Hello! I'm Chantal (pronounced shon-tel), the maker behind Yarnique. I have 3 kids, I'm 30 years old, and I live with my parents. At this point in my life, I love myself and I am not ashamed of any part of me anymore. Today I want to share my story with you, how I got to where I am now, and how you can pull inspiration from anything and everything.
Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a princess...Just kidding! Wouldn't that just be so cool, though?!
I'm actually just your normal, middle-class, suburb-raised, had-to-learn-how-to-live-life-on-my-own-the-hard-way girl, ahem, woman. I was born in Saginaw, Michigan and was raised in the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee since I was 4 years old. I left the city I knew as home for a little over 6 years to live in Louisville, Kentucky and came back very shortly after my twins were born in April of 2015.
Get the tissues ready because here is where my real story begins. Before this point in my life, I was pretty average. Likable to most, disliked by some, but mostly just went with the flow of things and worked hard to provide for the one kid I had previous to my twins being born. Then my world got flipped upside down. In the worst way you could possibly imagine.
When my twins were only 2 months old, I discovered from doctors that both of them had been severely physically abused to the point of fractured bones. When we couldn't figure out how or why it had happened, my babies were taken from me. Luckily, I have an aunt close by that was able to take them in until everything got worked out. I'm still so grateful that I could at least still visit with them and be there for them every day. It took 9 long months until I could bring them home with me and have the privilege of being their full-time mommy again. I know now who it was and why it happened but that's neither here nor there for the sake of this story.
At first, I didn't know what to do. I spent as much time with the twins as I physically could, but I soon fell into a deep depression. A depression that would take me down the path of brief alcoholism and weight gain due to the stress of it all. I wasn't myself. Not in the slightest. I felt physically terrible because of the weight and I knew I wasn't performing daily tasks like I should have been because my depression had taken over.
Here I am writing this post to share with you, over 4 years after all of this had started, and I'm still not completely myself again yet. I've made tremendous strides to improve myself as a person and a mother and I'm making progress. Any progress is good progress in my book! Some days I think back and still blame myself for it all. But what does that really accomplish? Not a thing! Even if you are to blame in some way or another, get past it and take the steps you need to to improve yourself. ONLY YOU CAN HELP YOU. It took me a long time to actually want to start to better myself again but it did happen, in its own time.
Life is hard. Sometimes more so than others. Fiber has always been the real MVP for me! Even with my wonderful support system, yarn was always the one thing that I could go to with no judgments being made and no attachments or commitments. My mom taught me to crochet when I was little and even though I've put it down several times over the years I always came back to it. It's so cathartic, how can you not fall completely in love with it once you get a taste of it? Whether it's fiber or another hobby that you enjoy, I think everyone should have that one thing. That one thing that will always bring you pleasure even in the darkest of times.
I wanted to share my story with you because it is what has inspired me to strive and succeed. My hope is also to uplift you as a powerful human being, too. This is what I went through 4 years ago and here I am now: my small business is growing rapidly and I'm being featured as a maker on The Hook Nook blog! It has taken a lot of determination, patience, forgiveness, nurturing from loved ones, and tons of perseverance to get to where I am now. I'm so happy to say that this passion that I'm trying to turn into a legitimate business is finally starting to see sunny days and I can't tell you all how thrilled I am about it!!
Everyone is different and unique and whatever path you're on right here, right now, is exactly where you're supposed to be. I don't care who you are or where you're from, YOU CAN DO IT! I know, it's super cliche, but I actually believe that. I'm not wealthy or privileged or have any previous connections with anyone in this community. A lot of people know my name already, though, because I've made it a point to MAKE connections. I started from square one and I'm slowly working my way up and if you have the same motivational determination, you can do the same, my friend! Live every day like it's your best day.
Chantal
