Category: Blog

Vickie Howell’s “Knitty Gritty” was the first knitting show I ever watched on TV. She is a legend in the knit/crochet community, and I felt so lucky to meet her at Vogue Knitting Live last year (and I was also a guest on her podcast Craft*ish!). “Knitty Gritty” ended in 2009, and Vickie has continued to receive messages every day from viewers saying how they miss having a television show that speaks directly to the knitting & crochet community. She just launched a Kickstarter campaign for The Knit Show, and you have a chance to be part of it! The Knit Show will be the first community funded and internationally accessible episodic how-to knitting web series. Vickie says,“While easily accessible craft-based television shows have all but disappeared over the years, TV and cable network entertainment has evolved, but so has the web. There may not be a place at the table right now for niche, how-to programming amidst all the reality programming and scripted series, but thanks to today’s technology we can make our own table. Now, we can literally DIY our own DIY programming, push it out on the web and reach an even bigger audience around the world. These are exciting times, and we want to be at the forefront of the next wave of craft programming!” I don’t usually post about people’s crowdfunding projects here, but this one is particularly close to my heart. I love supporting our craft community and am excited to back The Knit Show! You can watch more about it in Vickie’s video on her Kickstarter page. I hope you check it out! P.S. Here’s my “that one time I met Vickie Howell and we took a selfie” photo.

Thank you, Inside Crochet, for the news mention in Issue 87! You can find the free crochet pattern for the English cottage paper towel box cozy right here on my blog 🙂

Heads up to my L.A. readers! There will be a super cute and super pink art show at QPop opening next weekend on Saturday, February 18th, 7pm-8pm, curated by Messy Pink. I’ll have two pieces in it, and they are more bento boxes cuz I’m still all up in that crochet bento zone. I wanted to stay in the realm of the “pink” theme… although my pieces are definitely in the “savory” category. They have sweet personalities! There’s a Valentine Onigiri Bento Box and a Spam Musubunny Bento Box. They will be available for sale at the show as well as online when the show goes up! I hope you can check it out if you’re local, cuz it’s gonna be a lot of fun!

Gang! Today is the last day to register for Craftcation 2017 with regular pricing before the price goes up. Craftcation is four days of creative business classes and hands-on craft + food workshops on April 27-30, 2017 at the Ventura Beach Marriott in Ventura, California. I’ll be teaching two beginner crochet classes, and I’ll also be sitting on two panels. You can see my class/panel schedule here: Twinkie’s Craftcation Schedule. And you can check out the main page for Craftcation to learn more about the rest of the conference. On Friday, I’ll be on one panel about licensing your work and another about writing and publishing a craft book. On Saturday, I’ll be teaching Beginning Crochet. I’ll show you the basics and everything you need to get started, plus we’ll learn how to get the yarn on your hook, chain, single crochet, and weave in ends. On Sunday, I’ll be teaching you how to make Daisy Chain Crowns! They are super easy and beginner-friendly, and all you need to learn is how to make a chain with crochet! I can’t wait to hang out with you guys! I think I get to take some classes, too. If you’ve been thinking about attending, grab a spot really soon before they run out!

I used to live with someone who wasn’t at all into Christmas decorations and who hassled me to take the tree down on December 26th. Pardon me, but that is just not going to happen. I LOVE MY CHRISTMAS TREE(S). If it were up to me, I’d have the trees up all year round. Unfortunately, the big tree is blocking the doggies’ access to the window they love to bark at, sooooooooo, the trees must shed their ornaments and go to sleep. I’m lucky to be trying a Treetopia Tree Storage Bag. Normally, I just put my fake trees back in the boxes that they came in. It’s difficult to squish all their branches back together, so the boxes don’t really close back all the way, and all year, I just sort of accept that their little branches are peeking out somewhere, waiting for the next Christmas. When Treetopia asked if I wanted to try out a storage bag, I was super excited! My big 7-foot purple tree is now all wrapped up and protected, plus, it stands UPRIGHT and is easier to store while saving more room in my garage. It does sort of look strange in my livingroom window, like, we’re hiding bodies or incubating an alien pupa, but I trust that it will all work out once Manda helps me carry it into the garage with the handy carrying straps! It looks like there’s a little bit of room left in there, so I might try storing some of my tabletop trees in there, too. The big tree is still fully assembled inside the bag, so next year, all we have to do is peel this open like a banaynay and BOOM, our tree will be ready for its decorations again! ALSO, Treetopia sent me a wreath storage bag! I was just going to shove it in a couple of garbage bags taped together, but this bag is way more protective and also has a convenient carrying loop. Okay the really cool thing about the carrying/hanging loop is that it’s attached to a ring on the inside that you clip directly to your wreath frame. This means, that if you hang your wreath in the bag, it won’t sag and warp against its own weight, which is exactly what my wreath has been doing. I honestly had no idea that storage options like this existed, so if you’ve been looking for something similar, check some of these out! Plus, Treetopia is having a big sale right now that ends January 17th!  

