Can I Touch It? Are Your Hands Clean?

One of the things I’ve learned about having a booth full of crochet plushies is that people are going to want to touch them.

And honestly, I don’t blame them.

They’re soft. They’re colorful. They’re full of little details. And when you see a whole table covered in crochet creatures, it’s hard to resist.

Especially for the little ones.

Some may walk right up and ask, “Can I touch it?”

But others may not. They’ll stand there just looking at a plushie. Or they’ll look at me and then back at the plushie. Sometimes they’ll inch a little closer or pick up one hand and hover it over a plushie without actually touching it. And sometimes they look over at their parent, as if asking permission.

When this happens, I have a little question I like to ask.

I hold up my hands and say:

“Are your hands clean?”

The little ones are so cute. They’ll hold their hands up for me to inspect and proudly announce, “Yes!”

“Okay,” I tell them. “Go ahead. You can touch them. Just be careful.”

And that’s all it takes.

Suddenly, they relax.

The plushie that they were carefully admiring from a few inches away is now in their hands. They turn it around. They feel how soft it is. They look at the details. Sometimes they’ll pick up another one and compare them.

And pretty soon, they’re showing their favorite to Mom or Dad.

That little moment has made me realize something about selling handmade things at a market.

People don’t just want to look at handmade things.

They want to experience them.

They want to feel the softness of the yarn. They want to pick something up and see how it feels in their hands. They want to turn it over and discover the little details they couldn’t see from across the table.

After all, these are little creatures made to be held.

I also notice that when I give a child permission to touch something, the parent often relaxes, too. I’ll glance over at them after I’ve said, “Go ahead,” and we just smile.

There isn’t really anything to say. It’s just that little shared understanding: It’s okay. They’re just looking. They’re having fun.

Those moments are more memorable to me than the sale that might come afterward.

For me, the best part of being at a market isn’t handing someone a bag and watching them walk away with something they bought.

It’s watching the kids pick up three different plushies because they can’t decide which one is their favorite.

It’s watching them carefully carry one over to their parent and say, “Look!”

It’s watching a child discover a little crochet creature and immediately fall in love with it.

Those are the moments that remind me why I love putting all these little creatures out on a table in the first place.

They’re meant to be seen. They’re meant to be held. They’re meant to make someone smile.

And if you're ever at my booth and wondering whether you're allowed to pick one up, you already know what I'm going to ask.

“Are your hands clean?” 😂