Author: TwinkieChan

I drink tea all day long. My favorite non-caffeinated version is Almond Coconut Macaron Rooibos Tea from the Republic of Tea, and I probably average 3 bags a day. For a sweeter and more caffeinated kick, I’m all about PG Tips and French vanilla creamer. This all means that I use coasters A LOT. We have had a lot of cute coaster sets, but the ones we’ve had lately are either plastic or laminated or cork, and sometimes they stick to the bottom of my cups and then come clattering off at some annoying point in time. I then started hunting for felt coasters. I know I KNOW. I could just crochet myself some coasters, but sometimes I just feel like shopping and supporting other handmade artists, too! That’s how I found Dandyrions and her adorable bear coasters. They come on all colors, and some have accessories, like eyeglasses, or, a fish in the mouth. I can’t wait for my set to come in and cuddle all my tea mugs! Here are some other coasters that I liked as well on Etsy. I very nearly bought this set of bally coasters before finding the bears. These are by NomiMakes. I also liked the colors and funky shapes of these guys from BeansAndThreads. And finally, you can’t go wrong with some crocheted coasters in this house. These cheery fruits are from Portuli. OOOOOH I just thought of a cute pattern for coasters involving sparkle yarn…. stay tuned!

The ladies at Skip To My Lou have put together a ginormous Holiday Bake Craft Sew Crochet Along for the month of November (so there are already a ton of projects up on their blog!). They asked if I would guest-post a little later in the month, so stay tuned for a holiday-themed crochet pattern from yours truly! In the meantime, check out all the other recipes and projects from a ton of other creatives! (p.s. If you have requests for a simple tree ornament, let me know! I have an idea of what I will guest-post, but I’m still open to meeting any of your wishes!)

Hi! It’s the 15th of the month, so it’s time to launch a new blog sponsor giveaway! Thanks so much to my generous sponsors for offering us these wonderful goodies! We have eleven awesome prizes for November, and I will be drawing THREE winners. The FIRST winner can choose his/her favorite 5 prizes. The SECOND winner can choose his/her favorite 3 prizes. And the THIRD winner will win the remaining 3 prizes.

A few weekends ago, my buddy Candace and I went to Hello Kitty Con 2014 in L.A.! This was the first ever Hello Kitty Con and also the first time ever Candace and I traveled together! She keeps weird hours, likes to knit until 6 am, and has a suitcase full of snacks. Um, PERFECT TRAVEL COMPANION FOR ME. I arrived at the hotel first, took some video for Instagram, and then instructed Candace to not look on Insta, because I wanted her to be surprised when she walked in. We stayed at the LINE Hotel in Korea Town, which was the official hotel for the con. We kinda hemmed and hawed about staying there and actually had a  cheaper, back-up reservation somewhere else, but we decided to GO FOR IT. (Photos are mostly mine, with some of Candace’s thrown in, and others noted when borrowed from someone else!)

Sorry for the total radio-silence here! As you know, I was prepping for Renegade, and then my brain melted for the past two days. I think I’m back, though!!! 🙂 Stay tuned for an Etsy shop update with my craft-show leftovers, more video tutorials, our November giveaway, and finally  my closet-cleanout with yarn and other craft bits!!!! If there are particular holiday-themed patterns/tutorials you’d like to see, just holler! I was thinking: turkey drumstick plush, the Christmas Pickle, and maybe a gingerbread-house tissue cozy!

Soooo how about that time change!? I forgot how dark it gets now and all the photos I took today were super blurry. OOPS. I finally got this amazing tee from fASHLINdotcom on Etsy. It’s been in my Etsy faves for a while, and I finally went for it. I messaged Ashlin about sizing and found out she is also a really cool chick! Score! In case you were curious about sizing, I’m wearing a large (almost thought I had to get an XL cuz sometimes the cute tees for the girls are tiny!). I usually buy larges in juniors or American Apparel because I don’t like my armpits to feel squished, but I actually could have probably gotten this tee in a medium. Better slightly too big than slightly too small, that’s my (not very clever or interesting) motto!

We’re back from Hello Kitty Con, and I will blog about that as soon as my buddy gives me all her photos (oh! I have them now, but I need to sort through!), but I wanted all you guys in the Bay Area to remember to come visit my booth at Renegade Craft Fair this weekend!! It’s at Fort Mason on Saturday and Sunday, 11am – 6pm. I’m at booth #147 right next to my trusty booth-neighbor Quiet Tiger in #148.  I’ll have tons of stuff to get you ready for the holidays! See you there! Click to enlarge.

Yummy You! now has superjuicy Turkey Hats, fresh out of the roasting pan, and at a special holiday price! Dress to impress! Be the hostess with the roastest!

