The Story of My Tiny Pumpkins

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and I've been pretty honest about calling myself a posterchild for high-functioning anxiety. 

The day I crocheted my first tiny pumpkin I wasn't very high-functioning. I was just anxious. 

I sat in my brown recliner all day because I felt safe there. I must have tried to start 10 different crochet projects, and nothing was right -- and that was huge because crochet was my refuge. My comfort. And if I couldn't even crochet? Yeah, it was a bad day. 

The next thing I knew I was making the adorable little pumpkin pictured, and it was unlike any of my regular types of go-to projects. I didn't - and still really don't - crochet stuffed animals or plushies. (Fun fact: in crochet, it's called amigurumi.) Yet somehow that adorable little pumpkin came out of my crochet hook that day. 

And in that moment, I knew everything was going to be okay. To this day, I seek out that tiny pumpkin and squish the heck out of it when I'm needing some comfort.

I've made and given away quite a few tiny pumpkins since then to people I thought might need or appreciate them. 

Since I'm recreating my entire life, I need to sell them now, and I do. If you want to see it as a cute little pumpkin for someone who loves pumpkins and all things fall, that's great. I appreciate your support of my tiny pumpkins whatever your reason. 

But if you need a symbol of hope and a physical reminder that everything is going to be okay...that's what my tiny pumpkins mean to me.