Zig, baby, Zig

My last design idea for fall is all done and photos are up and everything's listed on Etsy. I have to admit I'm outrageously proud of this one:
It was a pain in the neck to work out the math and the construction on this one, but I knew exactly what I wanted and this came out exactly like it was in my head. I'm in love with the yarn I used and the colors and the length and the way the zigzags look next to each other. I'm so pleased.

We took the photos a couple of weeks ago, which meant I again ran into the conundrum of shooting Fall things in what was clearly not even close to Fall weather or scenery. We found this spot right next to Rock Creek, under a stone bridge, and Aaron of course worked his photo magic, and I think everything looks great.

Now I'm working constantly and obsessively on my Winter things. I'm really excited to show those off too.

P.S. I'm about halfway through working up a pattern/tutorial for this scarf, so if you're a crocheter, stay tuned! :)

Best Friend

A few months ago, one of my best friends, who lives far away, sent me a picture of a ski cap she saw somewhere and asked if I could make something similar. Having learned (and fallen in love with) crocheted ribbing from Celeste's fabulous City Girl Cap pattern, I got really excited about designing something for a friend. And thus, the Best Friend Beanie was born.

A few weeks ago (still blazing summer weather in DC) my best guy friend and I did a photo shoot with all of the beanies I had made for my etsy store for Fall:

One nice thing about having Jared model is that, of course, he is a beautiful boy. He's just astoundingly photogenic. Which is almost a shame because inevitably 80% of the photos I take have me in the middle of talking or sneezing or sneering or looking dubious or are otherwise unusable, so I ruined a whole lot of good Jared pictures :)

Another nice thing is that Jared's head was made to wear beanies. I've never seen a beanie that didn't love Jared. He was actually known to some of my acquaintances as "your friend who always wears the hat." They're kind of his thing.
A few years ago I was living in St. Petersburg. I was cold and miserable and homesick as hell. I went to check my e-mail and there was a link to a video. On the video was Jared's face. "Hey Allison," he said, smiling his perma-smile, "guess what time it is?" He reached off camera, made an "are you ready??" face, and pulled on one of his ubiquitous beanies. He pointed at his head and did a dance and sang "beanieweathertimebeanieweathertime!" and laughed like he does.
That was how I knew that it was Fall back home, and also how I was reminded, yet again, how much I love my best friends.

Full Disclosure

The heat index was 98 degrees when we took these photos yesterday. And yes, I was miserable.

But I had bought a spot in the Etsy Fall Fashion Showcase so I needed some Fall things up. I was patient with DC weather for two weeks; the mercury was slowly dropping into the pleasant high 60's, and then...well, Summer hadn't finished tormenting us yet apparently.
(You'll notice that if it were actually as cold as that scarf would merit, my legs and feet would be frostbitten, but I refused to walk outside in knee-high boots in the 80% humidity...)

Just looking at these pictures makes me crave Fall. Please please please, have mercy on me, Climate!

I've been a busy girl

I promise.

I've been crocheting up a storm, not to mention my little 10-day jaunt to the UK (oh how fabulous). But I've somehow met all of my project goals, and over Labor Day weekend finished up everything I wanted to have finished up.

After learning elann.com is discontinuing the glittery-fab yarn I made scarves out of, I frantically bought up a couple of bags full and made a few more scarves; I'm saving the rest for something bigger later. Got photos of the new colors, and re-did the old color so everything would be uniform:

Those are up on etsy starting today.

I also finished a slew of hats for the fall, and did a photo shoot of those on Sunday with my best guy friend, I really can't wait to see how those come out.

AND, I finished up a prototype of a new scarf design for fall, which I'm really really excited about. In that way that one gets excited when an idea actually turns out as cool as it was meant to be, which I'm discovering only happens about 20% of the time with me so I'm really trying to savor it ;) So I'll be making a few scarves as soon as the yarn gets here. In the meantime, I'm enjoying a little bit of "fun" crocheting for the first time in...a while. And by fun I mean the afghan I started for my grandma for Christmas. A full-size afghan in three months on top of all of the other million projects I'm anticipating? No sweat (eeeek)

I found something really exciting this morning. In my etsy store I'd been getting a whole lot of un-looked-for hearts, and I didn't see myself in a treasury so I couldn't figure it out, until I saw this scroll across the bottom of the front page. Holy. Cow. I squealed, at work. Fortunately I was the only person in the office at the time. I am so so so flattered and excited. Geez. It's not on the front page any more, but STILL. Holy cow.

Summer time, and the living...

As my dear boyfriend keeps reminding me, 95degrees Fahrenheit is not what most people think of as "crochet weather".
But I have managed to come up with a couple of designs that I am really proud of for the summer!

This wrap is made in 100% linen, which is very much the fiber-of-the-season, and the colors are just gorgeous (I can brag because I didn't make the yarn, just used someone else's genius!)



This one actually got me on the front page of Etsy! I was so thrilled I called my parents to make them look!



My guest blog for Carnival is yet to post, but when it does I'll let you know, it's actually all about the challenge of designing crocheted things for summer, and the loveliness that is available in all seasons. I'm looking forward to my post!

of photo shoots and bright hats

Just got back from a trip back to ye olde country, aka Oklahoma. My goal now is to start promoting the heck out of my etsy shop!

Since my last post, I have added hats to my lineup. I've had these "in stock" for quite a while but finding a time to get the photos I wanted of them proved to be a major obstacle; but after almost a month of attempts, my best friend Anne and I managed to find the perfect afternoon in Dupont Circle to do a photo shoot. If I look way cooler than I am, it's because the wonderful Aaron is a very talented photographer (and took over 400 pictures just to make sure he got some decent ones.) I love how the hats look on Anne, with that thick long hair of hers, and her dark features. Here is a sample, more at the link above:



Oh, how I love the greens in this photo:

The photo shoot was way more fun with a friend helping.


Other than that, summer is in full swing, which means I'm still experimenting with ways to create crocheted items, typically reserved for chillier months, into fashionable designs for warm (if you're a DC resident, read: miserable) days. I think I've hit upon something I really like, so stay tuned :)