and orders 

as well as a note of advice about self publishing: Myra’s class 

Here’s the belt that I designed for the book:

Autumn Leaves:

I made the leaf buckle, too. I  actually made it several times.

First time, I made it in brass.

That didn’t feel right.

Then I realized – this belt is about ~leaves~  Duh!

So I made the buckle in wood, and was really happy with it.

Unfortunately, so was our little dog.  The cats obviously knocked the belt down, because the dog shot past me in his

“I am doing something wicked and I know it and I know that I have to run fast, because as soon as you catch me, you’ll take it away from me’  mode.

I didn’t even bother to try and figure out what just shot past.

I know when he does his wicked run that I have to grab a handful of cat food and run like blazes after him.  He has me well trained.

Anyhow, the little booger managed to get some really solid chomps into the belt buckle.   GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Yes, that was me growling, not him.

So, I re-worked the buckle, and got most of the chomp marks out.  A few of the teeth marks are too deep to sand out, so they are conversation pieces.  grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

When I was designing the leaves for the belt, I went out into the garden and used actual leaves from our trees as the models for the leaf motifs.  Always great to work directly from nature!

The book is just terrific!

You can order it from BELT BOOK

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright 

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Last summer, at the Knit and Crochet show in Manchester, NH, a group of designers that have become friends over the years got together for lunch.

We decided that we should put together a book and self publish it. It’s taken a lot longer than we expected, but it’s really wonderful.

Crocheted belt book

Here’s the press release:

For the story behind my Autumn Leaves belt and more pics of it: Here’s the link :

Image source: Straight From The Designers’ Hip

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Over tea, coffee, deserts and great conversation a bunch of designers got together and decided to self publish a book of belt designs.

I posted about that in Press Release.

We’ve learned a lot in the process, so we’re going to keep at it. We’ll be announcing another new book quite soon. Stay tuned!

A note to other designers: We are still in Beta mode, so we’re not accepting design submissions from other designers.

BUT ! We really encourage other designers to try their hand at this, too.

If you want to learn how to self publish, and are going to be near Portland, OR in September, I HIGHLY recommend that you take:

Myra’s class

She’s one of the most delightful people you will EVER have the good fortune to meet, and this class will change your life.

Sign up quickly, because I am willing to bet that it will sell out!

Image source: Straight From The Designers’ Hip

Post from: Hankering for Yarn