August 2023 was the month I made my first turtle plushie. I remember grabbing 2 skeins of acrylic yarn from my then small wearables yarn stash, one turquoise blue and the other coral, and thinking to myself, what if I mastered how to make plush toys for my kids? The joy they would feel playing with toys sentimentally made by their Mommy's hands; the luxury they would forever experience of naming whatever character they wanted made and Mommy making it for them?! Lo and behold, from that first terrible looking, hole- filled amigurumi turtle, my love for making plushies was born! I had been crocheting since my grandmother taught me from the tender age of 10, after my Dad passed away. That was our favorite bonding hobby. I had picked up the hobby again later on in life when I was expecting my first little darling, crocheting blankets and all the scarfs one could think of! I even went on to crochet wearable items like tops, cardigans and sweaters, you name it! Yet crocheting plushies was the one obsession that stuck and it stuck so deeply. 

You may wonder why crocheting little soft animal figures gave me more pleasure than crocheting pieces that I could actually wear and use more functionally? Because plushies made my kids so happy and blissful, a joy I had never seen in them after making them hats or scarfs or sweaters. Those wearable items were just that, any other piece of clothing; but the plushies were new friends they could cuddle up wherever they were, they could name them and give them their own little personalities, they could carry the everlasting amazement of an actual toy Mommy made for them with her own hands. Crochet plushies were personal and sentimentally attached to their entire childhood in ways nothing else was. 

If you don't understand something, understand it now. Children love toys. A toy is the first thing their eyes catch when you walk into any setting, any store. A toy is a source of comfort for little hands. A toy is a physical figure of every child's beautiful imagination. Toys are the reasons many Toy brands are worth billions!! Children may own a boat load of them in their playroom, yet they still crave more and more! Recognizing this, made it even more exciting to continue creating handmade crocheted plush toys for my kids. I have since extended this passion to selling plushies at children's events and markets, and the joy I feel in my heart every time a child gets their hands on a plushie they adore and love, is inexplicable and beyond words! 

At Roshnee's Crochet Nook, I have now extended that love and passion to donating our Zebra plush toys to children admitted in select Children's Hospitals, Pediatric Wards and select Children's Orphanages. As a mandate of ours, we take 10% of each plushie sold and use it to make a Zebra plushie that'll be a source of comfort to that boy or girl, going through the toughest time of their life; because in it's small way, a soft plushie can bring warmth and joy to a child, and that's what our brand mission is about, forever ensuring each child's entire childhood is filled with a little something personal and sentimental. 

If you are like me, a lover of amigurumi plushies, leave a comment below and share your own story of how you fell in love with plushies and why they mean so much to you! I would love to read your story! Until next time, ciao! 

With love, 

Roshnee