Hello Lark Blog Readers,
We’ve been asked by the FAB folks at Lark Crafts to introduce ourselves and our new monthly column, In Stitches, and now seems to be the perfect time. We are The Shibaguyz… Shannon and Jason Mullett-Bowlsby. We’re the author and photographer of Designer Crochet, and Crochet Geometry; two of the hottest Lark Craft books on the shelves (okay… so we might be slightly prejudiced in that assessment).
We present the story of who we are; a story that might be filled with mystery, mayhem, and possibly murder… or perhaps a touch of melodrama and metaphor. It was eight years ago we began our journey from everyday work-about gentlemen to this dynamic craft duo. It all began when Shannon left his 9-5 job to follow his dream of working as his own boss; an aspiration many of you can understand. Although terrifying, it was an exhilarating experience watching him starting this adventure by knitting and crocheting hats, scarves, and garments for craft fairs and private clients. That small-scale side-business quickly morphed into one where he was creating fashion patterns for worldwide magazines and teaching classes, live and online, to hundreds of excited students. Shannon, known for his hearty laugh, no nonsense business savvy, refined attention to detail, and thick head of hair worked long and hard to find success in the crochet and knitting scene. Eight years after founding Shibaguyz Designz he proudly boasts to having over 300 published patterns and nine books – including the Lark Crafts books Designer Crochet, and Crochet Geometry.
Jason, similarly found his career path altered from regular day-to-day business associate to fashion photographer and graphic designer shortly after Shannon was contracted to produce his first book of garments. With no life experience in fashion photography Jason took it upon himself to learn everything he could about the business. In a few short years he’d became a face to recognize within the crochet and knit crowd, showing an impeccable eye for light, shadow, and movement along with an uncanny ability to understand how fiber responds to the camera. It was only two years after he submitted the photos for their first book that designers and publishers all over the world were asking him to photograph projects for them. Today, Jason works with Sterling/Lark Publishing photographing all of the Shibaguyz’s books while also keeping a handful of portrait clients (two and four legged; he has a soft spot for photographing the animals that share our hearts and homes) around their hometown of Seattle.
You might be wondering where the name Shibaguyz came from. Before they became the power couple of the crochet and knitting world they were just Shannon and Jason, a couple of guys from Seattle who shopped at the local farmer’s markets… bringing their dogs with them: Apollo, Atlas, and Dallas—all three Shiba Inu. Considering how cute this breed of dog is, it’s not surprising that the vendors in the markets got to know the dogs better than the guys, “Hey! You’re those guys with the Shibas”. The name stuck; now they are the guyz from Shibaguyz Designz, Shibaguyz Photography, and Life With The Shibaguyz.
That’s where we came from. Where we’re headed is even more exciting! Stay tuned here because there’s a lot of really cool stuff coming down the pipeline from us, including a big reveal from Lark Crafts in the months to come. We’re so excited to have our books published by Lark Crafts and look forward to sharing some behind the scenes look into our studio and how we created our books as well as some tutorials to help sharped up your hook skills. Stay tuned… you’ll be hearing more from us in the very near future. Until then…
Stitch On!
Shannon and Jason
