When I was a little girl, every little girl was taught how to make things. My mother and my aunts taught me how to embroider tea towels, sew my own clothes and crochet garments. I am sure that I was not the only girl in high school who made her own pants from gabardine remnants.

I used these skills when I had my babies . I sewed little baby clothes, my maternity dresses, and I crocheted little baby blankets . I made each of my boys a twin sized blanket and I also crocheted a huge blanket for my bed. My two oldest boys are in their mid 30s and my homemade blankets are all still going strong while store bought comforters and bedspreads have disintegrated. I tell you this to show the durability of hand made items.

I love Christmas, it's the one holiday where I will definitely overspend on presents. In 2008, I had no funds set aside for Christmas presents. What I did have though was a bag of yarn and a couple of needles that my Mom had given me. It had been at least 15 years since I had picked up a crochet needle, but there I was one week before Christmas crocheting like crazy. I made scarves for everyone. I made a hat for my niece but it was not that good.

I crochet every single day. A day without crochet is a very stressful day indeed (unless I'm on a boat of course, I love cruising -:).

I like to try my hand at different things, and I've honestly never met a crochet pattern that I followed to the letter or completed as written. I have learned a lot from all of the online bloggers who offer us their patterns , techniques and advice for free. For them, I am grateful.

I love making hats. When I can't figure something out, or need some inspiration I make a hat. I especially like my felted hats, they start out as a nondesript humongous piece of crochet and then I felt them and let them sit on a shaper (sometimes for months!) until one day I see what they are supposed to be. I find the process of creation via inspiration to be exciting and so I never rush myself.

I strive to not make the same thing twice, but when customers really love particular products (like minion, pokemon, and tardis hats) I don't mind being repetitive.

I started making my Jaco Pastorius and Joe Zawinul inspired hats for my bass player husband at first, but after searching Etsy, I realized that musicians were underserved in this area. I've been making my Jaco Pastorius and Joe Zawinul inspired hats for a decade now and am overwhelmed by the response to them.