Category: Blog

Ruth Tillman of the Enchanted Square and I will be teaching a new crochet class, and our project will be a super easy but super adorable wrapped candy! Just in time for the holidays! All you need to know is how to crochet a basic rectangle to turn your home (or yourself) into a sugary holiday wonderland! Our class will be on Thursday night, November 14th, from 7:00pm – 9:30pm, at Urban Bazaar in San Francisco, for $30.00. Check out the class listings here and mark your calendars! If you’ve always wanted to learn to crochet, this will be the most fun class ever to do so :).

Day 4 from the Yummy You! shoot with model Shannie Bee and photog Crazy Spork I Am!

I know some of you are still basking in the afterglow of your Halloween crafts, but Michaels.com already posted my free crochet pattern for November: Turkey Box Tissue Cozy! Edit, June 4, 2014: Please find the pattern here on my blog. Michaels.com is currently re-vamping their pattern/project section, and the above Michaels.com link is disabled for now. I got so excited about sharing this project and making it awesome, that I also included the patterns for the little veggies – baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and POTATOES –  as well as the lettuce garnish underneath, which is actually a DISH CLOTH. You could turn the veggies into brooches, fridge magnets, or string them into a crazy necklace! This is going to sound a little weird, but I got really addicted to making tiny potatoes…! This is truly one of my most very favorite crochet projects ever, and I’m really proud of how all the components came together. I hope you guys love it, too, and have a lot of fun! I’ll be offering finished versions of this, as well as my infamous turkey hat, in my Etsy shop very very soon!

YOU GUYS. YOU. GUYS. The Lazy Oaf x Looney Tunes collection is making my wallet laugh and cry at the same time. I think the pink Tweety dress HAS to be mine. AND THE BUGS BUNNY FURRY JACKET?! COME ON! OMG COME ON!!!!!!!!!!! No words. Just drool.  

I tried Yoplait’s “Boston Cream Pie” yogurt over the weekend…and it was unfortunately not a favorite. Too sweet for me, although I do love the idea of eating pie for breakfast! While rinsing out the yogurt cup, I took a few seconds to stop and think of a fun crochet project to save this cup from the recycling bin and give it an extra life in my house. In the spirit of the season, I whipped up a little ghost sweater for it! I think it could be a fun way to decorate a small table and store tiny trinkets or even candy corn or M&M’s! We took a ghost cozy to the pumpkin patch to make our little video, and a little girl ran up to it with extreme delight. I think this is a good sign.

On Sunday, Manda and I visited a pumpkin patch together in Portola Valley and test drove our Halloween-themed hats! I’m wearing the trusty Pumpkin Slouchy Beret, and Manda is in a brand new sample of a Candy Corn Kitty Hat that I sketched out and crocheted on Saturday night. (Not listed on Etsy yet. I need to shoot product photos!) We made a little video, and here are some fun moments!   Watch the video to find out why Manda was so mad at the skeleton guy that she slapped him upside the head with her purse.   I will be posting a free pattern for this little ghost on my blog later in the week (I hope! I’m also in Elysse’s wedding this week!).  What is it? Watch the video!       As long as I’ve known her, she has been addicted to sugar. She is chugging candy corns out of a Candy Bar Clutch! These crazy giant gourd things look like kettlebells.   Really hard core squash-lifting. Okay, here’s the video! While we were at the patch, one of the guys working there asked where we got our hats. Manda said I made them. He asked if I could put a name on a hat, and I told him it depended on how intricate the name was. He pointed to a name on his own hat in some olde english-y font. I’m good, BUT NOT THAT GOOD! How about a pumpkin hat, buddy? Here’s our video from last year! Do you guys already have Halloween plans for this year? I don’t think we have any yet. No costumes planned. Today I joked that I could be Dora the Explorer and Manda could be my monkey-friend, and she asked me to make her a monkey hat … but … You don’t REALLY want to be a MONKEY for Halloween do you!? 😛

The neat thing about the German edition is that it’s my first hardcover! You can get it here at www.Amazon.de. A Finnish edition also came out in 2011, but I’m not really sure what the major Finnish book retailers are, or if the book is still available. If you have any idea, let me know! 🙂

Plush You! 2013 is opening tonight, Friday, October 13th, from 5 pm – 9m, at Schmancy in Seattle, Washington. The show features over 55 artists from all over the world! I submitted three pieces last year  and had so much fun checking out all the other plushies. I realized that I never compiled all the little video snippets I took from 2012, so I did that just now in order to prompt you to check out the show this year if you are in the area. If you go, let me know how it is!  

