A Pequot Lakes student is spreading happiness to other students and teachers with her new and unique gift of making gifts out of a sock. She calls them socklings, which have some similarities to a cuddling toy.

It’s like a stuffed animal but made from a sock. Pequot Lakes high school junior Hannah Ellstrom made socklings just as a hobby until one teacher was quite impressed with her craft.

Pequot Lakes Spanish Teacher Chris Palmer shared, “Other people would love these and we should make these for other people to.”

After making one herself, Palmer worked with Ellstrom to come up with a plan on how to make more for students and teachers. Since they were making so many, Palmer thought to purchase some more socks for the process, which includes cutting, sowing, stuffing, and making a card with the sockling’s information.

“As long as people like them and I enjoy making them, I might as well give them away,” said Ellstrom. “It is better to spread joy by giving them away than to sell them.”

Although it may look like an easy project, there can be some challenges Ellstrom can have, like the cutting process. Ellstrom says she likes to eyeball it, but that it might be easier to measure and draw it out.

Ellstrom’s hard work has gone far from unnoticed, with the project gaining the attention of The Lighthouse Project, a group dedicated to the improvement of mental health, especially for students. The Lighthouse Project asked if they could have some of the socklings, and both Palmer and Ellstrom presented them with socklings for their care packages.

By — Hanky Hazelton