New E-Mail Address

Hooked in the Sound has a new e-mail address. You can now contact us at - hookedinthesound@hotmail.com

Still More Embellishments

I love the star embellishment that I added to this newsboy cap that I made for a friend. I think it will be one of my new favorites to do. I have also tried to convert a "hot" orange cap into a halloween cap, but still no interest in it. I guess maybe Brynn will have to wear it this season! I have been really busy with Etsy orders lately. It's exciting, but also a bit difficult to balance between grading school papers and planning for future lessons. I look forward to trying to make some other creations this fall and winter; maybe I'll step outside of hats. My sister was kind to give me some of her handspun and dyed yarns over this past weekend. In addition to that I took home a vintage-style pattern book with a couple of really cute bonnets that I want to try. I'll be sure to post them when I have a finished product.

Another New Embellishment

I am picking up another local store to sell my hats in. It is called The Chifferobe. They will be selling my Critter Caps as well as embellished Silk/Bamboo Stocking Caps. To start, this store will be selling the items on consignment, which will allow us some time to determine whether or not the hats will be successful there. So, to add to the flower and star embellishments I tried a fig leaf. I used the same silk/bamboo to create the leaf, so it turned out really huge. The idea was that the hat could be unisex, but after creating it I fear it is still much too girly (mainly due to the size of the leaf). What do you guys think? It also was very time consuming to complete the leaf. I think I'll have to try another variety next time. In addition to that, I think I'll also try to find some thin, DK or feather weight yarn to create them with. I like the idea of a leaf, but am not too sure about this one in particular. Please give me some feedback as to what you think.

New Embellishments

All along I have been embellishing my hats with flowers. I just recently completed a silk/bamboo stocking cap that I adorned with a star - very cute. I think it works for either a little boy or girl. I will be trying out a couple of other things this winter to dress up the plain-old stocking caps; things like: butterflies, veggies/fruit, and maybe monogrammed letters. Anyway I am pleased with the star and curious to hear what you think in regard to being for either boy or girl.

Okay, I didn't think so but . . . Brynn really looks like my sister did when she was this age - especially the bottom photo - Crazy!

Ear-Flap Caps

If you'd rather not outfit your kid in the hilariously cute Critter Caps, a more tame version has been added to the product list at Hooked in the Sound: they are Ear-Flap Caps. The one pictured here is the first one. It is made from a soft, 100% cotton in brown and green. With all of the great fall yarn colors coming out, I hope to create a wide range of options. I will likely move away from cotton as the months cool down, but for now I am trying to use up what I have at home in my current stash. I am still busy creating caps for future shop orders and with the idea that the holiday bazaar season is just around the corner. Since the days have been so hot, I have been cooped up in the house in front of our air-conditioner and have thus been able to complete a few caps. Check out my new Etsy listings. I will be posting a new product every couple of days in hope that business will pick up with the back to school shopping.

Critter Cap with Flower

This one will be hard to give up. I am listing it on ArtFire and if it doesn't sell there, I'll offer it to Compass Rose in the fall. Really, I'd like to keep it for Brynn; I really like the color combination. I think I may have enough yarn left to do another one in the same combination or at least the opposite with coral as the main color rather than blue. I used Lion Brand Cotton Ease and found that it is a nice blend for making the Critter Caps - it makes them a bit softer. I'll be trying out a few other materials before deciding which is the best.

As I mentioned earlier, I am posting items on ArtFire. My seller name is hookedinthesound. You can go directly to my site by typing in www.hookedinthesound.artfire.com This site is just like Etsy, only free to list on. I do not know if it is very popular yet, so I am only putting a few items on to see how it goes. I think the warm weather has slowed down sales of the newsboy caps at Simple Cloth. I have not heard from her for a while. This is giving me an opportunity to make a few more hats. I am working on a couple of stocking caps for the fall and will be adding a few to the online shops soon.