Knitsy  Issue 4 (for iPad and iPhone and soon Google Android) is out, and guess who is on the cover? I had no idea. It was a big  surprise! This time, instead of an interview like I had in Issue 3, we are offering a crochet pattern for my cupcake scarf. If you already have my book, this pattern will be old news, but if you’ve been jonesing for the cupcake scarf and the cupcake scarf only, here’s your chance to check it out for free! The one thing I totally forgot to add in the pattern is that Lion Brand Homespun in Cotton Candy Pink has been discontinued since my book was published. There are other Homespun colors, but the substitute I have been using myself is Cascade 128 Merino Superwash because it is a similar weight and comes in a yummy array of colors. It is, however, a bit spendy, running on average at $12.50 per hank. It’s a great option for people who like nice yarn and who like wool without the wool being itchy. I recently picked up a ball of Red Heart Snuggle Bunny in Kitten, but I haven’t worked with it yet. I just grabbed it because of the color and because if its boucle-ness! There’s TONS of other fun fibery goodness in Knitsy, so check it out!

  Let’s try something new! I decided to try offering sponsorship spots on my blog, to help promote your blog or indie business. I’m new to this whole thing, so if there are any glitches, please let me know! Click on the new button on my right side-bar to reach my advertising info page, or click right here!

Both of my crocheted weiner dogs were adopted and shipped off to their new homes! I really appreciate the support for Tiffany‘s real life weiner dog Pistol! She also just added some “Get Well Pistol” cotton tote bags to her Etsy shop. And speaking of Etsy, I just added the weiner dog crochet pattern to my Etsy shop.

Life: complete! A record about meat that looks like meat, with cover art that’s all about meat. A MUST HAVE!!!! From Archie McPhee. SHOES WITH ICE CREAM. Karl Lagerfeld for Melissa. I know these are not the first ice cream heels ever, but these are probably the first that I would actually wear.  This adorable lilac dress by Hell Bunny is available right now at Blue Banana for $19.80. So tempting…! Have you ever checked out Knickerocker‘s amazing undies?! I met her at RenegadeSF one year that I wasn’t vending, and I bought some cute candy-themed ones from her! My rear isn’t in tip top shape, so you probs won’t be seeing those any time soon, but check out all her other adorable pieces like bears and rainbows and deers! I know Wildfox is rill spendy, but, I have to admit, I’m into a lot of it…. Check out this Dreaming of Cake Jumper at Dolls Kill! You know me and my profound love for I’m Your Present. Currently wanting to cuddle this Pastel Bears Bubble Dress! I’ve had a few versions of this comfy silhouette, and they are my favorite for traveling, because I can stick some leggings under there and feel like I’m in pajamas! I am currently crazy about Hannah Max’s Cookie Chips! They are cookies that are thin like chips. I bought a bag of the Original flavor at Andronico’s, and I’m kinda fiending for more! They are crispitty and crunchitty and contain real ingredients.

Dear Bay Area, Have you ever wanted to learn to crochet? Have you ever wanted to wear a scarf that looks like chocolate truffles? Have you ever wanted to hang out with me??? On Tuesday night, October 15, from 7pm-9:30pm,  Ruth Tillman of The Enchanted Square and I will be teaching a crochet class together at Urban Bazaar in the Sunset district of San Francisco. I have never really taught crochet before, so we’ll be leaning on Ruth  for the learny stuff, and I’ll be there to tell you how to put the thing around the thing and pull the stuff through the other thing. Our project will be my Chocolate Truffle Scarf. No, we probably won’t be able to complete an entire scarf in class, but you should be able to finish one truffle and go home and complete the scarf with confidence! Plus you’ll also be supporting a neat store that sells local and fair trade goodies! Click here to purchase your spot for October 15!  The class is $35, plus a $10 materials fee if you don’t have hooks and yarn. If you already have hooks and yarn, I think you can bring your tools and some worsted weight yarn in your favorite truffle colors to work with. I’ll also bring some copies of “Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies” in case you want a signed copy! Come out and give me some pointers on teaching! Let’s scratch “Learn how to crochet cool stuff” off your bucket list!

