I cannot stop obsessing over Amuse’s Tsuchineko plush kitties! They’re legs and feets are supposedly tucked underneath them so that they look like little loaves!

They’ve been around for a while and are not like the new-new thing, but every time I see them in Japantown, I’m so tempted to take one home! They all have their own names, and they come in all different sizes.

Here’s me with sleepy Chabuchi! I might not have the strength to leave her at the store if I see her again. NormaLynn aka the Crochet Cake Sachet gal snapped this a few weeks ago! (p.s. you should check out her Etsy shop, filled with yummy crochet patterns.)

They also come in super jumbo size, which you can get on OtakuMode! (p.s. thanks to SuperGood for showing me OtakuMode! Now I have another website to salivate over! If you sign up for an account using my invite link, you’ll get $5 to shop and so will I!)

IS IT MY BIRTHDAY YET? Not until August…

I was thinking of maybe trying to crochet one. I don’t think that the yarn will have the same squishy soft effect, though. I remember when I was obsessed with Pound Puppies, Manda’s grandma was like “I can just crochet one for you,” but it totes was not the same!

Super Cute Kawaii – your daily dose of handmade cuteness and Japanese kawaii – has opened nominations for their 2015 SCK Awards! Click on over to their website to learn more!

Last year, I was so super duper honored and surprised to win as favorite blogger and to receive 2nd favorite maker as well as kawaii person!  Here’s an interview with me after learning I had won! I had no idea the awards were even happening and was really amazed about and thankful for everyone who voted for me. I feel like I kinda slacked off a bit on the blogging and the making and the kawaii-being this year while working on my book, so I can’t wait to see who y’all nominate and vote for for 2015 :).

I realized I never actually showed you guys the cover of my book coming out in the spring! I mentioned it on Twitter and kinda mentioned it on Facebook, but here it is! It’s available for pre-order, too! You can already find it on Amazon.com (affiliate link), BarnesAndNoble.com, and IndieBound.com. (Possibly other major book retailers that I’ve forgotten, as well!)

I really can’t wait to show you more of the book as we get closer to its publication date. Thanks for your patience on Book #2. I kinda can’t believe it took me 6 years to put out a second book, but I’m so glad that I did!

(This post contains affiliate links.)

The crochet classes that I filmed a few months ago are going to start rolling out this year. I filmed for a Creativebug.com series called Critter of the Month! Every month, a knit or crochet designer like Megan Kreiner, Fancy Tiger, myself, (and more!), will teach you how to make a super cute new friend!

January is starting up with this adorable knitted polar bear by Megan Kreiner.

If you haven’t heard of Creativebug before, it’s an amazing website full of art and craft classes taught by all your favorite instructors, which you can have access to for $4.95 a month. As an added bonus, I’ve discovered that everyone who works there is super nice and fun and creative, so I’m pretty much in love with the whole shebang.

I’ll keep you posted on which critter is going up next….!

So I wrote a blog entry on the night of the 30th that I later thought was too much of a bummer. I have my moments when I like to be super honest on my blog, because, we’re all real people going through actual real things, and I think it’s good to talk about that sometimes, too, and not just post crochet things or cute stuff I want to buy. I’d seen something that made me sad, and I just got to thinking about the whole year and the new year and sort of threw it all up over my WordPress.

But I didn’t post it. I think maybe I just wrote it for me, and that’s ok, too.

2015 was kind of a weird year. I was single for the first time in a million years. My best friend moved in with me. I wrote a book. I thought about changing careers. Half the time I thought I was really brave in 2015, and half the time I thought I was in hiding. Hiding in my book especially, and making it my #1 excuse to not do anything else. I have to remind myself to be proud of the stuff that I accomplished, and not berate myself for the stuff I feel like I have yet to.

I hope that in 2016 I can be brave. That I can be open to new things and be okay with change. Fear is such a weird thing. Okay, this is gonna sound really lame, and I am not an inspo-graphic person, but this quote from “After Earth” always struck a chord with me:

I wrote a resume for the first time in 20 years. I sent it somewhere. We’ll see if anything happens. I took some out-of-character leaps to find my lobster (did you ever watch Friends?!), and we’ll see if anything happens there, too.

I don’t like making New Years Resolutions, cuz I mostly feel like they can be empty promises and kind of pointless, but I just always hope that I’m doing things that bring me joy and that hopefully also bring joy to the people around me. So let’s do that.

P.S. Here’s a silly photo so that this blog entry isn’t too heavy. I found a picture of a poodle and thought: I WANT TO BE THAT POODLE. So I made myself some hair danglies and called it a success. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already seen it, but if you don’t follow me there, here’s all my poodle glory.

Thank you for following me on my adventures. It means a lot to me, and I hope you all are healthy and happy :).