Category: Blog

So last Thursday, Hairy and Manda and went to our favorite divebar 80s night since Manda is on vacay from school. The three of us were just sittin’ around, people-watching (nerds had invaded the bar that night…it was fascinating), when I suggested we take photos a la The Hangover. Nobody was pulling out their teeth on a dare or marrying strippers or stealing Mike Tyson’s pet tiger … but we tried our best. Our ridiculous attempts at goofy self portraiture led a petroleum engineer to sit next to Manda and ask if she came here often….

…..and kinda forgot to announce it in my blog! I announced in on FB and Twitter and my mailing list. And then I passed the eff out from shooting and editing photos and listing items until 10:30am with no sleep! So a lot of stuff is gone already: cupcake coffee cup cozies, a lot of the ice cream scoop barrettes. But there’s still some stuff there! CLICK FOR ETSY. My favorite item of the update, which is already sold, is the BURGER MITTS!!!!!!! There will be more in the future. Don’t you worry.

Merry Christmas!! I decided that as a present to my crocheting blog-readers, I would post up a free tutorial for my Crocheted Popcorn Garlands for one week (until Jan. 1), so grab it while you can before I take the pattern down! I wanted to crochet my own garland for my own tree, using a pattern that wasn’t too complicated (so I could work on it while vending at Renegade!) but still looked a lot like popcorn. I researched around a little bit to see what patterns were out there, but I just wasn’t quite satisfied with the ones I found, so I Frankensteined my own! ============================================= ** Happy new year! I have removed the free pattern and will post it to Etsy some time soon. Thank you! 🙂 **

I know I still need to blog about Seattle, and Portland, and Renegade Craft Fair!! But I also really need to pick up the house! After a couple weeks of traveling and crafting, the house has exploded with slivers of paper, clothing, yarn bits, bubble wrap, and jewelry findings! I also need to post Renegade leftovers up on Etsy for you guys! But anyway, here are some peeks of our Xmas tree. I don’t want to take a full-length shot, because the tree is sandwiched between two chairs, which are covered in various ugly blankets to keep dog dirt and hair off them! I bought my tree on eBay, and my goal was to decorate it only with vintage and handmade! This is the first year I’ve really felt like getting my own tree. I’m becoming sentimental for Christmas. It’s unfortunate that Hairy is such a grump and keeps saying, “I HATE CHRISTMAS!” But I got us a big pink Christmas tree anyway! Vintage popcorn and candy garlands, plus one popcorn garland crocheted by me (my own pattern…which I may post later!). Ornaments by CakeSpy, Chloe (a surprise giftie!), and 12LegsCuriosities. Sadly, due to my busy schedule, I was not able to handmake many presents this year :(. I am thinking maybe next year I won’t vent at a holiday fair, but just put stuff on Etsy and craft for my loved-ones. But we’ll see! There’s always this weird pull for me to set up my fabric food truck and sit around for 8 hours hawking my wares :P.

Today I wore my $5 shirt! Manda called in the evening to ask if she could spend the night. Then we went to Chevy’s cuz we’re classy ladies and ate a lot of food and drank a margarita. We were smart and went to Mrs. Field’s FIRST to get dessert before the mall closed. We are totes mall rats now! We have agendas and stratagems to maximize our mall food experience! When we got home, I started working on my stuff for Renegade Craft Fair, and she pointed out some candy I had picked up in Seattle. CANDY CANE POP ROCKS! And then for some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to put Pop Rocks on top of our brownies. There’s no logic here, folks. The moral of this story is that Manda and I have not changed. If we had a MacBook and a webcam 20 years ago, you would have caught us doing the exact same thing: doing stupid crap and eating gross food on camera. BFFS! p.s. I keep opening my mouth like a dying fish in order to hear the Pop Rocks poppin’ in my mouf! It’s too bad you also have to see all that mashed up brownie in there. Untitled from Twinkie Chan on Vimeo.

