Sometimes it's ok to be a bit wonky... My first crochet attempt using Roxy Crochets free pattern for a Pusheen

As long as I can remember I've chewed my nails, which eventually turned into picking the skin around my fingers. Often I was embarrassed as I'd have to hide how bad I had got with band-aids or hiding my hands in my pockets. Oddly enough I didn't acknowledge that this was a bad habit and a sign of stress and anxiety for the longest time. I didn't understand why my nails were getting ridges and were becoming more and more brittle. Turns out all related to this bad habit, which had become an obsessive behaviour I was hardly aware I was doing. 

Dermatillomania I didn't even realise was a thing for many years. It's not pretty folks.

I grew concerned this could develop into something more serious and started looking into things I could do to help stop the habit. The yucky tasting nail polish… didn't work. Keeping nails painted? Not for long. Gloves, plasters... for a little while but not forever! 

Even though I did a pretty ombre nail I'd still end up chewing or peeling off the polish.

Growing up my mum knitted and crocheted blankets, she had tried to teach me several times but to no avail. However someone had mentioned amigurumi and I thought it was super cute and could be a fun hobby for me. After some basic research I found that people use crochet to keep their hands busy from this habit.