Golden October dread tams & slouchy beanie hats

In Germany we call a sunny and warm October the "golden October", similar to an Indian summer here.
This slouch beanie was inspired by all the bright leaves colors soon to fall.

I love to start new projects ... and I dislike finishing them. These tams could have been listed weeks ago, but better late than never:)

I don't get tired of making these patchwork tams, they turn out differently each time and I won't know the overall look until the rim has been finished. Predictable can be boring, and I love surprises.

A different version with a wool blend as 2nd strand.

 

This improvised star tam is a prime example of procrastinating. Finally listed on Etsy.

Extreme bulky yarn, but wonderfully soft and casual. A tam of my "blue hat period".

From Zen to Biz

Interrupting my trend of serenity and nature subjects by a shameless self-promotion post.

Finally, after mulling over a new custom design tam idea in my head for weeks, I actually set down and created 3 new "custom color tam" listings in different sizes on Purple Sage Designz.

(Above: the moderate size, small/medium)

The longer style.

The wide crown style

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Mixing up my YARNS

Just a brief post today.
I have placed large orders for hemp yarn and other natural sustainable yarns and I feel the need to work with my overflowing yarn inventory. Justification is the magical word!
I mixed a few unusual yarns and worked the combinations into new tam hats:
Avocado green chenille, regular worsted weight brown yarn and an extra strand of novelty yarn held together with the main yarns.
Same here, ice-cream colored feminine tam: pink chenille, cream and brown acrylic and the fuzzy extra strand.
A custom order, hope my customer will like it. Dark brown 100% hemp, warm brown cotton and terra red cotton. 3 different textures and different thickness.
Another scrap patchwork tam. You can tell I can't throw out materials and will use every decent length strand of yarn. The fuzzy brown yarn ties the colors together into a more coherent weave.
For this longer sock tam I have used copper red and black acrylic, combined with a strand of
terra red cotton yarn. It adds to the touch of the material and makes it super sturdy, but yet soft.
This tam is earthy in mainly green and brown acrylic, but spruced up with a "ribbon" (synthetic) yarn which features several pretty pleasing colors like gold, rust red, purple in a beautiful tie-dye effect.
Some of these tams are already for sale on my website and in my Etsy store, some still need to be uploaded.
My computer works slowly these days (or the cable) and a lot of times I just walk away from it to do other things because it takes forever to upload pictures.
Planting seeds into starter plant pots, walking my dog...and crochet. Besides other things:)

Crafter or Salesperson?

I have been pretty busy between attending a funeral, cleaning house and spending time with the family. Breaks from "living online". Sometimes I wish my work would just end there after finishing my hats. The joy and dilemma of selling online. The "salesperson part" is the one I enjoy the least. Especially these days with all the requirements to "put yourself out there"...onto Flickr, myspace, IndiePublic, forums, yahoo groups, squidoo and all the new places that pop up every day.
I have decided to do no more then just tend to my lovely blog and list my items on my website and Etsy. Time will tell if this will be the right decision, but it feels right for me.
I will try to attend craft fairs and shows this year as well. Back to good ole' old fashioned selling.

And the beat goes on...

This Sunny & Cher song was in my head when I rushed back from the accountant appointment, taxes are done . A milestone every time in March, to move on with life and just go back to the routine. I love my routine.
This warm brown and dark red tam is a hat design I have done very often over the years, and yet, it's still fun to crochet.
Available on my website Purple Sage Designz

Spring is on my mind! What is better to express my longings for a nice warm breeze then with a lavender doily cotton tam?
Available on Purple Sage Designz

Color...I am crocheting "out of the box" these days. I love unusual color combinations and a bit of boldness.
Rust and dark citrine tam...available at my Etsy shop

I still love the Irie color combo and have made this Jamaica inspired tam.
You can read more about it in my Etsy shop

Monday is going to be the new Sunday

Monday will be my new day off! Seems like there is a pattern of working and creating all weekend and leisurely taking off on Mondays for me, with the exception of last week when we just had returned from Vegas.
I created 6 tams and 1 bag, took pictures, cleaned the house, listed, updated my website...
I didn't feel like weekend at all. I will reward myself with a trip to the thriftstore, reading online forums, hanging out on the patio with Oscar, drinking cappuccino and just recharge those batteries.
Did I tell you how good life is to me? Looking forward to Mondays...
Here are my snoods...2 have already sold, so there are 4 left to view.