Bet he mixed it up with D-Day, which was June 6th.

It's the kind of thing I would do, but I'm not SECRETARY OF THE GD NAVY MAKING A PUBLIC STATEMENT.

Oh, and it's not like I went out of my way to make trans friends, either. You just have to not be trash and it will turn out some of your friends are trans and trust you as a safe person to be out to. One Weird Trick!

Lately, there's also the FUCK YOU, I'M A CIS WOMAN AND YOU DON'T SPEAK FOR ME element.

I was fully a rent-paying adult when trans issues really started to hit the mainstream. I was solidly "everyone has rights or no one has rights" from philosophical first principles, but having trans friends made it personal in the way having gay friends made the all the crap in the 90s/00s personal.

If anyone had asked me back then, I'm sure I would have been abstractly in favor of trans rights, because my parents did NOT tolerate any kind of bigotry, but it's not like I would have understood much of anything about the issue, either.

I'm old enough that when I was growing up, trans issues weren't really on the radar of anyone outside the gay rights movement, and I was a sheltered suburban cis kid who assumed she was straight. I made all my adolescent "well THAT was embarrassing" social mistakes on (afaik) cis gay friends.

His hands certainly are.

"Premature anti-fascists."

I think that's it? Or at least everything that occurred to me off the top of my head.

If you plan to mostly do plushies, you are going to want to get familiar with making your single crochet stitches very snug and even, working in the round, and a technique called the "Magic Ring."

I can't give personal recommendations on beginner books, but I've heard good things about Teach Yourself Visually - Crochet and Crochet for Dummies.

There are also a million free tutorials on blogs/YouTube if you want to go that route.

I *don't* recommend getting one of those beginner supply kits you can find on Amazon. They're a total crapshoot on quality, and getting good results with bad materials takes a lot of skill. When you're just starting out, you really don't want to be messing with no-name yarn.

As for supplies, you really only need yarn, a hook, scissors, and a big enough tapestry (blunt) needle.

Michael's Loops & Threads brand yarn is easy to get and perfectly decent quality. Choose one that says weight 4/worsted, and the label will tell you what size hook you need.

Plushies use a few techniques that might be frustrating for a total novice, especially if you don't have someone right there with you to troubleshoot.

That said, if you have your heart set on a plushie, go for it. Just be prepared for your first few tries to not work out, and keep trying.

Oh, excellent.

No kit recs, sorry, but I suggest looking up applique bug patterns. They're small and quick to do (instant gratification!), and they'll let you develop your skills a bit before you try to tackle working in 3D. There are a bunch of patterns out there on people's blogs/videos. 1/?

I am a way better crocheter than I am a knitter, but you're temping me to fight through my "nobody needs TWO needles!" impulses.

Cute like amigurumi or cute like "what a cute sweater"? (You probably don't want to start with the sweater.)

I looked up the Dahlia top. Assuming I found the right one, I love the honeycomb stitch band across the body.