan, entrant 62 and over.

And not a granny square among them.