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I've read many posts on etsy forum, that men want more items listed for them. I've asked several times in the forum for some ideas from men of what type of items they would like. I've not gotten any responses. I did finally come up with this idea
. Please let me know what you think and when you reply if you would please let me know if you're male or female. If you have any other ideas PLEASE let me know what they are. ThanksOffline
My crochetgarden,
Hi. Am also running into this. I am female but get regular input from my husband on things I make. Also had some input from visiting shops.
I mostly make felted scarves and hats, but from what I can tell COLOR is really important. Shopowners have suggested things in brown and green. Even colors I normally wouldn't think of as girlie make my husband shudder. LOL Example forest green is ok Teal is not.
A couple of things that have been successful with my husband and his mt. bike buddies are hats with skull and crossbones. i.e. Jolly Roger. I guess the guys don't grow out of the pirate stage. Also, maybe incidental, but when I was sharing a house with 4 other guys, they were obsessed with squids.
Another idea I'm planning on (but you could totally steal this as well) is making something with the recycling symbol on it (you know the triangle with the arrows). Everyone can support that I figure.
Hope this helps.
Christl
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Ok you got my creative juices flowing, so here are a few more suggestions. What about crocheted beer can cozies. Maybe you could personalize it with a letter or something. I actually made one for my dad with the harvard symbol on it for Xmas last year.
Don't know if this is up your alley, but what about shopping bags. Everyone around here brings their own to the grocery store.
Also everyone has a cell phone nowadays. A crochet cozy would protect it nicely if dropped.
I definitely like your hat. Guys always need to keep the noggin warm.
Christl
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Thank you for all your ideas and suggestions. I wish some men would also comment.
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lots of guys like things related to technology....anything with computer related graphics are ok with guys.
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My husband likes scarves. Especially finely striped ones in earth tones. But, he is European so is a bit more comfortable being 'fashionable'! I'm not sure how much he'd like crochet versus knit as he's particular about texture.
Some of my American male friends wear scarves, but they tend to prefer black and charcoal or gray.
IMO, you need to decide, with each piece, what group of males you are targeting. I don't mean this to be stereotyping in any way, but my gay male friends are much more into color and texture than my straight, good old American male friends.
A shop my British husband often bought scarves from is here - with a link to a scarf he'd wear:
,4,shop,men,menhats
I agree that having a sense of humor is a good idea. Incorporating funny sayings, drawings, images, symbols that might be funny or ironic is a good angle to take.
HTH
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mycrochetgarden, I showed your listing to my husband and he said that the brim on the hat is off-putting for him. I think guys tend to like just the simple beanies without a fold up brim...but that's just my thought. Scarfs are good for guys, just don't make them too chunky or with fringe. Simple is better with guys. And some good colors would be: chocolate brown, olive green, charcoal gray, black, steel blue.
I remember looking everywhere for things for my husband for Christmas last year. Some things he said he, and other guy friends, wanted were: iphone case, gloves that aren't too thick so they don't get in the way (he liked this one pair that had grippies on the fingertips so that he still had gripping ability even with gloves on), geek shirts are big (pirates, computers, gamer shirts, dragons, motorcycles, guitars), grilling accessories, and usually anything sports or beer related. So there are some ideas. Oh, and if you wanted to do a striped, or multi-colored beanie or scarf, black and orange is a great color combo! It's the Harley Davidson motorcycle colors and different sport teams (and Halloween) colors so you can market it that way (tag "harley", "SF Giants", "Oregon Beavers", etc).
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My husband suggested laptop sleeves and some funky ties for men (of course he is thinking of what he'd like for work)
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Thanks everyone for your ideas and suggestions.