Tales of a Techno-Hooker Crochet Blog by Amie Hirtes

Six years of doing business selling online crochet patterns. SIX. I love what I do, but I don’t love dealing with PayPal. Matter of fact, I dislike them with a passion. In the last six years, I’ve had to make several phone calls to PayPal to work out claims and disputes. Every time it’s involved [...]

Love the execution. Hate the style. In a nutshell, that’s how I feel about this tunisian shawl. I just spent a half hour the other day going through all my crochet stuff trying to organize the items into three piles: sell, donate, and needs pictures for pattern updates (that’s what I’ve been doing ad naseum [...]

It’s been in my head for awhile now to update and revamp the layout for all the NexStitch patterns. With the last published patterns (Rhiannon Tote and Dandelion Neck Cuff), I had done some updating to the layout to eliminate the “intro” page and rework the materials page to include more product pictures and edit [...]

Green. Something about the color green triggers certain memories for me. Actually, colors in general do that for me. It’s how my brain is wired: a crazy juxtaposition of spoken words –  both from pop culture and my own experiences – and colors along with a heavy helping of loaded feelings. That’s how I remember [...]

Twins! I had twins folks! Two patterns in one day. What a busy day. First up is the Rhiannon Tote, which I’m pretty stoked about because the graphics on this pattern are just fabulous (if I do say so myself). There are two stitch diagrams,  slew of step-by-step photos, and one additional illustration to accompany [...]

The Meaning of Creativity I find it fascinating to talk with other designers and ask them what makes them tick, what drives their internal engines to create and keep creating even in the face of self-doubt and frustration. The answers I get always lean towards an insatiable desire to put to real form what they’re [...]

Here are some quick picture from my latest pattern release, “Montauk Handbag.” I’ve included a photo fan of the first four pages. You can see that there are a great deal of photos, illustrations, and diagrams to help the crocheter along the way. Don’t be afraid because it’s labeled “Intermediate.” I use a couple more [...]

SCRATCH THAT: But it here! We’re oh-so close to releasing the 3rd and final volume of the Bag Book series from SFTD Online. (I will update this post when we go live). Strapped For Bags, Volume 3 featuring: A Crocheter’s Backpack by, Amy O’Neill Houck Hip Hoppin’ Backpack by, Dee Stanziano Knot Bag by, Doris Chan Scrap Yarn Bag [...]

Here’s a sneak peak of a handbag pattern that I had started a long, longgggg time ago and finally finished this week. This bag is totally my style. I’m a beach girl through and though, so I chose to make it with raffia (Wraphia by Berwick). The bag has been embellished with embroidery and surface [...]