ST. CLOUD, Minnesota — It's nearing bedtime for Farrah and Orly Reese and the sisters are surrounded by balls of yarn in their St. Cloud home.
"We do this every night while we listen to a book," Orly, 9, said.
Orly is crocheting a rainbow turtle while her sister, Farrah, 12, is making a daisy turtle.
"I just like making stuff," Farrah said.
"As they grew and started making more stuff, the rooms were getting filled with crafting items," said their dad, Aguirre Reese.
The girls started by making loom band bracelets and other creations, selling them at their birthday parties to family and friends. They then asked their parents if they could post their items on Facebook for others to buy.
"We just took the crafting skills and kind of made a business with them," Farrah said.
About three years ago, during the pandemic, they taught themselves how to crochet by watching YouTube videos. It led to them focusing on amigurumi — the Japanese art of crocheting stuffed creatures.
"We started off with smaller things by YouTube and then we kept searching up like bigger things to make," Orly said.
Their business, Sisters Loom, has helped them earn money while in school.
"We're saving it for college but some of the money we make we spend it on stuff," Orly said. Farrah added, "And we put some in the business to buy other things."
Their mom, Betsy Reese, said, "I see how special it is. I'm not sure they quite get how awesome it is that they're doing this already at such a young age but it's been really awesome to see their skills growing. Talking to people, learning lots of math, how much money they have to charge for things."
The sisters have crocheted all kinds of unique designs for customers but turtles hold a special place in their hearts.
Turtles are the national symbol for Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare condition in which a person's immune system harms their body's nerves.
"Farrah had it when she was four," Betsy said. "Actually, when she was learning how to crochet... they said it's actually really great for her fingers."
Once a month they will send a turtle to brighten someone's day who has been diagnosed with GBS.
They will sometimes hear stories about how their crocheted creatures have brought joy to others.
"Sometimes if people are buying things for people who lost somebody... then they say that it makes the people really happy that they sent it to," Farrah said.
Betsy said she hopes it shows her girls that they could pursue this, or another business venture, for years to come. Dad Aguirre said, "I think it's pretty amazing. I always tell them, as a kid I never had the opportunity like this. So to see them doing this, I can do nothing but support them."
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