The Hat Post

A longtime sosorosey customer has a friend whose sister is going through chemo treatments.  So, my customer wrote to ask if I could make her a lovely hat.  Now, I am not really a hat maker, but I am always up for a special request.  We perused the different styles on google and etsy, and she decided that she loved THIS ONE. 

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I agreed that that hat was gorgeous, so I read the description of the pattern and contacted the shop owner with a couple of questions.  The owner was quick to respond, and extremely candid and cordial.

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I went ahead with my pattern purchase, and within hours, the pattern- all 10 pages of it!- arrived in my inbox.  I had never purchased a pattern online, and was a little worried that I would have trouble with the pdf format.  No problems!

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Besides not being much of a hat maker, I am also not much of a pattern reader.  I can do it, but when the stitches are unfamiliar and the pattern is super new to me it takes me some time.  I decided to make a trial hat to just see how it went.  That was the pink one Sophie was wearing in another post this week.  It came out fine, but there were mistakes.  Not mistakes that anyone would notice, but mistakes that I noticed.  And I'm a little bit of a perfectionist.  Just a little ;).

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Now what I love about reading a pattern is when it all finally comes together.  The deep orchid hat above is the one I made for my friend.  And this off white number is for my best customer, Mom.  Looking good, right?

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There are two especially wonderful things about buying a pattern directly from the person who wrote it.  One, you can ask them questions if you have trouble.  And two, they have the ability to give you permission to sell the items you make with their pattern.  Many pattern makers do NOT allow this, but this shop does as long as credit is given to them in the listing. 

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My experience with Randy at Beautiful Patterns was wonderful.  My questions were answered, my pattern arrived quickly, the pattern is very detailed and easy to understand, and the product is fantastic.  I wouldn't hesitate to order from them again, and if you crochet and are looking for a cool hat pattern, you won't be disappointed. 

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AND, if you don't crochet and want one of these hats, I am happy to make one for you!  The blog reader price is $20.  Leave a comment with your contact info or send me a message at jennie.thoma@gmail.com.

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Have you purchased any crochet patterns online?  I'd love to hear your experience!