So a few days ago, I took the embroidered hats off to the beach. The same beach where I’d taken them in their unadorned state for their first photo shoot. There was just one problem.

We’d had, um, a bit of snow between the first photo shoot and the second.

And snow always complicates photos. It’s not just the tromping off to the photo shoot (you can see my little wheelie cart back there behind the sun screen, it’s not precisely rated for off roading in the snow) or the not freezing your face off part of the process. The snow does some downright weird stuff with light and color that I am, um, let’s go with ‘not yet skilled enough to confidently predict.’ That works and doesn’t admit to just how much time I spent fiddling with buttons on my camera and muttering ‘what are you DOING’ under my breath.

I think I managed a suitably beachy vibe, but I wanted to show you the behind the scenes bits, because it was even more amusing than usual.

The embroidery bit is due out (as always, barring catastrophes) next week. As a reminder, it will cover both duplicate stitch in general and the things I did to these hats (the pattern is called Penchant) in particular. You’ve probably got time to whip out a quick hat before it comes out if you want to be ready to go!