To say this last week has been chaotic would be an understatement. Between a laptop that officially kicked the bucket, pattern work, a few freelance orders, one of our sweet dogs running off (and yet to be found), and so many other little things let’s just say I am more than ready for some a nice weekend to come this way.
While a good portion of these things are outside of my control, there are some things that are VERY much within my power to “fix” myself. For starters, I am working really hard to make this year as successful as possible in terms of pattern designing and releasing. Currently I am about a month and a half ahead of new pattern releases. Which is exciting to say because over the last two years it’s felt a tad overwhelming to stick with a release schedule. Some months I would have a plethora of inspiration and crojo followed by months of no desire to pick up my hooks at all. Luckily, I have an amazing group of testers I can always count on to be there when my inspiration does come back and I punch out new pieces. To be honest, I absolutely couldn’t be a designer without them. They are an integral part of my pattern writing process that allow me to make sure I am releasing quality patterns. So this week’s blog post is dedicated to my testers. For those who may not know, any designer worth their salt (in my opinion) has their patterns tested. You see, pattern testers do so many things. For my own testers I require a pretty “strict” list of things to look for when they work up my pieces, including deadlines. As much as I would love to say I can type of a flawless piece from start to finish by this point, I am only human. My testers go line by line helping to spot any typos or inconsistencies that may pop up. They also look over the materials list and reference photos. They work each section of the pattern up and let me know of any questions they may have, or row count discrepancies, and in some instances recommend an addition that may help make the pattern easier to understand. My testers also provide me with photos of their pieces, which allows me the opportunity to see if what I have written was clear enough to understand and recreate. Because let’s be honest, there is nothing more frustrating that working up a pattern and having it look wonky compared to the cover photo! I have testers of all skill levels test the pieces as well. My aim of course being a pattern that even a brand new beginner can enjoy. I am extremely grateful for all of my testers and really couldn’t design without them! Well, I guess technically I could…. But I highly doubt it would end well! My testers are very much a part of my close crochet circle who I know I can count on. Together we have created a little community group that keeps the Once Upon a Hook Crochet gears turning! And with that, I would like to give them all another shout-out and thank you! They really are the best. I hope you all have a happy weekend and Happy Hooking! P.S. Here’s a little sneak peek of some soon to be new releases ;)
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![]() Today’s blog post goes out to my near and dear designer friend Erika (of RedSaylor Designs). If you follow along on any of my other various social media accounts you’ve probably seen my newest pattern release this week of a cute bobbl-y sheep variety! I also noted on those posts that I would be sharing the inspiration behind this cutie in today’s post. This is where Erika comes in. So, without further ado… the full story (mostly)! To begin, I first have to give a little bit of back story on how Erika and I “met”. Back in the fall of 2017 I released some of my very fist cuddler designs. All of which where fun Halloween inspirations that if I must say, garnered MUCH more attention than I ever imagined they would. Through my various posts of new releases across miscellaneous Facebook groups, I somehow managed to grab the attention of another designer who had put together an eMagazine with new patterns each month. She reached out to me as she thought I would be a good fit for the group she had been putting together and needless to say I was over the freaking moon! Through this group I got to know some absolutely amazing designers and testers. One of whom was Erika. Experience-wise we had both been designing for about the same amount of time, and even though we were states apart we were a pretty quick “click”. At any given time one of us could message the other about a design we were working on and get feedback, critic or support in our thought processes. Both of us tested new designs for each other as well and the friendship has only gotten stronger since. Fast forward to December of last year and Erika called me up with a request. She was hoping to see if I could create a cute little sheep cuddler to potentially be submitted for a class for a fiber arts festival taking place later this spring. This request of course came at the perfect time because I was both mentally preparing my “New Year, New Me” mentality for 2022 in the hopes of designing much more regularly and getting my “crojo” (crochet mojo) back. On top of that, my crazy long list of “want to design” patterns included a sheep! I think it’s super important to note, that Erika somehow has this magic about her that gets me excited for designing whenever I’m in a funk. Weather she helps by giving guidance on a piece I’ve put in time-out, or she mentions something fun to add to my list, I can always count on her to ignite the fire under my butt design-wise. So armed with her request for a sheep, my stash of yarn and my trusty hook I set about designing a cute sheep cuddler. It probably also helped that Erika gave a really quick deadline for this piece, and for whatever reason the little gears in my head seem to work well under the pressure of a good time crunch! In usual fashion as I worked up her request my brain produced more creative juices and it began spiraling from there. In the time since her original request I have designed 8 other patterns all awaiting releases over the next few months! That doesn’t even include the multiple designs I currently have on my hooks either! While this may not seem like much, as there are so many other wonderful designers who have their acts together and release content steadily and regularly month after month and year after year, to me it seems like a huge accomplishment. In the first month of my designing career (in 2017) I released a total of 13 patterns! I was on a roll. But once that first fall and winter rolled through and the craziness of it all seemed to settle a bit, I’ve found myself more often than not giving myself various reasons to put designing on the back burner. More than once I have had self doubt creep in, keeping me from picking up my hooks. I have put what seems like ten-thousand other things first and simply told myself, “well I can get to it tomorrow”. Which then of course makes me look back and feel bad for not releasing anything because tomorrow never comes. On a few rare occasions I’ve released a small handful of pieces and then once again fallen back into old habits. Always telling myself I won’t let it happen again and then feeling super guilty when it does. Which is why I am so grateful for Erika. Because she always has a way to rope me back in whenever she’s noticed I’m not sticking to my word. And since her request in December I’ve been doing everything I can to make her super proud as both a fellow designer and friend; because without her I probably would have stopped designing completely a long time ago. So, here’s to another Friday blog post, sharing a bit more of my story and helping me stay more accountable to both myself and my followers and friends. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Happy hooking! P.S. If you want to see some of Erika’s super cute design pieces, check out this link here: https://www.ravelry.com/designers/erika-saylor This last week seems to have went by both snails pace slow and speedy quick! Some days I feel like I get to the end of the day look at my to-do list and thing, “well dang… I accomplished NOTHING!” (Like right now as I work on my blog on a Friday morning rather than getting to it sooner in the week so it could be posted first thing this morning)… And then other days I’m able to check off so many things at once it’s easier to just re-write the to-do list! All of this is to say, part of the reason I have decided to start blogging.