Sun-Hat Take 2

I recently finished a sun-hat that was mainly white with one thick stripe of pink. This turned out better than the Left-Over Stripes hat that I attempted a couple of weeks ago. I still noticed a problem with the way that my colors matched up on the change from white to pink and then back to white. But to fix that problem I just stuck a flower on that part and . . . voila, it disappeared. This is a great solution for girly-type hats, but I am determined to figure out the best way to change colors so that the hats are at their best quality. (If any of you out there have a suggestion, I'd love to hear about it.) Brynn was being a bit of a stinker, so you cannot see the attached flower. I couldn't get a better photo before having to gift the hat to my friend who is expecting a baby in September. Now I need to adjust the pattern to make the smaller sizes.

On another note, Compass Rose and I have finally come to an agreement that is much less stressful for me. I finally admitted that I would not be able to fulfill the hat order with a bamboo product. After testing and trying a bunch of products, I just wasn't pleased with the quality of the caps. The bamboo was very heavy and looked sloppy when finished. So, I will be using cotton or a synthetic to make the caps a bit more cold-weather appropriate. I will focus solely on the critter-cap style and sell those exclusively through Compass Rose or my Etsy site. They want the first order in late August or early September. Simple Cloth still proves to be my best business. I've had a lot of fun making caps for that shop and hope to bring in a couple of other styles as the fall approaches. I'd like to get into monogramming some of the stocking caps, so I'll need to begin practicing my embroidery a bit more.

Leftover Stripes Sun-Hat

I had some leftover yarn after making all of the newsboy caps and decided to try a striped sun-hat pattern that I have. I really like the style of the hat, but I do not care for the puckering that the slip-stitching creates when I change colors. I had this problem when trying to create stripes in the newsboy caps, too. So the next one I create will likely be a solid color or with fewer stripes. I did list this one for sale on Etsy if you are interested in purchasing it - www.hookedinthesound.etsy.com

My Own Domain

As recommended by a friend of mine, I secured my own domain name for Hooked in the Sound. This means that if you simply type in www.hookedinthesound.com - my new webpage will pop up. I am still going to sell everything through Etsy for now and keep posting on Blogger. But I figured my information would be much easier to find if it was simply the name of my business. If any of you out there are considering doing the same, check out GoDaddy.com they have good rates.

In the mean time I am still trying to finish the order for Compass Rose, but I have had a couple of positive interferences: an Etsy order for a Critter Cap; another special order for Simple Cloth. So, business is pretty good for right now.

I hope to have some sunhats done before summer is over. It seems as though baby Emelia gets a lot of compliments on her hand-me-down hat that I made for Brynn last year, so I want to create some more.

Bamboo,Shamboo

So, I've decided that nothing really compares to cotton when creating a newsboy cap. I've tried a couple of bamboo blends and they cannot stiffen up enough to make a substantial brim on the cap.

Even when I give the brim a firm tug forward, all it wants to do is lay flat on the forehead (see photo). I think the bamboo would be great for any other type of hat, but just not for the newsboy. I still have yet to hear back from Compass Rose in regard to my "road-block" but hopefully they will still be interested in my caps. For now, I am creating caps to post on Etsy and to give to friends. We will be heading up to Seattle to visit Marshall's brother Chandler and his fiance, Kyle. Kyle has a 4 year old neice and a 1 year old nephew. I am crocheting caps for both of those kids, maybe they'll help me get the Hooked in the Sound name out in that area.

Hitting A Road Block

Well, I have solidified another local, Olympia gift shop to sell my hats in, but I am having a difficult time filling her order because of the color and fiber request. Our local yarn shop, Canvas Works, has some great bamboo blends but the prices are pretty steep and the colors are not quite right. I am considering asking my sister, Jen of Hanks in the Hood to teach me how to dye my own yarn. If I did that, the little hats would be made from a blend of Merino and Bamboo. There is part of me that would like to do this because I would just make my hats that much more unique, but another part of me wishes I could stick to good-ole cotton. I have recently posted some new hats on my Etsy site, check them out at www.hookedinthesound.etsy.com