Happy Hooky Holidays!

No lines, no pushing, no gas money... just you with your coffee mug in your pjs! That's the way to shop.

This year, Black Friday lasts the whole weekend with a sale through Sunday plus Daily Deals to keep you coming back for more!

WEEKEND SALE

Are you in search of my patterns?

Use the code HOOKYHOLIDAYS for 30% every individual pattern in my Ravelry shop through Sunday.

http://www.ravelry.com/designers/liz-mcqueen

FRIDAY DAILY DEAL

Looking for the perfect present? 

Check out my Etsy shop and get free US shipping Friday (11/29) on any custom beanie, headband, or disc with the code HOOKYSHIPPING.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PlayinHookyDesigns

play hard ~ play hooky

Santa Beanie Pre-Sale & Photo Contest

I know, it's only September, but store aisles are already filling with blow up lawn decorations, wreaths, stockings, and ornaments, so I'm jumping in too. I'm having a Santa Beanie Pre-Sale so you can get a beanie at a discounted price and I won't be as overwhelmed during the holiday season. I also had a genius idea about what to do with your beanies once you get them... keep reading for details!

• Get a sale price for ordering early
• Order your beanie from 9/18 to 9/21
• It will ship to you on November 1st

Grab your cameras and bring out your footy pj's because in conjunction with the Santa Beanie Pre-Sale, I'm holding an Awkward Family Photo Contest! One winner will get a $25 gift certificate to my shop. It's the perfect last-minute gift for someone you love.

• Submit your photos from now until 12/15.
• Send me the pic through email or my FB page.
• All submitted photos will be posted here on my blog.
• Readers will vote on their favorite photo.
• The photo with the most votes WINS!
• Photos must feature at least one of my Santa Beanies (pictured, it can be made by me or made by you from my pattern) to be eligible.
• Only one photo per family is allowed.
• By sending me a picture you consent to allow me to use it on my blog, FB page, and other social media sites to advertise for the contest.
• You retains rights and credit for the photo.
• Watermarked photography is allowed.

PLAY HARD ~ PLAY HOOKY

Design Wars Bribes... ehr I mean Giveaway!

That's right, I have stooped to bribing you for your votes. Well, actually it's just an incentive to keep coming back. If you haven't already heard, I'm involved in this round of Design Wars!! The final reveals have been announced and voting has begun. In fact, you can vote every 12 hours until voting closes!

Here's what you can win:

• 5 winners will get a FREE copy of my Eddyline Sunhat Pattern when it's published
• 1 winner will get to make their own Eddyline with a crochet kit! Includes a copy of the pattern plus up to 4 balls of Red Heart Creme de la Creme yarn (colors vary by availability)
• 1 winner can customize their own word disc, made by me! What would you say?
• NEW: 1 winner will get their own Playin' Hooky T-shirt - winner chooses between fitted/unisex, colors, & size!

Scroll through the pictures on the giveaway widget to the right to see what you can win. Don't forget this is all about Design Wars 3, so make sure you visit the blog to see the other amazing designs and vote for mine *cough* I mean your favorite! ;)

PLAY HARD ~ PLAY HOOKY

T-shirt & Hoodie Pre-Sale!!!

I'm so excited! I've been working on offering t-shirts for a couple of months now and I'm finally able to start the pre-sale!! 

The design

Choose from an Unfitted T, Hoodie, or Fitted T

So e-mail me with any questions and to reserve your pre-sale order before the price goes up!

PLAY HARD ~ PLAY HOOKY

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea...?

SpongeBob SquarePants!

I've never actually seen an episode of SpongeBob (I know, shocking since I have kids!). I don't have a vendetta against him or anything, it's just never happened. But I knew I'd be spending some time with everyone's favorite Porifera when a friend told me that her amazing daughter wants a SpongeBob birthday party. How could I refuse?

My friend gave me ideas of what she liked and what she wanted me to include. It was great that she knew what she wanted - made the design process a lot easier! She wanted some hint of his pants, but pink instead of brown! How cool & different, I love it! I did a little research, lots of thinking, and decided on a general idea of how I wanted the hat & face to look. Nothing left to do but get started!

