For that hard-to-please person who you just know would rather pick it out themselves. Give the gift of a custom-made handmade item with this gift certificate to my shop at http://thehatshop.etsy.com.

Click the button in the sidebar to the right ———————————————>

For those of you who might not know, a treasury is a collection of item images gathered from Etsy.com. The Etsy admins call it a “member-curated gallery.” This one, I made out of images I feel represent me, my personality and past.

There’s my current stripey kitty with green eyes in the top right corner, and my former little panther with golden lamp-eyes on the left.

Books have always been a huge part of my life. I love to read, and to write. I also love dragons. Someone obviously made that gorgeous green leather dragon journal with me in mind.

Crochet, yarn, and hats are loves of mine, obviously. And I learned to crochet from my grandmother’s hands.

Dandelions, the ocean, coffee, sweet things and baking…mmm.

And ah, Italia… Florence was my home for two wonderful months on study abroad. The bright photograph on the bottom row is aptly named - and it was taken in Cinque Terre, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. I can’t say “the most beautiful” because it’s tied with Isola di Elba, on the bottom right.

Ah yes, and I do have a mac. ;)

This was fun to make…try your own, anyone with an Etsy account can make one. Just go to www.etsy.com/treasury and click on “New Treasury.” If you make a “you” treasury, post a link in a comment below! I’d love to see your self-portrait.

Currently being worked on….in the non-hat department:

• Slippers. Based on the pattern here: http://goodknits.com/blog/mary-jane-slippers/ but with my own modifications for size and style. I made myself a pair and now I’m making my mom a pair for Mother’s Day! (Sh, don’t tell her. Good thing she’s one of the four people left in the world who don’t have facebook or twitter.) Definitely going to be bringing some versions of this into the shop.

• Weirdly enough, I actually got excited over designing my own sponges. I kept seeing testimonials to crochet washcloths and dishcloths all over the place - how they’re washable and eco-friendly and last longer than any other kind. I made some cotton dishcloths and really like them in the wattle stitch, which I just discovered. It looks pretty and makes a nice scrubby texture. By the way, did you know that YouTube will teach you how to crochet? YouTube will teach you practically anything. But it won’t teach you how to make the sponge that I make, because I developed the design myself. See, I like using a sponge on my dishes, not a cloth. But it’s true that the sponges I buy in the store wear out and get gross and germy. So I made a sponge with two sides, a super-scrubby one and a smooth one, and a ridge that goes around the edge and helps you get into tight corners on tupperware. It’s in acrylic so it’ll dry faster, and best of all, you can throw it in the machine with your towels and stuff and wash it. That way it won’t get gross on you.

In the hat department, I have a new line of headbands coming out this week, based on the two-strand headband design. But in bright colors, with flowers attached. :) Also upcoming this month will be more flower sun hats! Here’s the first: The Giant Sunflower Hat.

To come in blog-land is still an update on the Bicycle Butt Pad. The prototype is still in testing…….okay, so it rained on Monday and today I overslept. *hides*

Treasure Hunt! I’m in two Treasury Easts currently:

My Green Thumb Garden Hat is in this springtime treasury: Magical Mystical Spring

And The Most Beautiful Rose Hat is here in this pretty pastel treasury: Crochet Away

Thanks, stitchesbyjulie and Magdaleneknits!

Gotta say, I like the new feature. I’ve made a couple myself, including my etsy wish list…just in case anyone was thinking of getting me a little surprise… ;)

I will update everyone on my prototype for the Bicycle Butt Pad soon, but I have not yet had a chance to test it! *Shakes fist at confluence of events preventing recent bike rides*

…Okay, you can go ahead and pull your mind out of the gutter now. I’m actually talking about bicycles here.

So lately, with the weather getting warmer, I’ve been trying to ride my bike to the day job more often. I’m lucky enough to live close enough that I can do this, I need the exercise, and there is even a lovely little greenway that I can take most of the way. Imagine starting your day by cruising along next to a burbling stream, watching the early morning light reflected on the water, noticing all the new leaves greening up the trees as spring moves into summer.

There’s just one downside to this scenerio: sore butt syndrome.

The seat on my bike is not exactly what you might call “deluxe,” ”comfortable,” or “padded.” And the greenway, while lovely, isn’t exactly new. The pavement is full of cracks and bumps and other butt-jarring implements. 

I know that there are padded seat covers you can buy, or that I could get a new seat with more padding and replace my old one, but being who I am, that was not the first thought that occurred to me.

“Hey,” I said to myself, as I was riding home with most of my weight balanced on my aching posterior, “I bet I could crochet a bicycle butt pad!”

(Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it? Go on, say it out loud. ”Bicycle Butt Pad.”)

I mean, I love designing new patterns, especially for something weird and different. For instance, when the speaker covers on my old headphones wore out, I crocheted myself some new ones. They made the ‘phones more comfy, too. :)

This one is definitely a challenge, and as far as I can tell from googling, unique. I started working on it last night, and the prototype is almost complete! Soon the results will be unveiled. Stay tuned…. 

And yet another treasury! Wow, this is my week for having items in treasuries. Here’s The Rose Hat in a sweet treasury full of light colors.

Click the photo to see the page on Etsy.

Thanks, ThreadRare! :)

Treasuries! My garden hat and sand and sea sunhat were both featured. Seems that middle spot on the bottom row is my designated area, heh.

Green Garden Party: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=125878

Earth Goddess: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=125915

Thanks loosethreads2 and AntoinettesWhims! :)

I decided to launch a separate blog for the shop, because my blog at www.jennifersmyre.com is really more about my writerly side.

Settling in over here on tumblr - I chose this platform instead of wordpress, which is what I use for my other blog, because wordpress doesn’t support flash and I wanted to use the nifty etsy widget. Which you can check out over here————————————————————>

First things first, The Hat Shop Links:

SHOP: http://thehatshop.etsy.com

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/thehatshoptweet

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/thehatshop

Actual content will follow soon. :)