Hooked on Crochet... and Cuddle Slugs?

Hobbies are important! We all need something that helps us decompress after a long day of tending the garden or mucking out stalls—something that’s just for us. I discovered my favorite hobby during one very sweaty trip to Houston (humidity is gross!) while visiting my brother’s family after they welcomed their new baby. While I was there, my sister-in-law taught me to crochet, and I’ve been hooked ever since. (Yep, pun intended. No, it’s not that funny, but we’re rolling with it.)

Since that fateful trip, crochet has become my absolute jam. My yarn and hook go everywhere with me—car rides? Check. Friend’s house? Yep. Airplane travel? You bet. 4-H meetings? Obviously. Camping? Of course. Vacations? Always. My motto? Don’t leave home without it! (Well… except for church.)

For years I've had an undying love for making blankets. They’re simple, the repetitive stitches are soothing, and let’s be honest—I need some excuse to justify my ever-growing yarn stash. I’ve given many as gifts for family, friends, and even a couple others to strangers, and yet my house is still overflowing with them. Right now, I’ve got three blankets in progress. When I get bored with one, I switch to another. It’s a system.

Enter: The Slug Obsession

Lately, though, my crochet heart has taken a bizarre turn… into slugs. Why slugs? I have absolutely no idea. Maybe it’s my love for the unexpected, the quirky, the totally oddball things in life. So when I stumbled across a crochet pattern for a stuffed slug, I had to make one. And then another. And another. And then… well, things spiraled. Fast.

Suddenly, I had a full-blown army of crocheted slugs, and no plan for what to do with them. Because let’s be honest—how many stuffed slugs does one person need?

From “Who Would Even Want This?” to Selling Out

With zero expectations, I took my squishy slug collection to the annual Holiday Craft Market at the high school cafeteria, hoping maybe someone would take a liking to them. I set them out front and center but didn’t exactly have high hopes. I mean, people were Christmas shopping—who on earth would have “stuffed slug” on their wish list?!

And yet… the first one sold.

Not gonna lie, it was hard to let it go because I had some sort of weird emotional investment in it. But the look of pure joy on the buyer’s face? Worth it. She was thrilled to have found something so unexpected and weirdly delightful—exactly how I feel when I stumble across some oddball thing that makes me irrationally happy. She bought it for herself and proudly carried it off, slung over her shoulder like a baby.

Proud new Cuddle Slug owners!

By the end of the day, I had completely sold out of Cuddle Slugs—turns out, they were kind of a hit!