Just a little reminder to take two minutes to run outside, or pull over and check out something new, or just be silly for a moment or two! I was driving Manda back home today, and we started to drive past a very strange and magical-looking sculpture made out of STICKS. I was like, “What is that?! WHAT. IS. THAT?!” This is a road that I have driven down more than a few times in the last year or so, but sometimes we just kind of follow our regular patterns on auto-pilot without noticing the details. This was in in Manda’s neighborhood, so she had seen it a lot already, but this was new to me. I swung the car around into a parking lot so we could get a closer look! Put it on my Christmas List, guys! It’s a stick sculpture by Patrick Dougherty, and apparently there are a bunch of these, in different shapes and configurations, all over the country and all over the world. He studied ancient building techniques, and he uses tree saplings and no nails or glue. I really love when art is interactive and you can be all up in it. I also really love that we saw new leaves/vines/trees growing on the sculpture. If you’ve seen the movie “Where the Wild Things Are,” you’ll definitely feel like these stick huts are the place to start the wild rumpus. I tried to research whether Dougherty designed the stick shelters from the movie. It looks like he didn’t, but everyone thinks it’s obvious that the set designer was influenced by him. Who knows! Regardless, I’m so glad we had our two-minute adventure, and we’re so lucky to have this magic in Palo Alto!

I have one copy of an awesome new cookbook to giveaway! Are you ready? It’s my buddy Natalie Slater’s Bake And Destroy: Good Food for Bad Vegans. I’ve seen her on TV as a judge on Cupcake Wars, so I think that means she’s pretty legit. I’m totally not vegan, but I guess I am a curious and somewhat guilty omnivore. I also have vegan friends, so it will be nice to have some tasty recipes in my back pocket for get-togethers. I had already pre-ordered this book before Natalie contacted me to check out a free copy, but when someone asks if you’ll post a recipe for Banana Bread French Toast Cupcakes … YOU SAY YES. What Natalie may not know… is that … I AM THE WORST BAKER EVER. But I always give it my best! I’m optimistically terrible. And what I like about the recipes as I’m flipping through them is that a lot of them fit on one page. This tricks amateurs like me into thinking that the recipes will be really easy, which I like very much, and it keeps me optimistic. Some morsels that catch my eye are: Totchos (tater tot nachos), Spaghetti Cake with Grandma Sharon’s Hater-Proof Sauce, and Whole Wheat Choco-Coconut Donuts! PLUS, the photography is gorgeous AND there are bad-ass illustrations by the one and only Betty Turbo. And now for your viewing pleasure: Banana Bread French Toast Cupcakes. (My cooking confessions and video summary are below the recipe.) ********** Makes 12 cupcakes Ingredients CUPCAKES: ½ cup (113 g) mashed overripe banana 1 ¼ cups (156 g) all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon salt ¾ cup (150 g) sugar 1/3  cup (80 ml) canola oil 2⁄3 cup (160 ml) rice or soy milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon almond extract ½ cup (60 g) chopped, toasted walnuts VEGAN MAPLE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING: 2 cups (250 g) confectioners’ sugar 6 tablespoons (85 g) nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening 6 tablespoons (85 g) vegan margarine 2 tablespoons (40 g) pure maple syrup ½ teaspoon maple flavoring Pinch of salt Directions Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a twelve-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Throw your mashed banana in a blender or just smash it with a fork. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and sugar into a large bowl and mix well. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the oil, rice milk, vanilla, almond extract and mashed banana. Stir or fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Small lumps are fine. Finally, add the walnuts, folding gently. Fill the liners two-thirds full. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely before frosting. To make the vegan maple buttercream frosting, beat all the ingredients together in a bowl until they’re light and fluffy. […]