Grab a copy of Issue 10 of Crochet Now magazine! There’s a lil chat in there with me, PLUS, a pattern for this really cute gumball machine doorstop! They approached me to write a pattern because Issue 10 is the Sweet Tooth issue. Perfect, right? When I asked them if they were looking for any particular kind of pattern, they suggested a doorstop. I don’t use them and would probably not think of making one on my own, so I was definitely excited to think of something cute, sweet, and fun for them. I love how it turned out. Here’s more info on where to find Crochet Now!

So…do you guys remember how last year I sketched a project for my Auntie Mary? This is highly representative of how I unfortunately prioritize my crafting work: my friends/family come dead last, and all my business stuff comes first. So poor Auntie Mary has waited over a year for this cozy she requested for her bathroom box of disposable hand towels! I’m the worst!!! I hope she still uses them? But I think it came out super cute! I was still in kind of a rush to finish. I was sewing on the grass just minutes before she arrived at my parents’ house on Christmas Day.  I probably would have put another window on the sides of the house and worked on those green shutters, but those are pretty easy additions for future projects. I also skipped the chimney due to time, but I don’t think the finished project really needed it. I am really NOT the world’s greatest or most experienced embroiderer, but I gave it a shot with these wee flowers. It was pretty fun! I am sure you could get wildly more creative here  if you’ve done more embroidery before. All I basically know is straight stitch, satin stitch, and the french knot! I’m not sure how many people buy these disposable hand towels, but if you do, now you can make a cute lil cover for it! This reminds me a lot of fairy houses and gnome stories. I kind of want a little adorable village with different shapes and sizes of Kleenex cottages… would be a fun group project…! Here is the box in a slightly different setting. I went a little crazy snapping photos really quickly before putting this in a gift bag! Unfortunately, I don’t have step-by-step photography for this one, so please rely on the photos to figure out what goes where. I think it should be pretty straightforward! Can’t wait to see your unique versions!

Happy New Year! I’ve been wanting to do something champagne-bottle themed for a long time. I’m gonna say right up front, that I don’t think a scarf made out of these champagne bottle motifs would be the greatest scarf, because the thin portion along the neck of the bottle would be a weak and stretchy point, also with a tendency to twist. HOWEVER, I could not help myself but try! I am running out of time this year to complete a full scarf, but these little bottles were so cute, that I wanted to share them with you anyway. #HhookForScale My buddy Candace pointed out that you could also make a cute garland out of this motif. And champagne isn’t just for NYE. You could make a scarf or garland for any kind of celebratory occasion, and you can put whatever words you like on the labels with surface crochet, felt letters, or puffy paint. I fully intend to complete my scarf and shoot non-phone-cam pics. Until then, this pattern will be free on my blog. When I get the chance to convert it into an actual scarf pattern, I might pull it from here and add it to my Etsy shop. Not sure yet! What ever your plans are tonight, stay safe and stay warm. I think 2017 is going to be a really weird year for me (maybe more on that later), but I hope for all of us to be happy and healthy. Cheers!

I don’t know what it is I like so much about anthropomorphic plants from movies (baby Groot, anyone?), but after I saw Fantastic Beasts, I definitely wanted my own Bowtruckle, which is described on Pottermore as a “small, twig-like creature that guards wand-wood trees.” In my first attempt to crochet him, I tried to stay very true to Pickett in the movie images, and I wanted his long, thin limbs to be posable with wiring. However, he kept looking kind of weird and creepy to me while I was crocheting him, so I decided to shorten his body and limbs and make him cute, stumpy, and little! (Here’s an animated gif of my rough sketches.) I hope you enjoy making your lil plant babies! He’s also a good size for a brooch, so you can easily keep him on your coat for all your adventures!

