My Story

My name is Lorena, and I'm the face behind CIO Handmade. After being creative all my life, I lost my love for creating during my teenage years and didn't realize how much that affected me until I had time to tap into my creativity during the pandemic in 2020.

I tried out many different crafty hobbies, all of which ended up in my MASSIVE hobby graveyard. Eventually, I found crochet and was immediately hooked (hehe). I loved how it allowed me to be creative and connect that creativity with my love for fashion.

I started selling made-to-order pieces in 2022 and quickly realized: This. Was. Not. IT (for me). As a teacher, I enjoy helping people, and by only showcasing my designs, I felt like I was gatekeeping. That’s also why I started focusing on publishing patterns for my designs and posting tutorials on my socials to encourage more people to discover crochet (aka the best craft — I don't make the rules).

And the rest is history. :)