Click on the poster for more info! Come visit my booth this weekend! I’ll have tons of goodies as well as copies of the book for sale. This is a new venue for Renegade SF, so it should be interesting! I’m all the way in the back next to the DJ booth! : / We’ll have scarves, ice cream scoop hair pieces, brooches, mini books, stickers, brand new tshirts, lots n lots of stuff 🙂

Come crochet a cupcake with me this Friday, Dec 10 at Twisted in Portland! I will also be signing books for a few hours at Crafty Wonderland on Saturday and Sunday. Also I will have my very last audio/visual extravaganza on Sunday at Powell’s City of Books at 4pm. Hope to see you!!! Check out tour info here. (But note that the Powell’s event is really at 4pm, not 3pm!)

Don’t forget that I will be vending at the amazing Academy of Sciences in the rainforest area!! I am bringing supplies and you can design and make your own flower headband! I’ve been crocheting flowers all day and all night, so please come out and make it all worth it :). Buy tix now!

So a few months ago, I was asked to create a “get to know the artist” vlog for a certain site I shall not name. They never ended up posting it, and I felt like the whole situation was really weird and involved Yummy You product as well. Oh well. Sometimes you try and nothing comes of it. I keep trying anyway! BuuuuuuUUuuuuut…it did result in this blooper reel! I kept trying to do my whole 90 second spiel in ONE seamless and awesome take, which led to a lot of frustration!!! The final cut I submitted was not all one take, and it was not this same background or hair or day. Enjoy!

If you don’t like photos that include blood…do not read further!

In addition to prepping for my book signings in Seattle, I am also shipping some Cupcake Coffee Cup Cozies to Schmancy. I know I know. You’re like, “Why did you ship them when you are GOING THERE YOURSELF!?” I just like to not stress about things. What if I forgot to bring them. What if I brought them, but then found myself near Schmancy without them. What if I crushed them in my suitcase. Etc Etc. So this way, they will be perfect in their little box, and I know they will get there safe and sound! Here’s some pics of the lil guys! So if you’re in Seattle, go pick some up from Schmancy!!! Also come and visit me at my book signings and make me look good. We’re taking video. You’ll be in it. Ok I’m bummed I just caught a really “ricidulous” typo on my paper inserts. AHHHHHHHHHHH. Hoping Schmany won’t include them after all. This is what you get when you try to make packaging at 6am after working all day and all night! Bummer!!! I’d just print more except I ran out of that thicker brochure paper……..! Thanks to blogging for pointing this out to myself. I didn’t notice it until I looked at this giant close up photo of it. Are you ricidding me?

Instant hot cocoa and home-made coconut whipped cream!

How does anyone keep their space clean after packing up their orders!? AHHHHH I have little bits of paper and labels and stickers and those plastic strips you pull off self-adhesive envelopes ALL OVER THE PLACE!! My house needs to be film-crew-pretty on Wednesday morning! I’ll let you know why later, but I am kind of freaking out! Even if I get everything clean and hidden anyway, I’m just sad I haven’t invested time in decorating the place. I don’t even really know how. I am not really visual in that way. I know when something is ugly, but I don’t know how to make it pretty! Oh well! Hopefully the crew will just stay in the craft room, and the giant wall of yarn will distract from the fact that the opposite wall is completely BLANK. At least we got my yarn swift up! It’s that spindly wooden thing next to the banana fabric-painting. I’ll make a video of that in motion cuz it’s pretty darn cool. I wonder if I would ruin the swift by painting it!!! At first, instead of the banana painting, I put up the lid of an old, super cheezy and cheap Valentine’s candy box, but for some reason it reminded me of a funeral wreath and freaked me out, so I took it down. Bummer. I still kinda like it! I’m off to clean up my mess and do a little crocheting before I go to bed and wake up tomorrow to CLEAN THIS PLACE AHHHHHHHHHH. I wish I had some mini afghans to cover the tops of our chairs where Bunny likes to perch and turn the fabric BROWN. Yes, we have the chairs completely covered in blankets now, but it’s super ugly. I could maybe try to bust out something cute to cover the tops on my own, but I have like a kabillion other things to do. I’ll just put scarves over them! hahahha

