Every journey starts somewhere and everyone has a story to tell, here’s mine. It was March 2014 when my husband and I found out that we’re pregnant, it was the moment our world began to change in extremely amazing ways. Hubby who has been working overseas decided to stay awhile and helped me throughout the pregnancy. More than ever, he took care of me and the precious little one that was growing inside me. When our Sonologist confirmed that we were having a baby boy, we excitedly looked forward to preparing for the D-Day and immediately went to the mall to look for baby items. While at the baby’s clothing section we saw some cute but really expensive crocheted baby booties and beanies, that gave us the idea that I should start crocheting again.

 

From a young age I used to crochet, my late great-grandmother taught me when I was 9 years old. I can still remember those huge curtains, bed covers and doilies that she used to crochet to decorate my father’s ancestral home during Christmas, Barrio Fiestas and other special occasions. I have always dreamed making one of those myself someday, but as they say great things start from small beginnings so I began crocheting simple projects like coasters, drawstring coin purses, lanyard and key chains. I found these two drawstring purses that I’ve kept for so long and one of them with a missing string already.

But as I grew older and focused on school then worked full-time in a call center right after college, all that was put aside. So you can tell I was pretty proud of myself when I finished these two pairs of crocheted baby booties despite my pregnancy pains, insomnia and demanding work schedule.

After giving birth, I was never short on tasks. Like any other moms, I was sleep deprived. But mothering found a tender place in me that somehow rekindled my crafty side – I found myself wanting to give our baby more things that I handcrafted, and I am grateful that those sleepy newborn days gave me the opportunity to explore the internet to see what other baby items people were making these days. Upon searching google, I saw images of crocheted swaddle blankets, pillows and educational toys, but I fell in love instantly with those little plush toys called “amigurumi” which according to Wikipedia is the “Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures”. So with the excess time the first two months offered, I tried learning this newly found art with my baby camped out at my side.

Then the toughest moment came, I had to return to work. During the first year, it was bearable. But as my son became more interactive and gained the ability to show his displeasure that I was gone for so long each day, I found myself wishing I was home even more. Everyone said that it would get easier but with hubby returning to work overseas, the constant worrying about my mother’s health because she refused to get help with babysitting and the sadness of missing out on what my son was doing all day, it never got better for me. My heart sunk deeper the day I was informed that I needed to take the night work shift, I knew then I couldn’t go back. And it just happened, I quit my job of 14 years to be with my son 24/7. It was a tough decision to make because my salary is a lot to give up, but I realized it will never be able to make up for what I was missing out on my son’s milestones. I may go back to working when he is older but for now, I am enjoying the life I’ve always dreamed. Yes, in my heart I know I’ve always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, pursue my passion for crafting and open my own business and I feel so blessed to have a husband that supports my desires to do so.

 

Looking back, each trying moment helped me learn so much about me and overcome the fear of being unemployed. God gave me the strength and wisdom, and showed me signs to accept the opportunity to be at home with my son and continue what I love to do. I am grateful beyond words! Now I can take care of my son every minute of everyday and do projects during naps and early bedtimes. I’ve actually made quite a few projects for him since I started several months ago and here are some of them.

Baymax of Big Hero 6 movie was the first toy I crocheted and I am so thankful to have stumbled upon the beginner friendly free pattern by Judith Guillen. My son loves Baymax that I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve watched the movie. I also made other projects following their free patterns but the other characters I tried making them all on my own. I will blog about each project but please go easy on me as I am not an expert and still have a lot to learn. I just want to share and document my work through this blog and I hope you can join me along as I expore this fun-filled crafty yarn world.