Ankit sent me some fun items to show you guys, and I kept waiting for the perfect lighting to take photos, but you know what? Sometimes you just gotta roll with what ya got! I live by the ocean, and the light is terrible in my house. It tends to be kinda gloomy around here, and this bums me out when it comes to taking photos of outfits or products. But to be honest, the items that Ankit sent me are perfect for staying in when it’s rainy and for creating a cozy, magical spot in your house. If you pop over to the Ankit store, you’ll notice they have a ton of fun goodies to accessorize your home, like mugs, string lights, throw pillows, the cutest contact lens cases, wall tapestries, and a heck of a lot more. They sent me some pretty floral headphones, a pink kitty coffee mug (currently sold out!), a gorgeous iridescent white sequin throw pillow, and some adorable kitty cat LED string lights! Did they totally know what my color scheme already was, because the random items they sent are so perfect for my bedroom! They are in the middle of a “12 Days of Christmas” promo, and every day there is a deep discount on a particular kind of item. So click over to Ankit and see what’s going on! (Thanks to Ankit for providing items for this post! I loved them, especially the kitty mug! Please note that these are indeed affiliate links, which means I earn a small percentage if you make a purchase from my blog.)

I finally put my crocheted bento box buddies in my Etsy shop, and they even have their own shop category! If you recall, I created these for Renegade Craft Fair in July (photos of the bento bar here). Now you guys can create your own bento boxes online! Or, if you don’t want to put together an entire box, you can buy a buddy or two and turn him into a pin or a magnet. Lots of options! Some people already put in their orders and have assembled full boxes, and I can’t wait to put them together and take photos! I’m excited! And yes, for those asking, I am planning on releasing patterns for these. I think I will have 2 different options for electronic/pdf patterns: 1) the meats/proteins and 2) the fruits/veggies. I’m playing with the idea of printing mini books that carry all of the patterns, but I’m still pricing that out and seeing if that’s a smart move for me or not. Regardless, you will have them electronically! I just need time to take a lot of step-out photos and make samples! Until then, shop away! I also added some ready-to-ship tissue box cozies, scarves, a tv dinner tablet cozy, and I’m working on editing photos for garlands :).

