Happy New Year wishes

Owls, the symbols of wisdom, may they watch over us this coming year.

Ending 2011 with new green hippie patchwork tams

Ending the year on a green note
with these new ecclectic tams...
One of a Kind, for all climates and tastes.
New ones coming next week!!!

Peace and love! Angelika

moss tam with some sparkle

a "hike through the forest" tam
soy wool tam, vibrant like a promise of spring

Stores are back open

Back in the groove

I have made tons of new hats, it was nice without mailing and pc tasks, just the hook, yarn and me:)
Listing will start on Monday if the weather permits nice pictures.

Fun time

Finally a few days for myself...
We danced the night away at the Commodores and Kool & The Gang Concert last Saturday night in the Newkirk First Council Casino Event center. Commodores were my faves of the night

Can't believe I have lived in a fog so long...I sooo love my new glasses:)

Topped it off with a winter solstice sweatlodge ceremony last night before heading into the quiet time of the Christmas weekend.
The shops will open again on December 26th.
Blessed holidays to you and yours!

Crochet...the coolest craft and here is why

I found these inspirational designs while browsing the web...

Crocheting marathon and new hemp yarns for 2012

It has been busy, busy to the extent that my blogging fell flat and so did my personal life.
But I was able to secure some great 100% hemp yarns for my tam hats in 2012:)

Cuban orange

Kiwi green

Mallard

I also snatched up bonnet light gray and briar green. And some silver lurex for that 70s additional sparkle.

So glad you are not at the mall...

Today I have new tams for you.  

Straight from my crochet hook to your doorsteps (or mailbox) if you want.
3 ready to ship tams for all climates and tastes.

black cotton/hemp snood tam

another crazy patchwork crochet tam
wool tam in 3 wide band colors

Impression from my work place

I am so grateful that I can determine the look and feeling of my work place. Even though practicality demands a certain restraint on decorations: a must is the white wall for pictures, especially when I photograph wearables modelled by my mannequins.
Love this little baroque hippie vest and matching wool beret tam.
(Listings on Etsy soon:)

Inspirational patterns...color boost needed

Today I feel November. And it's not even gray outside, actually a sunny cool day, but I need a color boost. Anything to get my creative spirits working. November is a busy month and I crochet a lot of classic black, brown and gray hats, with not so much time for patchworking in bright colors.
So for me and for you I have collected some hippie art, mainstream designer prints (Missoni, but he did a great job reviving the ripple pattern) and some authentic vintage ripple crochets.

Customer pictures, wearing their tam hats

Big thank you to everyone who sent a customer appreciation picture, you all look great.

Finally the studio space comes to life

I admit at first it was awkward to work strictly in the studio space and not in the living room anymore. And my sewing corner had been set up for 2 months but I felt I didn't have time for bigger projects. And I just couldn't decide what to do first, crochet, knit, sew, loom knit. The abundance of choices was a hurdle for my creativity.
Today I made a plan: cut a commercial sewing pattern, iron the fabrics, cut the pattern pieces on the grain line, serge everything, sew, press seams open, use baste stitches. Do it by the book and see if the pattern and size will work...before customizing, and "free-lance" sewing. Amazingly the pattern worked well, the fabric cut on the bias drapes nicely. Can't wait to make more patchy skirts in the near future.

I won something beautiful the other day

 

and ended up with a fellow winner in the local newspaper:)

What's New in the Purple Sage Designz Web Shop?

Favorites added: hemp, recycled sari silk, wool
4 ready to ship tams for end of fall:). Classic black longer tam# 397.

organic cotton/hemp with rec. sari silk snood tam

mat your dreads wool tam
patchwork delight wool blend tam hat

Female view of fashion prevails again on Project Runway, yeah

All right, this is one of my tv passions; project runway, a reality design show where the finalists show their collections at Mercedes Benz fashion week in NYC and L'Oreal will fund big prizes for future career and design lines.
This is the 2nd time in a row that a female designer has won, with a collection that is easy, has BoHo or Caribbean influences and, NO mini skirts or all these goofy little tight cocktail dresses that men want to dress us in. (Can I say hooker alert when I look at some of the male designers and how they envision women's fashion?)
Anyway, I love Anya's finale collection, and she makes me dream of an island vacation.

Mohawk hat -- inspired by a friend's request

These hats are not live in the shops, yet, but may appear soon. A friend asked me if I could do a mohawk style hat and I worked up 2 samples, with the 2nd one actually to my satisfaction. I don't know yet if I want to sell these on a regular basis as the fringes are very time consuming, but I like the concept and style.

Work Studio pictures

my little crochet sit-down corner is coming along nicely with all 2nd hand furniture and "feel good decor". As hoarders of vintage stuff we still have an old brown tv set from the 80s(?)...but heck, it works for background noise...in the work place.

Hemp yarn dread tams beyond the beige

We all love natural hemp, but look at all these different colors and blends that hemp yarn comes in nowadays: in pure, blended with wool, cotton, bamboo, modal (plant cellulose)

These dread hemp tams are sold, but I will make similar ones per request:)