Hello Kitty Con 2014 is here! I am in LA, meeting up with my friend Candace from Super Good For You to check out the con for the first two days. I really didn’t have time to plan an outfit or make anything super interesting to wear, but I figured I’d whip up some cute shoe clips for my boots! I wanted them to be kinda square but kinda puffy, too, so that’s how I decided to work in joined rounds to make more of a 3d bow! The joined rnds with the turn in direction also help keep that seam in check. I was going to put a little stuffing in them to make them poofier, BUT, I totally just plain FORGOT, and I just went with it because I had to go to sleep to wake up for my plane. If you are not really into the whole shoe-bow thang, you can always use this in your hair, or strung as a cool statement necklace, or as an embellishment to your sweater, dress, purse, or murse! I have yet to walk in the bows, so I’ll see if they are too big and if they just fly off my boots! (Sorry for the really crappy photos!!!!! I’ll try to take better ones at home!)

I know that Halloween is just around the corner, but these lil pumpkins are also a fun project for Thanksgiving! This pattern is SUPER EASY and great for beginners. There’s really nothing to it! The pattern is below, and I also uploaded a video tutorial to YouTube. Enjoy!

I’m in LA for the weekend for a superkawaii pastel wedding, so I decided to give my new nail stickers a whirl!!! I bought a bunch of different sets from JSUtopia, and this is my first attempt at applying them. It’s actually really easy and essentially peel n stick n seal with clear polish. While I enjoy an evening of doodling on my nails myself, it was a real time save to just stick some art on! I also picked up some puppies and kitties and woodland creatures, but I really have my eye on the burger set now!

A few days ago, Morgan, one of my customers, asked where I bought my dresses on Etsy, so I wrote her a list of places I’d bought dresses before or had favorites from. I have some other favorite pieces from various shops, but this is a list of places that I visit A LOT and just love in general. I’m probably forgetting some, but here’s a good start! I’m Your Present Lynn’s Rags Miss Alphabet Pretty Snake Luminia Rusty Cuts Nicole Carey Let me know if you have favorite Etsy shops with cute dresses!

So pumped that Marie from Agent Lover wrote about the Yummy You! Pizza Scarf as “Item of the Day” over at HelloGiggles!!!

Dear Diary, I have a Snack Confession: I LOVE PUMPKIN PIE POP TARTS. I didn’t want to. I really didn’t . I know that Pop Tarts are really bad for you. They’re like cardboard and plastic injected with fat and covered in sugar.  BUT. I. LOVE. THEM. This is my second box. I’ve been buying them at Target. That they are limited edition makes me want to buy them more. Upon the rare occasion that I actually purchase Pop Tarts, I always opt for the non-frosted kind, so I was afraid that the Pumpkin Pie version would be too sweet for me, but it’s not. It’s perfect. Marry me, Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts. There seems to be this joke on the internet about who exactly likes the Pumpkin Spice Latte and all the season’s pumpkin spice whatchamahoozits, and if there’s any truth to that joke, then I guess my spirit animal is a white girl in Uggs listening to Lorde, eating Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts.

The Yummy You! Pizza scarf is available at HotTopic.com, and the whole site is actually on sale right now!

My crochet book is back in my Etsy shop while my new supply lasts!  I just received them today. When I hauled in two superheavy boxes, I was like, “What did I buy??! I don’t remember buying anything heavy!?” And I got scared, cuz, shopaholic amnesia brain damage. BUT, then I looked at the return address label, and saw that it was my book distributor! As some of my newer blog readers may have noticed, my book has been difficult to find, or really expensive. This is due to the fact that my book sold out of its print run and will not be re-printed by my publisher, as they are no longer publishing craft books. My plan is to get the rights back to re-print/re-pub it, but that can take some time. I read on my latest royalty statement that my publisher actually had more books back in stock (this happens when stores return books), so I asked if I could buy them all for you guys and put them on Etsy! So if you’ve been looking for my book in the U.S., here’s your chance to get it! (Sorry for the long rambly story, but I don’t think I ever blogged about it before, and I thought some of you might want to know what the situation was with the book.) Also, it’s my plan to start writing Book #2 in November after I’m finished with Renegade Craft Fair, so…. hold on tight!

Hi! It’s the 15th of the month, so it’s time to launch a new blog sponsor giveaway! Thanks so much to my generous sponsors for offering us these wonderful goodies! PLEASE NOTE, we are changing things up a bit this month and trying something new. We have THIRTEEN awesome prizes for October, and I will be drawing THREE winners. The FIRST winner can choose his/her favorite 6 prizes. The SECOND winner can choose his/her favorite 4 prizes. And the THIRD winner will win the remaining 3 prizes. I am open to feedback on how you all feel about this, but an initial Facebook survey seemed to tell me that you guys like to share, which is great! 🙂

Anyone still doing their Halloween crocheting?  I thought I’d round up some of Halloweeny crochet patterns in a single post! Candy Bar Clutch – free Ghostly Candy Container made with a Yoplait yogurt container – free Candy Corn Kitty Hat Bee & Puppycat plush, bee necklace, and shoe bows – free Happy Heart & Rib Cage Tshirt – free Mermaid Seashells – free Pumpkin Hair clip – free and video

YAY FINALLY!!! I’m happy to announce that we finally have a shop for the Tissue Box Bakery!! Let’s try to beat our donation amount from last year! Send me a cozy or purchase a cozy! Go to the TBB site for all the info!