Oh Boy Love It! has been a sponsor of my blog for a few months, and I’m so happy to host a spotlight post and giveaway for them and maybe give you some fun ideas for a few holiday gifts! Find something to fall in LOVE with on OhBoyLoveIt.com! Visit them online (website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr) and find videos, games, handmade & digital items all made with LOVE and made for you to LOVE! Oh Boy Love It has two shops on Etsy: one with handmade Love (www.OhBoyLoveIt.etsy.com) full of stickers, cards, pins, and more, and the other with Instant Digital Downloads (www.OhBoyLoveItDigital.etsy.com) for all occasions. Please note that for shipping in the USA, the last day for regular post for orders to arrive in time for Christmas will be will be December 12, 2016, so get those orders in early! If you’ve already found Love and are going to tie the knot, check out their digital store for great Wedding Printables! Oh Boy Love It also Loves to give back. A portion of their profits go back to charity. Their favorites are water.org and KIVA! If Kawaii is your thing, come discover the Sprinkles ’n Ganache, Mini Petito, Shellbelles, Uniconrness & the Kokeshi Lovers!  From Mermaids, sushi, unicorns and so much more Oh Boy Love It’s got you covered! Find them on Youtube and subscribe to keep up with their latest videos. Also find great FREE games you can play online or download from the APP store (http://ohboyloveit.com/games/) to make you smile! The Kokeshi Love game is set for release early 2017! Oh Boy Love It has prepared a great Yarn Love Giveaway just for you including: Yarn Love reusable canvas bag Yarn Queen matching Sash & 2.25 inch Pin One 2.25 inch Yarnaholic Pin One 2.25 inch Yarn Love Mirror One Yarn Love Handmade card One set of six 1 inch Yarn Love pins To enter to win, just use the Rafflecopter widget below. Giveaway is open worldwide, for ages 18 & over, and will run for a week until next Wednesday night, December 14th, at midnight PST. Winner will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter/Random.org, and winner must reply to my email within 24 hours, or I will randomly choose a new winner. No purchase necessary. If you live outside of the United States, please note that while my blog sponsors will cover the cost of the item and the shipping, any customs or duty will still be your responsibility. Good luck! Please make sure my email address can get through your spam filters! I will only be contacting winners via email: twinkie@twinkiechan.com P.S. NO giveaway accounts! Thank you! A giveaway account is a social media account that you use solely for giveaways. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ask (for cake) and you shall receive! A lot of people have asked me if I could release the Strawberry Cake Scarf pattern that I put together for classes taught at Michaels in 2014. Here is my original blog post about it. The Craft Yarn Council owns the rights to the pattern now, but since the class is no longer available at Michaels, I asked if I could share the pattern here, and they said yes! Yay! This Strawberry Cake Scarf is super sweet, fun to wear, easily customizable to your favorite cake colors and flavors, and perfect for crocheters of all skill levels – even beginners! So let’s eat our cake and wear it, too! I made my first cake scarf back in 2007, and it looked like this: I didn’t change much except for the strawberry. (Should I cut my hair again!?) Unfortunately, both of the yarns I used in 2007 do not exist anymore, but I’m sure you could find similar if you wanted to. The cool thing about this pattern is how flexible it is. Pretty much any worsted weight yarn will work, and you’re basically just crocheting a bunch of rectangles :).  If you’re not inclined to crochet your own, I’m also selling a finished version of the scarf in my Etsy shop.

I’m excited to show you my final Critter of the Month class on Creativebug.com! It’s an adorable and abominable snowman! Wanna see the sketch I made before crocheting him? He actually went through a few iterations before his final form :P. There are two little things about this class that I think are kinda cool. 1) You will learn how to give your monster a mouth that is actually concave so that you can put stuff in it! 2) He comes with a little crocheted Santa Hat that you could actually crochet for tiny ornaments or gift-toppers. Click on over to Creativebug to take the class!! I am dying to see all your monsters, so if you end up making one, please do tag me on social media!

If you’re an SF local, you should pop over to Imagiknit to pick up some yarn and check out my cute lil pop-up shop which we dubbed Seasons Eatings! I turned some of my crocheted bento buddies into ornaments, but if you happen to pick one up at the shop, you can always cut the hanging loop and turn these items into pins, hair clips, or keychains! I turned a bear-burger into a tree-topper with a simple alligator clip! You can also purchase some of my sticker sheets and fully-assembled bento boxes now at Imagiknit. I had a lot of fun putting Seasons Eatings together, and I hope you guys like it!

The #YarnHeroes has its own site now, YarnHeroes.com! Check it out! I think it’s pretty cool if will be year-round movement! Here’s a link to my original post about the Yarn Heroes and our mission to help you crochet for charity. You can also find my pattern for Candy Cane Wristwarmers. Below you’ll find a pattern for some cute and easy puffy crocheted bows that you can turn into hair accessories, corsages, belts, Christmas tree decorations, wreath decorations, shoe clips, purse-pins, pretty much anything and everything! I originally designed these bows to make shoe clips for a Bee and Puppycat outfit, but they are really great for holidaytimes, too. You can create a cute embellishment for a wide range of your charitable crocheting, and you can also make the bows themselves for charities such as BowDazzling. So far, Bow Dazzling has delivered over 29,000 bows and headbands to children’s hospitals. Pretty amazing! AND NOW: Giveaway info! Lion Brand will send TWO winners each 2 balls of yarn of your choice (PLUS a pack of Lion Brand BonBons) to make your own pair of Candy Cane Wristwarmers and a bow or two. I made my wristwarmers with Kitchen Cotton in Bubblegum and Hot Pepper, but each winner can choose whatever Lion Brand yarn and colors you like. I think Vanna’s Choice would also be perfect! My green bow is made with Bonbons, and the white one is Vanna’s Glamour. To enter to win, simply comment my blog with one of your own Yarn Hero moments, whether it was someone who was a Yarn Hero to you, or a charitable cause you crafted for, or what future Yarn Hero plans you might be cooking up! You have one week until Wednesday, December 7th at midnight PST. Please note that this giveaway is open only to USA/Canada, and you must be 18 or over to enter. I will choose the winners randomly with Random.org. Please only one entry per person. Also at the Yarn Heroes website, you’ll find information about a $250 yarn giveaway happening this month. AAAAND don’t forget, while shopping at LionBrand.com, you can use code YARNHEROES16 for $5 off any order that’s over $20 or more for your charitable crafting, only until December 15. AAAAAND, don’t forget to check out the blogs of the other 14 Yarn Heroes for their free patterns, plus some of them are hosting giveaways of their own! [Moogly] [Mama In A Stitch] [All About Ami] [One Dog Woof] [Sewrella] [Delia Creates] [Underground Crafter] [Sh*t That I Knit] [Kristy Glass] [Two of Wands] [Make & Do Crew] [A Crocheted Simplicity] [Little Red Window]  [B-Hooked Crochet] Tag photos of your charitable crocheting/knitting with #YarnHeroes so we can see all your awesome work! Now, onto some cute bows! Cute Puffy Bow Crochet Pattern!

