Hairball can be used for racing but it's hardly ever used. It's the ugly duckling of the herb gardens. But what if it did something useful? SUCH AS: Making crafting faster!
Maybe it would only work for one "craft" (Sort of like how EHSP works with shrines and donating)
Or maybe it would cause you to lose a small percentage of your yield
Or some other trade off for such an amazingly awesome time saving effect