Our very first order and all-time best-selling product so far is the tiny crochet sloth. I am so grateful to my dad’s former co-worker who first posted a link to the pattern on Facebook and asked if I could make her six of them!
The pattern was a bit difficult for me to follow at first–it’s simple, but almost too simple. It allows quite a bit of leeway regarding how you want each feature of your sloth to look–you can customize the length and width of the body, arms, and legs, and the face in particular is basically just careful and detailed embroidery to achieve the desired look, shape, and expression.
I have been lucky enough to vacation in Costa Rica twice over the past few years, and visited the Sloth Sanctuary in Cahuita last summer. Jason, Naomi, and I even got to take a private tour of the sanctuary and meet baby sloths in the nursery up close. Most of the sloths at the sanctuary were rescued after accidents or attacks, but occasionally the sloths are pregnant upon arrival, so they have a small number of adorable baby sloths who they hope to raise and release when they are ready.
I used pictures I took at the Sloth Sanctuary to get ideas for the different expressions on my crochet sloth’s faces.
Since January, I have made more than 20 tiny crochet sloths! I’m currently working on my next order of two sloths for two sisters. There’s something about the tiny sloths with their big arms that look like they just want a hug (even though in real life, sloths are solitary animals who do not enjoy being touched by humans). People are so drawn to them whenever I post a new picture of them on our Facebook page. I try to make each individual sloth completely unique.
I love that the stuffed animal I have crochet the most so far has been an animal I have seen many times in real life during my travels and adventures! It’s so cool to bring my personal experiences into my creations.
~Crafty Reba