September 24, 2011

Where are you from?

If you are shopping at my booth at the Pike Place Market and I ask, “Where are you from?” I am not just making small talk, I would really love to know!

I am not asking because I can hear that you have an accent, or speak very little English at all, I ask the same question of everyone who buys a handmade hat from me! The Market gets over six million visitors a year from all over the world, and I love to know where my creations travel after they pass from my hands to yours.

Laura's blog post pic

I grew up in the Puget Sound area, graduating high school on the Kitsap Peninsula. When I am setting up my booth in the morning on the Joe Desimone Bridge, I can look out the windows and see the ferry boats heading from Elliot Bay to Bainbridge Island. I had that entire island and mapped out by the time I was 10, I rode every rural route and explored every dirt road on my black Schwinn 3-speed bike. My mom would say “Go outside and play!” which meant hours of bushwhacking trails through bracken fern and nettles to find the perfect spot to build a fort, or turning over barnicle covered rocks at the beach and trying to capture the tiny crabs as they scrambled to escape from the sun. The whitecapped water was always too cold to swim for very long, though.

My childhood memories are infused with the natural beauty of this place, the evergreen forests, the cold rocky beaches and the bluest skies you’ve ever seen (it’s really true!). I’ve grown up and moved on and I live in the city now, I am raising my own child among the bricks and terra cotta of Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square. The lasting influence of my childhood world is still reflected in my work, though, and can be seen in my use of color and texture and in the natural, sustainable materials I source locally to create crocheted accessories with a distinctive Northwest design sensibility.

When I ask, “Where are you from?” and I nod approvingly at the thought of one of my wool berets being worn on a journey up the inside passage to Alaska, or heading out to the Boston College campus in the fall, I am hoping my customers feel they are taking something special with them when they leave, something different than the mass produced hats you can find at any department store – after all, every city in the country has a mall! At Pike Place Market can you find something truly unique, handmade with care. At the Market you can take home a designer original that you bought directly from the designer herself!

My hats have gone home with visitors from Chicago, New York, DC, LA and San Francisco. They have travelled to London, Moscow, Tokyo, Melbourne and Rio! What I love to hear most, though, is that a hat is going home with a local, someone from Seattle or a smaller surrounding city, maybe Bremerton, Bellevue, Tacoma or Olympia.

Locals might not think of Pike Place Market first as a destination for art, handmade gifts or boutique fashion from local designers, they might only think of the Market as “the place where they throw the fish”. That is, until they find themselves here while showing visitors from out of town all the usual tourist spots. They look around the Joe Desimone Bridge in the North Arcade with its huge windows overlooking the Puget Sound, showcasing the work of hundreds of local artists and they realize, “Wow, I forgot how cool the Market is – we should come down more often!”


I originally wrote this for the Pike Place Producers blog - "Like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter if you are interested in knowing more about what it's really like to be a crafts business owner.

April 20, 2011

Mesh Beret by Croshay Design


Mesh Beret by Croshay Design
Originally uploaded by croshay

The Mesh Beret is now available at Croshay Design! This new original design is stitched around a stretchy elastic band - it's the perfect hair accessory for spring and summer! Order a handmade beret or download the crochet pattern at Croshay Design

February 3, 2010

Fresh Crochet!

Yum! Check out the fresh crochet baked caramel apples and more in the Cinnamon Issue of Tension Magazine! OOh! ..and look at all the goodies in the giveaway!

August 25, 2009

Croshay Design in the Times

News! Croshay Design was featured in the Seattle Times' Daily Find this weekend!

Come on and visit me at the Pike Place Market- Seattle's fall fashion shopping destination for unique, quality handmade accessories!

May 20, 2009

Sweet Cloche


Sweet Cloche
Originally uploaded by croshay

Preview the Sweet Cloche, my contribution to Inside Crochet Issue 2!
I used Cascade's Eco Wool for this one, along with a belt buckle I reclaimed from a thrifted handbag.

http://www.insidecrochet.co.uk/issue2.html

May 13, 2009

spring hats!


spring hats
Originally uploaded by croshay

Longer days and warmer weather inspire lighter, brighter colors and open textured stitch patterns.. click through to see more spring inspired designs at Flickr!

April 26, 2009

screen printed patches


screen printed patches
Originally uploaded by croshay

Still more lessons to be learned, I'm sure, but I feel like I'm getting the knack of the screen printing process.. here with some new fabric backed patches, embellished with sequins and eyelets. all hand made and one of a kind, of course.
Click thru for a couple more pics at flickr.

April 21, 2009

button tab slouch hat


self portrait- 500th image
Originally uploaded by croshay

I'm working on the pattern for this mash up beret design that's been so popular at the Pike Place Market.. that and a few other things, so check back soon!

March 27, 2009

Thoroughly Modern Krystle


Thoroughly Modern Krystle
Originally uploaded by croshay

Originally uploaded by croshay

Krystle Armstrong will be performing song and dance from her favorite roles, including Thoroughly Modern Millie @ Broadway Performance Hall April 27, 2009 - for tix and info:Thoroughly New York.

Here she models her new hand made Rose Cloche from Croshay Design at Pike Place Market.