Treetopia assembled a super cool Design Council for their Christmas in All Shapes and Sizes campaign, and I am so honored to be a part of it! We got to decorate a Treetopia tree of our choice (sponsored) and then answer the question, ““What unique family tradition inspired your Christmas tree’s theme?” I have sort of a roundabout answer to this, as my Christmas tree is really about starting to create new traditions in my own home, rather than representing unique traditions from my family. After moving out of my family’s house, I didn’t have my own tree for a very long time. I was kind of afraid to start gathering my own set of ornaments when I was basically moving to a new apartment every year. When I finally got around to buying my own (faux) tree a few years ago, I decided that I wanted to only buy handmade or vintage decorations, and this is what I’m showing here for the Christmas in All Shapes and Sizes campaign. I like putting new spins on classic Christmas traditions, such as stringing popcorn into garlands and finding the Christmas pickle. My popcorn and pickles are crocheted! And since I just love food-themed decor in general, I have a lot fun, kitschy cupcakes in my tree, too.  I admit that I broke a little on the handmade/vintage mission when I hung some cute keychains I purchased while in Tokyo in October, but “re-purposing” might still be on theme! My personal mission as a crafter has always been to add more fun and color to my life and the world around me, and my candy-coated lavender tree definitely fits the bill! Let’s take a closer look! My older tree is pink, which I have a vintage red tree-skirt for. But I’m one of those people who doesn’t like mixing purple and red, so I threw down this vintage flower-loom afghan! I love anything that screams technicolorgranny! Ok, I broke my handmade/vintage rule a bit here with these Treetopia Artisan’s Glass Egg ornaments, but I think that gifted ornaments can count, too :P. I liked these lil guys because they reminded me of ornaments from my tree growing up. I probably accidentally smashed a few… and in grand tradition, I actually already dropped one of these Glass Eggs on the wood floor… shhhhH!!! I can have nice things!!! I really love ornaments that have a little tiny story on them, like these two lil smooching deer!!! I am also in desperate need of an amazing tree-topper. I have gone years without one, and I want the best one! I actually have a few more kitschy cupcake ornaments on the way, being handmade as we speak! My current fave shop for this kind of decoration is 12LegsCuriosities on Etsy. Please check out the other Design Council Bloggers’ trees and their holiday family traditions on the Treetopia blog! Two trees/bloggers per day have been going up this whole week. BUT WAIT. THERE’S MORE. Treetopia is giving us the opportunity to give one lucky winner a […]

My friends at Creativebug have an amazing Black Friday sale starting TODAY through November 28! If you’ve ever been curious about taking any classes (including mine!) on Creativebug, this is the time to try it! New members get a 3-month subscription for just $1, and you get access to hundreds of fun and informative video classes spanning a broad range of art, craft, and DIY. No special code needed, just click on any images or links on this post, and you’ll be taken to a page with the offer. Here is a lil taste of some of my other classes! PLUS, I have a new Critter of the Month crochet class launching in December, and… it’s pretty awesome.

