Crocheted Creations to Stand Behind
I used to be really good at wasting time. Not laziness. Not apathy. Just me, phone in hand, scrolling through an endless feed of nothing, feeling worse every time I put it down. I knew it was a problem. I just didn't have anything to replace it with yet. I also knew that I was desperate to make a change and find peace. Then I picked up a crochet hook. No grand plan. No vision board. Just a desperate need to do something with my hands that wasn't that. What I didn't know at the time — what I found out later — is that I'm autistic with ADHD, and crocheting is how I stim. My brain finally had what it needed. And I haven't stopped since. If I'm not at work, or outside with my chickens, or showing up for my family — I'm crocheting. That's just the reality of my life now, and honestly? I wouldn't change it for anything – not even a billion dollars. ________________________________________ Here's what I want you to know about what you're holding: Some of these pieces take me 13 to 17 hours. I know. People don't believe me when I say that at first. Then I walk them through it — stitch counts, construction, the shaping, the finishing — and then it clicks. That moment, when someone really gets it, is one of my favorite things about doing this. I put a lot of details into everything I make. That's partly my autism, and partly just who I am. I don't do anything halfway – I’m a full-bore-all-or-nothing type of thinker. Every product that leaves my hands was made with full attention, real intention, and a level of care that I genuinely cannot turn off. ________________________________________ Why plushies? Because they work for everybody. A toddler lights up. A grown adult laughs out loud and immediately thinks of someone they want to give it to. There's no age requirement on joy, and there's no demographic that's immune to something funny and handmade and a little bit weird. I love that. I wanted to make things that could land anywhere and mean something to whoever finds them. ________________________________________ A little more about me, since I believe in being upfront: My day job is in healthcare — I manage a coding department, so precision and getting things right the first time is basically hardwired into me at this point. Outside of that, I keep chickens, I have a deep appreciation for planes and trains, and I decompress with blue-collar simulator games before the hook comes back out. I am a very specific kind of person and I have fully accepted that. ________________________________________ One more thing, and I mean this. For every item sold, I donate $1 to Autism Speaks. Not for the optics. Because I spent a long time not understanding why my brain worked differently than everyone else's, and I know what it costs — emotionally, relationally, functionally — to not have answers. If what I make can contribute something toward helping someone else figure that out sooner, then every hour I put into these pieces carries a little more weight. ________________________________________ I started crocheting to save my mental health. I kept going because I couldn't stop. I'm selling because I genuinely believe crochet is a labor of love, and I want to share it. That's the whole story. I hope something here finds its way to you. — Chris