NEW LOOK!!

I'm so excited about my new look! Blogger revised how blogs can be customized and I love it!! I changed the page layout, added a wintery background to make you cold and thus want to buy my hats, and new pages for contact info, my designs, where you can find my hats, and more about me. What'd you think??

HAPPY HOOKING!!

FINALLY!

Well, I didn't think I was actually going to finish my first Crochet Month pattern today, but I DID! I have two young kids and it's not always easy for me to crochet as much as I want to, but I hustled to get it done before the sun went down so I could take pictures and list it. Thanks has to be given to my husband for helping me with the colors of the yellow and green one.

With this pattern, I wrote notes as I went to make it easier when I had to sit down and type it out. After I got the pattern out of my notebook and into Publisher I decided to make a second hat from it to make sure there were no mistakes and then list it.

My computer was really starting to really annoy me though and I wasn't sure I was going to get it listed tonight. But my patient husband told me to keep trying and it finally happened.

So here it is, the "Ski Town Beanie". It reminds me of those Swiss Chalet A frame type buildings you find in ski towns, hence the name!!

Writing Patterns

I love writing patterns that you think are going to turn out a certain way, but go a different direction once you start working. The pattern I'm working on is doing just that. It's like the hat is already made, I just have to figure out what it is. It has it's own life because of the stitch counts. Some design decisions I made before I started didn't work with the stitch counts so I had to change course and let the hat direct me!

This pattern is also pretty complex so I've decided to take pictures of tricky stitches as I go. That way I can better illustrate the directions in my pattern. Plus it gives me an excuse to play with my new camera!

HAPPY HOOKING!!

Old Patterns, New Patterns

OLD PATTERNS

There were a few things about my current patterns that I wasn't quite happy with. First off, the photography has never been as good as I've wanted. I just bought a new camera (thanks to my tax refund!) so I wanted to take all new pictures. But more than that, I wanted them to stand out as different than my finished hats. I decided to erase the background to give it a clean white background. and I LOVE IT! In my opinion, the look so much more professional, and it's obvious that they're patterns, not finished products. What'd you think?

Also, in honor of National Crochet Month I decided to lower the price from $4 to $3. I love creating new designs and sharing them with other hookers (and those who want to learn!). I hope by lowering the price that my crochet style will spread as more people buy them!

NEW PATTERNS

I also have a goal of 4 new patterns by the end of the month as a part of NCM. An idea struck me yesterday so I got to work. In my experience, forcing designs never works. I have to wait for that lightning strike and then start creating it with yarn. Hopefully I'll have this pattern finished in a day or two and start promoting it. Keep your eyes open!!

HAPPY HOOKING!

National Crochet Month

March is quickly becoming one of my favorite months. I've always loved playing on St. Patrick's Day and decking myself out in green, like a true American (the Irish think we're plonkers for going green). But I just found out that it's also National Crochet Month and I'm so stoked! I've been crocheting for about 3 1/2 years and I'm addicted to it. I'm so addicted that I'd love to 'hook' all day long which is why I'm trying to make a living from it with my online shop and designs. I'm using NCM to focus on my designs, promote crochet, and getting my shop off the ground. So here are my goals for the month:

• Blog about crochet-related things every day. Well, how about every weekday...
• Create, list, and pimp 4 new designs
• Tweet & Facebook about crochet news 5 times a week

You've heard it here first, so now I actually have to stick to my goals!

What are YOU doing for National Crochet Month???

This is OUR month! HAPPY HOOKING!