For Thanksgiving at my parents’ house, Hairy and I made a coconut custard pie! Hairy even whipped up some cream! My bff txtd me a pic of her and her brother and sister, so we txtd this photo right back to her! I have most of the leftovers from dinner in my fridge now! Just for kicks, Hairy and I went to Kohl’s at 3:30am, and also cruised by 2 Targets just to see, since I’d never been out shopping when the stores first open on Black Friday. The lines around Target were AMAZING and just like on the news!!! Crazy!! I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to actually wait in line and get in there…not mention…check out time! Intense super shopping! We obviously didn’t buy anything but just wanted to check out the scene. We ended up being the only nerds waiting outside the grocery store at 4:55am waiting for it to open! Anyhoo, fear not, shoppers, if you missed out on Ice Cream Hair pieces or mini books in my Etsy shop. I will bring all those things back! But I don’t know if I can do it before Xmas. I have to build stock for my booth at Renegade Holiday San Francisco (now at a new venue!) and I will also be traveling to Seattle and Portland in the next few weeks to promote my book! Come say hi! Also please note, that on Friday, Dec 3rd, I will be signing at the Ravenna location of Third Place Books at 7:00pm, and NOT the Lake Forest Park location (I still need to change that on my website)! I got pushed out by Rick Springfield!! 😛 But if you want to make BOTH signings, you’ll probably have time 😉

SHOP SHOP SHOP! So much new stuff! Some of it sold out already, like the strawberry ice cream scoop hair doodads! Happy Thanksgiving!!! I’m gonna pass out now, and then wake up, and feast, and pass out again. xoxoxo

Okay, who am I kidding? If I think I can get an Etsy update by Tuesday “night,” that probably means at 4 in the morning on Wednesday!!! I’m still finishing up crocheting stuff, and I still have to shoot all the photos, edit them, and write all the listings. This is looking more like a Wednesday afternoon Etsy update. Sorry about that! Things come up that I never expect!!! Something really funny and exciting might be happening next week. I’ll keep ya posted! In the meantime, don’t stay up tonight for the Etsy update!!!

Today’s workspace! I am hoping I can have my update up by Tuesday night :). I’m still crocheting items right now, and tomorrow hopefully will be photo day!

Don’t forget to come hang out with me at ImagiKnit in SF with me. I’ll do a cupcake crochet demo and help you with your crochet questions. Bring hooks and your yarn stash, or purchase new goodies at ImagiKnit, my most favoritest yarn store in the Bay Area! Also, if you buy a book at ImagiKnit on Sunday, you’ll be entered to win a free Yummy You scarf! :). Plus I still have some goodie bags including my mini book, a button, and a sticker! Click on the link for more infos! Can’t wait to see you! 4 o ‘clock!

I snapped these pics on the night of my first book signing here in SF! Unfortunately, I no longer use the popcorn boxes because they took up a lot of space to transport! I also failed to take a picture of the various candy rings and brooches I included in the gift bags as well! Pictured are my mini book (which I do plan to put up for sale on Etsy), a thank-you card (that looks a lot like the thank-you stickers I use when I ship goodies to people…I considered writing messages inside of them, but then decided to leave them blank so you could re-use them as your own thank-youcards!), a sticker (these were supposed to be temp tattoos, but my temp tattoos did not arrive in time…I also plan to turn this design into a tshirt), a button (it’s a cupcake made of yarn … this is a small part of a drawing I made of a yarn banana split and I’m not sure yet what to do with that art), and a juicy ball of handspun yarn! I had a lot of fun shopping for yummy handspun for my gift bags, but unfortunately, I have run out and have to stop including them in the bags because it gets really expensive! 😛 Hope you liked the peek into my gift bags! I will keep trying to make them for my Seattle and Portland signings but since I’m flying and need to stuff them in my suitcase, don’t be mad if I run out! 😛 Locals have one more chance to pick up a gift bag this Sunday at my signing and crochet class/hang-out at ImagiKnit from 4:30-5:30pm. I’ll be doing a cupcake demo and helping you with any questions with your projects or any basic crochet questions! Then at 5:30pm I’ll be signing books. If you buy a book on Sunday at ImagiKnit, you’ll be entered into a raffle to win a Yummy You scarf :). Should be fun. Please come out! I’ve never given a class or a workshop before! Eep!

