Daffodil Corner officially began April 1, 2011, but its roots go back many years. My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was a little girl, using up leftover yarn to make granny squares. In college, my roommate taught me how to knit. When my daughter was younger, I started taking my craft bag to soccer, softball and basketball practices and games.

I started helping a friend man her booth at craft shows. It was fun chatting up customers, and seeing children’s reactions to the cute stuffed, crocheted critters that Sue made. We started to include some of my baby afghans and Christmas ornaments. Then Sue shared a couple of her patterns with me. I was hooked (pun intended).

When I retired in 2011, I made the move from Charlotte, NC to the NC mountains. It was logistically impractical to continue as part of Happy Whosits, so I created Daffodil Corner. Where did the name come from? Well, daffodils are one of my favorite flowers, so I have lots of them in my yard. My home sits on the corner of two country roads, so the name seemed right.

About a third of my business currently comes from my shop on Etsy. I also still do several craft shows each year. I love that direct interaction with my customers.

My most popular item continues to be octopi. I have quite literally made hundreds of these critters in every color imaginable. They are popular with all age groups from newborn to teenagers to middle aged adults. They have been sent all over the U.S., and to Canada, the UK, South Korea and Australia as well.

In addition to the finished products, I have a few of my patterns available, such as my snail. I hope to develop and publish more of these. Creating a new critter takes some trial and error, repetition to get it right, and patience to write the instruction so someone else can follow them. And, of course, testing the written pattern to make sure I have recorded it correctly and the finished product looks like it is supposed to.