I know this is super last-minute, but I’ve been juggling quite a few things! The Yummy You! website has been in dire need of a re-build (long story), but I wanted to make the turkey hats available to you ASAP! I also discounted them! I will also ship them via Priority Mail within the U.S.! Can’t wait to see you guys in them! (p.s. crochet pattern coming very ver soon…also possibly a video tutorial…!)

Burger Scarf crochet pattern is now FreeFor24Hrs until I put it in my Etsy shop for sale! Again, I like to offer some patterns free for 24 hours to say thank you to those of you who support me on my blog and on social media :). Click here to get the PDF! Edit: Burger Scarf crochet pattern is now listed in my Etsy shop :). P.S. I am always open to feedback about my patterns. For instance, I have been keeping the resolution on the photos fairly low in order to keep the files small, but do you prefer higher quality photos and a larger file? Let me know!

Hi!!!! Quick hello from Japan before I go to sleep! We were in Tokyo for 1 week. We went to Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo Disney Sea (amazing!), Harajuku, Akihabara, and we lived in an AirBnb in Shibuya. This is a photo that Courtney took of me at a Baskin Robbins near Tokyo Tower. I’m really pumped because I bought a bunch of ice cream plush there that you can’t find in the states (you can see them behind me on the left side of the photo). Also I’m drinking a matcha ice cream shake, and I am craycray for matcha. We’re in Kyoto now, and today we walked in the rain around Fushimi Inari Shrine and the Golden Pavilion. I’ve been fighting a cold for the past few days, and today when we were ascending the stairs at the shrine, it got really rainy and MISTY and I could feel all that moisture in my lungs and had to tap out. A friend on Instagram suggested I buy a vitamin C lemon water, and I found it at 7-11 and am chugging it. I’m hoping I will wake up feeling amazing and not like complete garbage! I’m getting a lot of inspiration for cute crochet projects here! In the meantime, don’t forget that my cute kitty class is now live on Creativebug, and is perfectly just in time for Halloween ;).

Hi Gang! It’s blog sponsor giveaway time! Thank you so much to my wonderful sponsors for their cute prizes! ONE lucky winner will receive:

I’m excited to tell you that I’m teaching at  Craftcation: Business + Makers Conference next Spring 2017! Craftcation is an annual four-day event featuring industry professionals leading attendees in hands-on DIY workshops and creative business classes. I’ll be teaching 2 beginner crochet classes and possibly sitting on a panel or two (TBA!). Have you ever thought to yourself… I’d love to take a vacation while making things with awesome people. I have a great idea for a business that I want to turn into my full-time job but I don’t know where to start. I have a successful business and I’m ready to take it to the next level but I’m not sure how. I want to make meaningful connections with people in my field but I don’t have the time or opportunity to make it happen. Craftcation is the place where you can make it happen! Let’s craft party! If you’re a maker, blogger or creative business owner,  join me for four inspiring days that you’ll never forget. Craftcation has over 80 hands-on workshops and business classes so whether you’re coming to craft, grow your business or a little bit of both, there’s lots of making, meeting and learning in store for you. Craftcation takes place April 27-30, 2017, in the beach town of Ventura, California, (about an hour north of Los Angeles). Craftcation utilizes Ventura’s historic downtown buildings and businesses as well as the beach for special events like networking meet & greets, cocktail socials, a pop-up shop, opening celebration, yoga, as well as food and art tours. Registration opens 10.13.16 and the first 50 people to register get $50 off! I’ll see you there!

I Love Yarn Day is on October 15th! Whether people prefer to knit it, crochet it, spin it, weave it or bomb it, the goal is for every yarn-crafter to share their know-how and love of yarn with someone new on October 15th. Throughout the month, we can work on helping a friend with a new skill and project, and then on October 15th, it’s time to share photos! Here are some other ways you can get involved including some giveaways, contests, and a scavenger hunt with some pretty cool prizes! There will also be a virtual “yarn bomb” on Facebook! You can use the hashtags #iloveyarnday and #stitchitforward so we can all motivate each other and see each other’s projects and posts! Also here are I Love Yarn Day’s social media links so you can follow along! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest