Tiny but Mighty
Tiny but Mighty
Kristen Sachs’s hand-crocheted “Lil Pros” dolls are uni-amazing — and they have an heart-tugging real-life subtext to boot.
As most of you probably know by now, I love a good uni-related art project. And reader Steve Fidrych recently told me about a particularly good one: A Las Vegas woman named Kristen Sachs recently began making little crocheted dolls of various Los Angeles Chargers players, which she called Lil Bolts. The project soon expanded to include other NFL teams and then to other sports, which led to a new project name: Lil Pros.
Sachs sells the Lil Pros on her Etsy shop. They’re really good, but there’s an added twist to the story: Sachs is the full-time caregiver for her quadriplegic husband, who was injured in a swimming accident in 2013. So the Lil Pros, aside from being a great creative project, also help her provide for her family.
I wanted to learn more, so I recently did a Zoom interview with Sachs. Here’s a transcript of our conversation, edited for length and clarity.
Uni Watch: Tell me a little bit about yourself and about crafting. How old were you when you first learned to crochet?
Kristen Sachs: Oh, my gosh, I’ve been crocheting forever. I learned when I was a kid, maybe seven or eight years old. And I’ve always loved crafts, but crochet has always been kind of my go-to craft. Like when I was in college, I would make people blankets. I was always giving a gift of crochet of some kind. So it’s been with me for about 40 years.
UW: When did you start selling crocheted items on Etsy, and what what sorts of things were you selling before you started with the Lil Bolts?
KS: I established my Etsy shop in 2017 but I didn’t have the Lil Bolts yet. I mostly made whimsical types of items — I don’t have them in my shop anymore, but little things with cute faces that just kind of make you laugh. And then once I started making the Lil Bolts, it just transitioned and my whole shop has become devoted to what I now call Lil Pros, because they’re not just the Bolts anymore.
UW: How and when did that start? What’s the origin story of this project?
KS: In 2021, it was Justin Herbert’s second year as the Chargers’ quarterback. I decided to make a doll for my husband for his birthday. We’re huge Chargers fans and his birthday is in September, so it’s always around the beginning of football season and I always try to make or get him something Chargers-related. And I just thought, “I’m gonna make him a Justin Herbert doll.” I was gonna surprise him, but I ended up asking him which uniform I should use, because I knew he’d want to pick that. He chose the powder blue jersey and yellow pants, so that’s what I made.
I had it sitting up on our dresser, and that’s where my father-in-law, who’s also a huge Chargers fan, saw it. He didn’t know I had made it, and he was like, “That’s Justin Herbert!” And that was good, because my goal was to make it recognizable — like, you can look at it and tell who it’s supposed to be.