It’s that time again! Renegade Craft Fair Holiday in San Francisco! But it’s only a month away! Before Thanksgiving! Get all your holiday shopping done SUPER DUPER EARLY!!! It’s November 8-9, 11am – 6pm, at Fort Mason. I’m already slaving away at some new designs for you guys, but I only have a month, so I’m gonna go dive back into my yarn!

Last night, we celebrated my dad’s birthday with a dinner at Pabu.  I saw these stairs and plant pots and asked Hairy to snap a pic of my outfit super quick! Mostly, we need to talk about this necklace by my buddy Fatally Feminine! I can’t remember what outfit I was wearing some time ago, but at that moment, I really really REALLY wanted a necklace with circus animal cookies on it, so I asked Aubree from Fatally Feminine if she would be interested in making one. AND HELLO. It is perfect. Even the backs of the cookies look like the backs of the actual cookie. DYING. It is now available in her shop, and you can also get a single a cookie necklace as well as earrings. As soon as I walked into the restaurant, all the girls oohed and aahhed over it. Most fun necklace ever! ***** Dress: H&M, Necklace: Fatally Feminine, Hair Flower: Tarina Tarantino, Belt: eBay, Tights: We Love Colors, Shoes: The White Pepper

Groot news! I just uploaded a new video tutorial to YouTube to accompany my free crocheted baby Groot pattern! (I apologize in advance for the slightly weird photos in this post. They are video screengrabs shot in Photobooth… only the finest quality for you, only the finest.) Also since so many people have been asking if I will sell a finished Groot to them (I have no plans to sell finished Groots), I decided to have a giveaway here on the blog. You have a week to enter via the Rafflecopter widget below (ends next Friday, October 10th at midnight), and I will draw 5 winners, open internationally! I am running low on the discontinued yarn I used for my original Groot, but I promise to use an equally nubbly and tweedy yarn, which just may end up being a sliiiightly different hue/texture. I will be giving away the baby Groot only and NOT the terracotta pot or any pebbles or moss. You’ll just be getting a little naked baby tree. You have to supply a pot yourself, since I don’t want to ship pots and risk breakage or pay extra shipping for a heavy package. But terracotta pots are easy to find and are cheap, so I think you guys can handle it! I do not recommend giving my baby Groots to small children because of small parts and potential wiring.  You will be able to decide on some customizations for your baby Groot, like the length (long or short, or as I labeled in the photos, “Big Baby” and “Little Baby”) and whether you want the body, arms, or both to be wired. My favorite version for snuggles is no wiring at all, but for posing, my favorite is a wire in the body and pipe cleaners in the arms, but you can tell me what you prefer. Please allow me 3-4 weeks to finish custom-making your new babies before shipping them. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much to the folks who came out to visit at Crafty Bastards in Washington DC last weekend! It was my first time vending at this fair, and I’d have to say that it lives up to its reputation for being really busy and really amazing. The event itself is run really well, and we got free snacks and drinks, and even got to put in a sandwich order for lunch. Kind of amazing!! The fair was also in the parking lot of Union Market which housed a ton of great food, not to mention all the food trucks that were outside, too.

I have three more days to finish, tag, and pack all my crochet goodies and display stuff into suitcases because we leave for Washington DC on Thursday morning!! AHHHH. I am so NOT anywhere near being finished with ANYTHING!!!! I’m also trying to keep up with store orders!!! Not complaining, though, because I so appreciate the support. Just got a lot to juggle at the moment! 🙂 I can’t remember if I ever posted a picture of this (and sorry it’s so low quality…it’s really gloomy here today and none of my photos were turning out) but I designed this Cricus Elephant Cookie scarf for Renegade a few months ago, and I’ll be bringing him to Crafty Bastards on Saturday, too!!! Only two of them! Please come visit my booth, DC!! I’ll be at Crafty Bastards for Saturday only! The tickets are at a lower price if you buy them in advance. It’s $5 per day, $8 for both days, and free for kids. If you use this special code when you purchase tickets online, VENDOR14, you can get both days for $6! What a steal! Okay, I’m going back into my craft-hole. Don’t forget to enter my September giveaway, too. You have one more day before I choose a winner! 🙂