![]() Once upon a time… there was a girl named Victoria. When she was little, Victoria liked to partake in many hobbies and activities. Her greatest loves included dancing, drawing and playing her saxophone. But just like many little girls, Victoria got older, and she decided to try new (and to her) more exciting things. Upon graduating from high school she joined the Marine Corps and headed off to basic training. Little did she know that through the friends she made along the way while enlisted she would not only continue doing crafty things, she would also find one of her greatest joys. One of the friends Victoria made was an amazing girl by the name of Carrie. Carrie knew how to do all sorts of crafty things as well. One of Carries hobbies included crocheting. It’s important to note, that by this time Victoria also had her first little. Now, knowing that Carrie was an amazing fiber artist, Victoria asked if Carrie could create a piece for said little. Carrie agreed to the order and created a cute pair of monster pants! Upon the completion of the project Victoria found herself completely enamored by the fun piece Carrie had created. She quickly took to the internet to find all sorts of other cute inspiration in the hopes of ordering more goodies from Carrie. The list grew longer and longer…. And eventually Victoria realized that she would never be able to afford to continue ordering all of the cute things from Carrie (because Carrie most definitely deserved to be paid for her hard work, time and dedication); so instead, Victoria decided that the only logical next step was to learn to crochet herself. And so the adventure began… armed with a 5mm crochet hook and a skein of Red Heart yarn, Victoria hopped onto the internet in search of a perfect first project. After much deliberation, she decided to follow a video tutorial for a simple crochet beanie! And that was that. There was no turning back. The instant gratification from completing her first project fueled her desire further. Every new project after the first weaving a new chapter along her fiber arts journey… OKAY… so there are actually a lot of tiny little details that lead up to that moment, but long story short I made an amazing friend who encouraged me to take up crocheting (after what was probably countless questions on my part). And to be honest, I giver her 1000% credit for starting me on this path in life. And so in honor of her, and in honor of the first crochet project I ever completed I’m sharing my first ever hat pattern! Please note, by nature my crochet projects and designs of choice are of the Amigurumi stuffie variety. Every once in awhile though I like to try my hand at something a bit different. This design was actually inspired by a request from my aunt (another story for another day!), but I thought it made for a great starting point in my blogging journey. All of the details for a free version of this pattern are below, but if you would like a fully photographed and formatted version for a small fee, feel free to check out my Ravelry! Happy Hooking! SUMMER SUNSHINE SUNHAT PATTERN Materials Needed:
Round 1: Mc, Sc x 6 into ring (6) Round 2: Sc Inc x 6 (12) Round 3: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 1) x 6 (18) Round 4: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 2) x 6 (24) Round 5: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 3) x 6 (30) Round 6: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 4) x 6 (36) Round 7: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 5) x 6 (42) Round 8: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 6) x 6 (48) Round 9: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 7) x 6 (54) Round 10: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 8) x 6 (60) Round 11: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 9) x 6 (66) Round 12: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 10) x 6 (72) Round 13: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 11) x 6 (78) Round 14: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 30) x 2, Sc x 16 (80) Round 15-18: Sc x 80 (80) Round 19: *This is the criss-cross round* Ch x 3, (Skip x 1, Dc x 3, cross over these 3 stitches and work 1 Dc into the skipped stitch) x 19, Dc x 2, Slst into the top of your Ch x 3, Do one final cross over Dc (80) Round 20-24: Sc x 80 (80) Round 25: Repeat row 19 Round 26 - 27: Sc x 80 (80) Round 28: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 15) x 5 (85) Round 29: (Sc x 4, Sc Inc x 1) x 17 (102) Round 30: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 1) x 51 (153) Round 31: Sc x 153 (153) Round 32: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 30) x 4, Sc x 30 (157) Round 33: Sc x 157 (157) Round 34: (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 52) x 2, Sc x 50, Sc Inc x 1 (160) Round 35: Dc Cross x 40 (160) Round 36: *If you would like to add your pipe cleaners or floral wire, this is the round to do so* (Sc Inc x 1, Sc x 9) x 16 (176) Finish off. Weave in all ends. Your Sunhat is now complete! |
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