This weekend I went to my buddy Elysse‘s bridal shower in Sausalito (this is a photo that I stole from her buddy Nicole). I forgot to take a photo, but I tried to wrap my present in what I perceived to be a more grown up style, which turned into an explosion from the floral aisle at Michaels involving ribbon, raffia, fake flowers, and plastic pears. To balance this elegance out, I made this card: You know, when you’re cruising the greeting card aisle, and you just can’t find anything that perfectly represents the sentiment inside your heart: go home and make it. This horse head mask isn’t entirely random. It was actually on Elysse’s registry, which made me love her and her fiance’ Peter a million times more, and of course, I got it for them. What I did not love was that apparently it was gonna take like 8 million years to send the horse mask from the particular place I ordered it from. I didn’t really notice this until the night before the shower, and I was freaking out like, WHERE IS MY GOSHDANG FREAKY HORSE HEAD MASK?!??! Anyway, to make up for this party foul, I also made some paper horse heads with real yarn hair accents, so she and Peter could practice before the real deal arrives. KISSES!!!!!!!

When I made these hair pompoms the other day, I for some reason immediately felt transformed into a Mel Stringer girl, and I decided to take outfit photos a la Mel’s Bedroom Series. There are OFTEN times when I’ll be like, “You’re never buying anything pink or child-like again. You’re almost 40 years old, and you look ridiculous.” And then I’ll see this totally amazing dress with vintage toys all over it that I HAVE TO HAVE. AND WEAR. WITH PRIDE. FOREVER. I have been told by a few naysayers that I should grow up, but who determined what grown-ups are allowed to wear or not? What is a grown-up supposed to look like? Who decided that bunnies and puppies and pastel rainbows were solely the territory of children? I don’t have to go to an office, and I can do what I want, so I should just do what I want and wear what I want! For as long as I can…!  I will allow YOU to do the same! 🙂 Obvs, if I decide to go back to the office at some point, my wardrobe may have to revert back to what it once was, but for now, it’s rainbow pompoms, candy jewelry, and crocheting the night away. Dress: Mr. Gugu & Miss Go from Truffle Shuffle, Necklace c/o Art School Drop Out, Bracelet c/o EllegraDavis, Socks: Sock Dreams, Giant glasses: vintage, Hair pompoms: me, made of handspun yarn.

If you don’t recognize the quote from my blog title…it’s from this episode of Seinfeld! This must-have t-shirt for all my fellow four-eyed babes is a design by my good buddy Candace of Super Good! She is world-famous for her hilarious and wacky t-shirt descriptions: “Fig. 1: The perfect way to show the world you pride yourself in your poor eyesight!  Any inference beyond that, regarding your other appendages, is purely conjecture.  Use caution when wearing this shirt. Fig. 2: And hey, maybe your glasses AREN’T real, who cares!  You can still wear the shirt! I won’t tell the glasses police.  But I also won’t tell the real police, when they fine you for driving without your glasses!  There’s gotta be consistency in our story or no one will believe it!!” She’s giving you guys a 10% off code for all her t-shirts: FRIENDSOFTWINKIE10 She told me the code lasts until November, so act now!! There’s lots of cute and funny stuff! (But please note that the code only works for t-shirts and not for accessories.) “Finally, a shirt for those who can only express their gratitude in multicolored pastels.  A shirt for those who find the hard, pointy corners of most typefaces featured in plastic bag logos to be too harsh.  A shirt for positive people, who love to display their appreciation right on their chest!!  Or for negative people, with a love for ironic garments. Neutral people can also wear this shirt by turning it inside out.  Truly, a shirt for all of mankind.” I gotta have anything and everything to do with pastel rainbows!!! And being thankful, obviously. These are the two shirts I bought. Which ones would you choose? (Here are some outtakes!) (p.s. is anyone still watching ANTM? Candace and I are. I think we might be the only 2 people left on the planet that are doing so. I was just thinking about how I have a really short neck, and Tyra would be yelling at me about it all the time.)  

