Pages

Friday, April 18, 2014

Friday Focus: Twinkie Chan

The Seattle sky has been taunting us lately. We recently had a few of the loveliest, brightest, clearest days ever. Alex and I took walks in the sun, admired the flowers, and smiled at the children playing in the fountain... and then the rain came back and took away everything we love. Okay, so maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but the clouds are back and it's been cold and sad again. Boo.

If only there was some way to bring color and excitement into this cloudy Friday. Something bright, fun, and sweet. A ray of sunshine and happiness. Oh, hey! Guess what? The day has been saved. Not by something but by someone. This person needs no introduction because I can't possible do them justice, but I'll try my best all the same. Today on Illuminate Crochet we have none other than the amazing Twinkie Chan here to visit us! Twinkie is a super accomplished lady. She's written some of the sweetest (pun intended!) patterns available. She's a published crochet author, a designer, an online shopkeeper, a blogger, and more. Her style is unique and imminently enviable. Here she is to tell us all about what it's like to be a crochet maven.

Who taught you to crochet? How long have you been doing it?
My best friend's grandmother taught us both to crochet when I was about ten years old, so I have been crocheting on and off for about 28 years. I started to crochet more purposefully and prolifically in 2005, and that's when I first launched twinkiechan.com.

Why do you crochet?
I crochet because I love yarn! Yarn is so beautiful and squishy and colorful and comforting. Crocheting is portable, and I can take my work wherever I go. It's how I can turn the crazy ideas in my head into a cute reality.

Crochet Favorites
My favorite weight for yarn is worsted weight, and I work with Lion Brand Vanna's Choice a lot for items in my Etsy shop. Deborah Norville's Everyday Worsted also has an incredible and vivid color palette. I tend to shy away from fancy/luxury yarn, because it would make the cost of my shop items too high, but I still love to admire everything in my local yarn shop! My favorite hook is the Susan Bates with a bamboo handle. 

What are you working on right now?
I'm usually working on more than one project at once, because I have terrible project-ADD! I'm currently finishing up a top secret scarf sample for my mass brand, "Yummy You! by Twinkie Chan," and I also just finished up my pattern for Kitty Donut hair pieces. I think my next move is going to be finally finishing the pattern for a Circus Animal Cookie scarf! That's been on my to-do list for 2 years! 

A few finished objects...
Cupcake Scarf - My crocheted cupcake scarf was probably my most popular item when I first got started. This piece went through several incarnations before looking like it does now, which is the pattern that's in my first crochet book that came out in 2010. These days, lots of other people are making them, but I always have a soft spot for it! 


Kitty Donuts: These kitty donuts are a brand new item for me, and I just finished the pattern to use as whimsical hair pieces. They are based on donuts from Japan that come in all sorts of animal decorations, like frogs, pandas, piggies, anything you can think of!


Mini Chocolate Bunny: I just finished the pattern for mini chocolate bunnies, and the pattern is currently available for free on my blog. They are really versatile and great for pins, hair clips, Easter basket-stuffers, necklace pendants, ornaments, etc!


So presh! How kind of Twinkie to share her bunny pattern for free on her blog. These adorable examples barely scratch the surface of her pattern catalog. You really need to check out all of the sweet and savory goodness yourself! Twinkie Chan and her designs can be found on her website, her blog, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. If you are looking for finished objects and other goodies, Yummy You is the place to be to score some fabulous stuff. Thank you so much for joining us today, Twinkie! You chased the rainy blues away.

Edit: Oh my gosh! Twinkie really did chase the rain away! It was supposed to be yucky today but it's actually pretty nice out right now. Yay!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please share! Note that due to spam moderation there is a delay in comment posting.