I have a vivid memory from my time as a grad student at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was the dead of winter and about 12 degrees outside with a windchill of -8. I was wearing two pairs of pants, three shirts a scarf a hat and a winter jacket. To give you a visual; I looked like the little brother from a Christmas story. I was freezing! This was the kind of cold that hurts the soul. I was walking up an overpass on my way to class. I reached the top of that little hill and the wind began to push against me and i just stopped dead in my tracks. I started to cry. That sad, pathetic whimper. You know the one. I got home that day and decided i was going to conquer my previous failed attempts at knitting and crocheting. I needed to make myself some warm snuggly, GOOD LOOKING winter garb. Thanks to youtube, I learned pretty quickly and before I knew it I was making scarves and hats for everyone I knew.

With piles of chunky knits accumulating all over my apartment, I decided to start an etsy shop. Just for funsies! It was something simple and easy I could do with my down time from school and work. I loved it because I could put as much or as little effort into it as I wanted...

Fast forward and I had just recently finished the graduate program from SAIC as a painter. As a recent grad in a job market that seemed incredibly bleak (and having a degree that was ultimately useless at that time) I was stressed about what the future held for me. OH!! Did I mention I was 7 months pregnant?!! To say I was stressed in the understatement of the century. I specifically struggled with making the decision to stay at home with my son, or find a job which would essentially function as a way to pay for childcare. Six in one hand, half a dozen in the other, right? My partner and I made the tough decision together that I would stay home with our child. This gave me the push I needed to put more time and energy into my etsy shop, and alas!! KraeO was reborn!!