Hi, friends,

So sorry for radio silence and lack of real updates. A lot has been changing in my life, and I’ll blog about all of it eventually.

For now, I just wanted to let you know that Bibi passed away on Monday night.

As you might have read before, Bibi has been battling mast cell tumors for more than a year. She has had 3 surgeries, 2 rounds of chemo, and recently, one radiation treatment. Before she had her radiation treatment, we knew we would probably never beat this cancer, but we kept trying, because she seemed to remain in good spirits. However, during her 2nd chemo round, her leg had swelled so much from groin to ankle that her oncologist told us the only way to relieve just the swelling was probably radiation, so we tried. She also started to have difficulty breathing, which was attributed to possible pneumonia. Within a week, she became extremely lethargic, so we held off on any further treatment. 2 weeks later, she was no longer wanting to eat. Her anemia got worse, and she was just so weak. One of her oncologist was trying to figure out why she was anemic and thought maybe there was a bleed somewhere in her GI tract. Bibi spent all day in bed and would only get up to drink water or go to the bathroom. We syringed water into her mouth so she wouldn’t have to get up every time. I ended up  hand-feeding her each meal and making home-cooked food and just trying everything I could to get her to eat something, but it quickly became very clear that she was telling us something, and that it was time to let her go. Manda helped me take her to get one more ultrasound, and it showed a lot of problems with different organs, including her heart. It was a really difficult decision, and you never know if you are doing the right thing. We had a home appointment, and it was very peaceful, and she passed surrounded by the people who loved her the most.

As a single, childless dog-lady, losing my pup has left a huge hole in my heart. Even sadder, Bunny behaved very oddly in the first 48 hours after Bibi left. They had never behaved as if they were that bonded, but Bunny already acted weird when the vet came to to our house, and she became listless and would not eat. Luckily, she has started to eat a little already, and I’m sure she will be ok, but of course, it will not be the same for any of us.

There’s other stuff going on, but for now, that’s all I have time for. I haven’t really had a full-night’s sleep for 2 months. For many weeks, Bibi was in an e-collar and on steroids, so she had to pee every 2-3 hours and couldn’t fit through the doggie door! I’m still trying to catch up, and I just feel exhausted every minute of the day. I said no to an art show I had already committed to and feel really bad about it, but I know I have to look out for me, too.

More soon! I promise.

SaveSave

Teamwork makes the dream work.

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably already know the theme for my Renegade Craft Fair booth (p.s. come see it in person July 15-16 at Fort Mason!).

I feel really lucky to have some amazing crochet helpers build my stock. There is no way I could hand-make all the pieces for a show on my own. Here’s a photo that my crochet elf sent me the other night of some almost-finished cactus scarves! I got so excited!

I’m also super lucky to have a creative bff who helps me build cool displays. I think this one is going to be particularly fun!

These foam board cacti are going to be hat and scarf racks! I am going to start painting them right now.

I don’t want to give away all the fun stuff we’re prepping, and I can’t wait to see it all come together. I’m in the weird limbo state right now, where I have all these plans and all these pots boiling, but NOTHING is 100% finished or even in my possession right now, and we have about 2 weeks to go, and you just hope and pray that you’ve planned well enough for things to come together just perfectly.

There have also been a lot of other things happening behind the scenes. I just made one of those life-changing decisions (sounds dramatic, but honestly, feels dramatic, too), and I’ll definitely blog about that in the next week or two.

Stay tuned ;).

SaveSave

Have you checked out the classes on Creativebug.com yet? If not … this is the time to do it up! For the month of June, use THIS LINK (affiliate link) to sign up for a subscription, and your first month will be just $1! Plus, you’ll be emailed a 30% off coupon for Jo-Ann Fabrics. You can load up on a lot of yarn with that! You can take my Fruits & Veggies Crochet Along classes or my Critter of the Month classes. Or if you need a break from crocheting, they have over 1000 other fun arts and crafts classes by amazing instructors. I just watched a Creativebug watercolor livestream today that was really inspiring!

Monique from the blog Keep Chasing the Stars invited me to be a guest on her podcast Pimp Your Brilliance.  We talk about how I got started as a crocheter, why I decided to create food-themed accessories, my initial reluctance to becoming a YouTuber, and how I’ve maintained longevity in the handmade industry. Please pardon all my “uhhhhs.” Apparently I also say “you know” a lot!!! Being on people’s podcasts also helps me learn how to be a better speaker :P, so I learn from them, too!

Thanks so much, Monique! It was a lot of fun chatting!

I have a fun giveaway for you guys! THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED! Check out SUPERSIZE CROCHET by Sarah Shrimpton. I had the honor of receiving an early PDF of the book. It’s filled with 20 projects that all use super giant chunky yarn! Fun, right?! You can buy the book directly from the publisher F&W or from Amazon (affil. link).

The twenty projects inside range from big, colorful rugs, to oversized cowls, to humongous blankets, and more. The bonus part is that the patterns are fairly simple, so even beginners can enjoy the max out of the book (please note that the book is in UK crochet terms rather than US, but there is a handy chart at the back for conversion). Sarah also provides a Top Tip for each project, and there is a section at the beginning of the book that focuses on general tips for working with gigantic yarn.

I decided to make the Cocoon Shrug and show you guys. Disclaimer: I wanted to buy the exact yarn that Sarah used (Rico Fashion Gigantic Mohair), and I could only find it from the UK, AND THEN… I didn’t order enough balls because I spaced out, and there wasn’t enough time to ship more from the UK. So my first effort was kinda more of a bolero … which was fine, but I really wanted a full-on cocoon!

Here’s my rainbow bolero. Rainbolero.

Continue reading →