So last weekend, Hairy and I trekked to L.A. to celebrate Sanrio’s 50th Anniversary! The party/exhibition took place in a giant airplane hangar and included an art gallery, pop-up shop, mini golf course, verris wheel, photobooths, and free food like Yogurtland fro yo, Pink’s Hot Dogs, and Beard Papa cream puffs. There was a really long line when Hairy and I arrived in the back, and when I asked a guy at the door where artists should line up, he just told us to go through the side door he was standing by. This was cool because we bypassed the line, but was a little uncool, as we discovered later that we didn’t get the chance to check-in and get tickets for for the food carts or a free gift bag! Doh! I’ll put the rest of the pics under a cut, so that I don’t blow up your blog readers with 30+ photos!

I need to upload photos from my epic (Ok, I need to start using an alternative to the word “epic” … how about “bitchin”?) L.A. week/weekend, but in the meantime, please check out my contribution to Gala Darling’s “I want to be …” series about people with interesting/unique occupations! This is probably one of the most detailed articles you’ll ever read about my adventures in turning a hobby into a career. Click on the pic of me biting a blinged out crochet hook to see the article! p.s. I am signing books tomorrow/this Tuesday at Books, Inc. in Berkeley at 7pm. Come say hi, East Bay! Free gift baggies while they last! 🙂

I made an awesome scarf for the Sanrio 50th Anniversary celebration! I also made 3 copies of a simpler version with only 5 characters, and everything sold out already. The venue/event was AMAZING. I don’t have my camera cable with me, so I will post more photos when I get home! And here’s what I made the night before in the hotel to wear: I was going to make a whole top and wear it with black bloomers, but I didn’t realize how much yarn a top takes! I only make scarves! HAHa!! So I could only make this weird boob cover, and then I wore it over an I’m Your Present dress. I feel like I look 50 years old in this picture. Tonight is my last LA book signing. It’s at Stories in Echo Park on Sunset. We rented a projector and a screen so we could run my Power Point presentation :).

Tomorrow morning, Hairy and I are driving to L.A. to make it in time for my reading at the Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica at 7:00pm! Then I’ll be at Stories on Sunset Blvd at 8:00 on Friday! Neither of these signings will include crocheting a project together, so if you are a non-crocheter: don’t be shy! We’ll just be chattin’ and watchin’ videos and lookin’ at peektures! So you might have heard me talk about the gift baggies I’m giving away at my signings. I’m not sure if I’ll run out : / but I’ll still at least have some free stickers and buttons for those interested! I’ve been trying to include mini books in all my packages. I always wanted to print a little mini book filled with tiny patterns, and I managed to write it and draw it this week, and I started putting it together late last night!!! I’m gonna try to make a few more before I go to bed, too. They were fun! I FINALLY used this little paper cutter I bought like a year ago! The mini book is called “Sugar On Top: 5 cute ways to crochet frosting and whipped cream.” If people are interested, I will also put them up on Etsy when I get home. I think they are pretty darn cute! The finished gift baggie! It included a pretty ball of handspun yarn that I shopped around for on Etsy, my mini book, a sticker, a little thank you card for people to use, a 2 inch with a new design I drew on it, and also a little candy ring or candy brooch. I hope people had fun tonight in SF. Can’t wait to see you all in L.A.!

So I REALLY REALLY REAAAAALLLLLLY wanted to make a short music video to promote my book. And thanks to good friends, this dream became reality. Behold. You will never be the same. Bay Area folks: please come to Booksmith in the Haight tomorrow/Tuesday night (Nov. 9) and celebrate the book with me! We’ll have cupcakes, free gift bags (while supplies last), a Yummy You pop-up shop, and a Yummy You raffle to giveaway three scarves! I am also creating a POWER POINT PRESENTATION including never-seen-before sketches of my work, embarrassing teenage photos, and more! Word. I am also signing books in LA, Portland, and Seattle, so please check out MY LIST OF TOUR DATES and come say hello!