A short history of my shop:
I can’t actually remember a time that I did not know how to crochet, but I do know that it was my mom who taught me. As I grew up, I started teaching myself and discovered in high school that my favorite things to make were stuffed animals. I began developing my own patterns and sold them at bazaars until another seller suggested I check out Etsy. In June of 2012, I c
reated my shop and have been loving it ever since. A slightly longer description of my pattern creation process:
Because my animals and sets are made from patterns designed by me, there is quite a process involved in getting them ready for sale. I start with an idea, a story, or a particular animal I want to make. Generally, it stews in my head for a bit until I figure out how to translate the idea into real life. Sometimes I look up pictures of an animal on the internet to match colors and shapes in my item. My next step is choosing colors for the item, though I generally choose colors that reflect reality. Creating a new pattern is a long process and usually takes many attempts, changing the pattern slightly as I go in order to get the desired look. When I am finally happy with the complete product, I make the animal again, following the pattern I just created, and almost always there is something wrong. So, I go back and work out why the pattern is not correct, then I do it again. After a couple more run-throughs of the pattern, the product is finally ready to be made into a listing and sold in my shop. Why I love making crocheted animals:
My main inspirations for new products are stories that I learned when I was very little. Fairy-tales like the Three Little Pigs or Jack and the Beanstalk, counting games like Five Green and Speckled Frogs…, and some of my favorite childhood stories are my main source of ideas. My sets create a physical version of a story that children can handle and move around. It is inspiring to see kids playing with something I made, really bringing it to life. Child-Safety:
I strive to make my products safe for very young children, including newborn babies. Every part of each animal is strongly secured and tied off with such a sturdy knot that when I occasionally need to take an animal apart, it can be a real challenge! There are no added parts which could fall off and be swallowed or choked on and all of the animals are soft and cuddly. It won’t even hurt to step on one in the middle of the night! While my products have not be tested and proved child safe by a government approved testing facility, I feel that my products are safe for children and would have no concerns about giving one to one of my own children (if I had any).