I set out to make the hat first (duh, haha). I didn't use a pattern per se, but I've made enough hats in my day to work it up pretty quickly. When I got to his shirt (the white stripe) I used a super secret crochet trick of mine (wink, wink) to make the lines especially clean. That's a whole 'nother blog post, haha. Then on to the pink earflaps. Of course it wouldn't be complete without some super chunky braids!

Now, onto the face. If you're familiar with my usual work, you know that I'm not a big embroiderer nor seamstress. The less I have to do after I finish the body of a hat, the better! So I was a little nervous when it came to getting started. The individual pieces weren't difficult to crochet, but putting them together so that it actually looks like SpongeBob was a little tricky. I'm really happy with the eyes & nose, but I still don't love the little crook in his smile. Oh well! I'm my hardest critic, and it's pretty hard to get embroidery to look straight on crochet!

I can't wait to see my friend's daughter's reaction when she opens this on her birthday! I really hope she loves it!!

My daughter, Bryn, wanted to model, so of course my son, Declan, had to get in on the action!

(PS - No, I will never make another one, haha!)

PLAY HARD ~ PLAY HOOKY

Playin' Hooky Discs!!

YAY!! I'm so happy to introduce the newest thing in Playin' Hooky: FRISBEES!!! I got the photos back from Jess at Jlight Photography and they are unbelievable! She captured perfectly the spirit and excitement I imagined!! So I wanted to share a few here...

PLAY HARD ~ PLAY HOOKY

Updated Website

I've been working for a few days and it's finally ready to unveil! I have added two new pages where you can buy my patterns & custom hats directly from me. No Etsy/Ravelry membership or Paypal account needed! The pages can be found at the top of my website "Buy my patterns" and "Buy my hats". Take a look around, ask questions, visualize colors, and place your order for a custom Playin' Hooky design!!

HAPPY HOOKING!

Trying to Catch Up

Lately I've had the best problem! I don't have enough time to get all my custom orders done! Between updating my shop, taking care of my kids & my house, and my part-time job, it's been a crazy time! I'm so excited about all the amazing hats my customers have been requesting. It's true that I make them, but they pick the colors which is one of my favorite things to do! I LOVE working with people to make them a hat that is personal for them!

I've just been so busy lately that I haven't had much time to blog or get my website more organized. I'm trying to create a 'page' on my site where you can buy my hats & patterns direct, instead of going through Etsy, where a lot of my fans don't have an account. It'll be an easier checkout process and you can still order fully custom hats! I'll keep you updated and let you know when I'm ready to launch it!

In the meantime, here are a few of my recent orders & new photos for my shop:

New Photography:

    

                      

     

Custom Orders:

  

  

It's been crazy

I know it's been FOREVER since I've written last, but my life has been a little nuts lately. My mom came for a visit, I sprained my wrist halting my crocheting, my daughter started pre-school, I started a new position at work, I reached my 100th Etsy sale and my 400th Twitter follower, I got a red ribbon (second place) at the CO State Fair, and I got a haircut. Ok, well, the haircut thing wasn't that crazy, but I thought it was worth mentioning. (Sorry, I'm in a weird mood).

The biggest thing that happened is that I sprained my wrist doing yard work. I couldn't move it for about two weeks, which means I had to put all my crocheting & designing on hold. I'd been close to finishing my wholesale strawberry hat order when it happened which was just plain frustrating. I literally tried on every single wrist brace in my little mountain town trying to find the one that was small enough for my tiny wrists. I finally found one and I'm happy to say that my wrist doesn't hurt at all anymore! So now I've reassumed my mission to finish the strawberry hats (only 6 left!!!) and taken on a few custom orders in the process! I plan on finishing a few more designs and finished hats to get ready for the Farmer's Market on October 9th where I hope to have hats & hand-dyed yarn. I hope to have my next "INSPIRATION MONDAY" installment next week where you can see more of what makes this hooker tick. I promise to write more often. Shameless Self-Promotion:

Pick any 3 Hooky patterns for a discounted price

HAPPY HOOKING!