Boys & Bacon

When you think of "Emotional Trauma" what do you imagine? Someone who has lost a close friend or family member? A victim of poor circumstances? Abuse?  I want to delve into crochet and similar art forms to understand how they help people cope and recover from events or occurrences that have caused seemingly irreparable emotional or physical damage. Recover and coping are often thought to come from a counselor and a prescription bottle. But it can also come from the creation of new things, and the pride in that creation.  For me, "Emotional Trauma" says "Patchwork of abuse and self-hatred". It also says "Ignored" and "Distrusted" and even "Pathological Liar". It screams "Denial".  My emotional trauma, like with so many others, begins in my childhood. Memories I'd suppressed for years came bubbling to the surface when I was in my late teens. Memories I'd been called a liar over, memories ...

I write. Professionally I write blog posts, and product descriptions, and website content. I get paid for it. But I struggle to create original content for my own blog. Sometimes, it's a time management thing, sometimes it's that I'm expelling my creativity in other avenues. But most of the time it's anxiety. Not over anything in particular, just general-creativity crushing- motivation zapping anxiety. And people don't generally talk  about mental illness . But when you suffer from it, and those around you suffer because of your illness, and your work suffers from your illness, it's hard to keep quiet. Sometimes, you begin to feel like Anxiety is what defines you. The way that people say someone IS diabetic, rather than they have diabetes. Other times, you feel like you're forgotten in a world that just keeps churning one without you. Like you can't get a grip on anything around you. You're floating away, sinking out of sight, and no one s...

Every year, just before school starts, people start gearing up for back to school, and the upcoming crisp autumn weather. And year after year, my fingerless gloves are a hit. I've been asked for a couple of years to write out my pattern, and I have.....in a since lost notebook. I've decided to re-write it, and publish it for you to use! Enjoy! You'll want to make 2 of these, this is a base, and you can switch colors as you see fit. I've used Red Heart With Love and a J (6mm) hook for these. They fit a teen or adult hand. You can adjust fit by adding or subtracting 2 stitches from the start chain. All other directions will remain the same. You'll need to know how to chain, HDC, and HDC2Tog. I'd say that this pattern is good for a confident beginner. And here we go! Chain 30, careful not to twist chain, sl st to the 1st chain. Row 1) Ch 1 HDC in first 3 ch, HDC2Tog, HDC to end, sl st in first ch st. Row 2-10) Repeat row 1. Row 11-12) Ch 1, ...

There's been a lot going on lately. What with my employment causing issues with my health, and the negativity of the community toward "feminine" boys, and such. But, I wanted to share with you my most recent creations. I'll have them available on my Etsy just as soon as I figure out the best way to ship them. Until then, if you're local you can buy them from my facebook page, or get them in person at one of my festivals and markets. I'll post here when I have an event to go to. Much Love! Oh, and let me know if you're interested in a tutorial or pattern for these lovelies.

I'm a member of several crochet groups, and I've been sharing some of my latest projects. They are crochet doily dream catchers.  But as much interest and admiration as these are getting, it's the frame method I'm using that seems to attract the most attention. I've had dozens of requests for a tutorial, so....here it is. I found a local lady who was getting ready to trim her Dad's weeping willow. I asked if I could gather some from the tree before they burn the excess. She let me take whatever I wanted. I stripped the leaves and sorted out to find the ones I could use the easiest. If they were supple and at least 15 inches, I kept them. The longer they are, the larger you can make, but small ones are just as much fun. Then I took a thicker one, and wrapped it in a circle shape, wrapping the thinner end around the thicker like a loose knot. Then I lay another branch along the ring formed, and start wrapping it too. After I hav...

Dear Mom-in-Fred-Meyers today. This is an open letter to you, and all moms (and dads) who think it's okay to teach your kids hate and judgment at a young age. Those who teach bullying, and discrimination because of looks. This is to you and your hateful, spiteful selves. You should be ASHAMED! You're the cause of most of the pain in the world. When I took my boys into the ladies bathroom to go potty before they went to Playland, and my 5-year-old complimented your daughter's teddy bear and she sneered at him. Not even a thank you. But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst of it came when my boys were trying to wash their hands and your 3-4 yr old son pushed my 5-year-old aside, and in perfect Toddler-esque English told my son, "You can't be a real boy if you wear that on your hands. Boys don't do that." Excuse the FUCK outta me? Did I seriously just hear gender shaming from a 4 yr old? You know damn well that didn't come of his own v...

Disclaimer: Affiliated Links Below. In May, I started on a new adventure. I wasn't looking for a business, I wasn't even looking for new hair products, and yet.......... I found them. In March, I hosted an online Lilla Rose Boutique with my Mother-in-Law. I earned several free Flexi Clips and some half price products. Over the next 2 months, not a day went by that I wore my Flexi clips and DIDN'T get asked where to buy them. I thought, "These are selling themselves.....I love my Mom in Law, but why am I not the one making these sales?" Suddenly, I found myself with over 20 flexis in my stash, and no way to store them between events! Below, I'll outline my 2 new at home display options... and give a quick tutorial on how I made one of them! This is the easiest option! Just hang a scarf on some command hooks, and clip your Flexis (Or other clips) on. A more involved option, but in my opinion, a prettier one is to use a photo frame or in my case a c...