The Backstory
11:06:00 PMHi friend.
It's nice to see you again.
How've you been?
I'm so glad to hear it.
We've been friends now for a little while and I feel like you don't know the whole story.
So I wanted to take a moment today to tell you about it.
Up until now I've really only shared crochet patterns/tutorials with you. I'd like to change that.
Let's get personal up in here!
So I started this blog after I did a whole lotta this...
And some of this...
And some more of this....
So I worked in a craft coffee shop for about a year.
While I was also doing a lot of this...
Working hard at finishing my Bachelor's degree while working full time, as I had been for a few years.
And then this happened.
My fiance and I got the best surprise we've ever had!
We have always wanted to be parents and were given this extra special gift sooner than we ever expected, making my dreams of motherhood come true.
With an already full plate, I started to reevaluate my situation.
I knew that working on my feet nearly 40 hours per week wouldn't work for me forever.
Hats off to those of you ladies who could work on your feet until you went into labor. With a history of early onset fibromyalgia and along with that a slew of back problems, the tolls of pregnancy affected me from the beginning.
Soon working for even just six hours on my feet put me in pain and stressed - two things no pregnant lady should be. And although I loved my customers and making those pretty lattes, I saw my maternity leave coming earlier than my eighth or ninth month.
So at about 22 weeks pregnant I went on an early maternity leave.
At first I didn't know what to do with all of that free time.
Enter my videographer/media director fiance...
He has always encouraged me to harness my creativity, the thing that keeps me going and takes up all of my free time.
I'd learned to crochet via youtube tutorials a few years prior and was just getting my feet wet in the wide world of sewing. I'd even made a quilt!
Back up for a moment - about a year ago I filmed myself making the crochet puff stitch beanie that was the biggest hit among my friends and family. After uploading it and a couple of other crochet tutorial videos, life got away from me and I never checked that youtube channel.
After going on maternity leave, I checked that youtube channel. It had been about 8 months since those videos were uploaded and my puff stitch beanie had over 20,000 views! I was shocked!
After my videographer fiance saw those numbers he encouraged me to spend my free time working on that youtube channel. I would be making a lot of things to prepare for the baby and why not film it all?
With his help and support, I decided to give it a shot.
Soon I realized that I also needed a place to write about the process and post original patterns.
Enter: this blog.
So there I was with a list of things to make, a newly put together youtube channel and blog, and an eagerness to get going.
After one month of working on this project I am delighted to report that I LOVE this hobby.
And for now it is only a hobby as the monetization I've brought to the blog & youtube (via ads) earn be about $0.50 per day.
Not paying for so much as groceries here, folks.
For now I'm having a ton of fun and all of the wonderful comments that I receive make it well worth the work of putting things together.
I hope that after the baby comes in May (so soon!) and after my maternity leave is up, I can continue with this blog and my youtube video tutorials and make enough of an income to also stay home with my little nugget.
That is the goal!
I've loved spending this month focusing on the art of making something with your bare hands and maybe it will develop into a career.
For now, I get to spend all day with my yarn, fabric, and little piglet kicking in my tummy.
And that's enough for me.
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