My dad came up to the city over the weekend to have dinner. When we asked what he wanted for dessert, he said: SOUFFLE. Lucky for us, in the time of Google and iPhones, Hairy quickly located a place called Souffles Cafe near North Beach that was open late, so off we went!   Souffles Cafe is uber Chinese, and not French, as some might assume. They have a lot of souffle flavors (I got chocolate, my dad got grand marnier, but almost banana, and Hairy got coffee), and tons of other Hong Kong cafe snacks like egg puffs and sweet soup desserts and “house made snail meats” (okay that’s not really a dessert) and lots of tea.   My dad and I usually always get a hot Hong Kong Milk Tea, and Hairy gets his iced. HK milk tea is a really strong black tea with lots of sweetened condensed milk and probably also sugar to boot. It’s sweet and creamy and keeps me up at night, but I love it! There are many powdered versions as well, and we have tried A LOT of them. My favorite so far is one made by Lipton, but we can only find it in Hong Kong, so we stock up when we are there. The key is finding a powdered milk tea that produces a really creamy/milky beverage. Get with it, U.S.A! I hadn’t really noticed, but Hairy suddenly remarked that Souffles Cafe was especially awesome because the Chinese channel was playing RAMBO. I am pretty sure that the English translation here is, “My souffle is so good, it’s making me have a mental breakdown and kill people….”   Don’t worry. I ate the souffle and stayed sane. The other really cool thing about Souffles Cafe is the bathroom. They are really protective of their bathroom, and I respect that big time. Don’t be disgusting out there, people! The souffles there are pretty big, and I could only finish half of mine. I told Hairy that if I tried to finish it, I would have to start breakin’ all kinds of bathroom rules. I’m fun to eat with!  

Sorry for the blog-silence! I’ve been busy catching up with work, writing Michaels.com patterns, planning cool collabs for Yummy You! (p.s. our Ice Cream & Sunnies tee is now only $12.50!) and working on a few website updates (nothing big, just updating the Press section and the slideshow on the landing page!). I thought I would make it up to you guys by posting another free pattern here! It’s for the little Goldfish Crackers! You can use them as pins, hair clips, and someone mentioned wanting the pattern to make a mobile for her baby. Cute idea! I do not intend to sell anymore in my shop, so that is why I am sharing the pattern for free here.

The freeform crochet work of Svyazka on Etsy. This Mushroom Clearing pillow is SO CUTE. I want one! Neon Pink Members Only Jackets! via AgentLover. She wrote about how her dad wore Members Only while she grew up, and mine did, too! Actually, I broke down and bought one! I think I’m gonna stick my Gary Basemen ice cream patch on it! Cool Comic Backpack from F21. Delicious Mint Platform Creepers from Moooh. A Unicorn Farted in My Nail Polish at Llarowe.com. I totally bought this, but I haven’t tried it yet. I know it’s spendy at $11, but, I dunno, THE NAME. Tony Moly Petite Bunny Lip Gloss Bars on eBay. I know these have been around for a while, but I never really looked them up. How cute are those faces? I ordered Juicy Grape and Juicy Strawberry!

  Congrats to Clare for her winning entry! Thanks so much to everyone for entering my giveaway! I really appreciate the support, and I had a fun time reading all your favorite summer moments :). I don’t often get to hear from everyone, so it was a nice opportunity! I’ll try to remember to do more giveaways in the future! They’re fun! p.s. Sorry for the radio silence. I’ve been a bit sick the past few days! When I feel better, I’ll be posting a new free pattern on the blog :).

Remember when I made this grumpy octopus coffee cup cozy back in December? I finally made another one so that I could write down the pattern for you!

  When I buy handmade things, I rarely remember to write a special note to the people who made them, so I’m always super surprised when I receive such a note! I made this custom cupcake slouchy hat last week, and I loved the colors that my customer chose. I probably would not have thought of such a color combo, but it turned out really cute and Easter-y! Thanks again, everyone, for reading my blog, answering my questions on Facebook, and listening to me rant on Twitter. I really appreciate it! Running my businesses is not always easy. It’s fun, for sure, but not easy. So thanks for always being so loving and encouraging! Happy Monday! I pinky-promise to post a free pattern on my blog this week! 😉