Hi there! Thank you for visiting my blog and wanting to know more about me. I’m Fei, proud wife to a wonderful husband, mama to a sweet toddler boy, and lover of a grace-filled life and all things handmade. I am from a family of craftsmen and art enthusiasts but crochet has always been my passion hence the name of my blog “I Heart Gantsilyo”. Gantsilyo is the Filipino word for crochet which originated from the Spanish word ganchillo.
My great-grandmother introduced me to crocheting when I was 9 years old and this was way back before I learned about computers, you know, when Youtube and the internet were not yet an option for online tutorials. So basically, everything about crochet I learned from my Apu as I watched her make beautiful doilies, curtains and bedcovers, while I, started by making lots of chain bracelets then learned to add stitches, worked on rounds and made my first ever crochet masterpiece – a coaster.
Growing up, crochet gave me the freedom to express myself. Giving crocheted gifts somehow became my way of showing my love and appreciation for my family and friends, so I continue to better myself on this craft by practicing and experimenting on designs and then eventually engaged to small ventures of my own. One of my earliest childhood memories is crocheting drawstring coin purses and selling them in the neighborhood and at the school so I’ll have extra baon (allowance) and don’t have to ask my parents for money to pay for school projects because life was simply hard then. I remember my sister and I used to borrow crochet hooks from our cousins and we had to save up so we can buy our own. Mama who has been very supportive gave us then a kawayan alkansya (bamboo coin bank) and kept it for us. The day she said we may already have enough money, we excitedly broke the coin bank then immediately went to the craft store and purchased some materials including beads, yarn and our very own crochet hooks! It was an intimate experience and is one of the few purchases I still get just as excited to make as an adult.
You see, crocheting always lights up a sense of nostalgia and all the inner kid feels in me even when I had to put it aside for a while when I got busy with school and worked full time after graduating from college. Now that God has opened this new chapter of my life that I call Blessed Mamayhood – running the whole household and literally chasing a toddler, I am so grateful that I also get to spend more time crocheting things for our home and pursue my new found love for knitting and making crocheted toys which I both learned recently through free online tutorials.
Much of the inspiration for my projects now has come from my son because I just love making all things for him. Through him I rediscovered my love for creativity and this has pushed me hard to do something for myself and start this blog, which I thought is an awesome way to share my knowledge too (see my first blog post). I hope my projects will excite and inspire you to crochet for yourself, for your home and for the people that matters most in your life. Please feel free to join me along as I sprinkle life with a little handmade goodness and together, let’s put more heart to Gantsilyo!
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