By: Samantha Lose

My name is Samantha Statham and I am the sole designer, creator, and owner of SunnyDazeeeWithSam, a freestyle creative crochet business based in State College, PA. My business aims to create pieces that are perfect for any unique individual who wants to express themselves in a funky, stylish way, inspired by the happy hippies of the festival and rave culture.

Music festivals and concerts have always greatly impacted my aesthetic and sense of style. Growing up, I had gone to many rock concerts with my dad and loved the grungy, edgy vibe of the rock-and-roll scene. I also experienced Warped Tour in Scranton, PA, where the rave culture was something that was so new, different, and exciting to me. My first electronic show, Krewella, happened in Philadelphia in 2018; it was such an amazing experience, and from there on, I became so interested in the festival and rave culture. In 2019, I attended my first music and camping festival, Electric Forest, in Rothbury, Michigan, and it changed my perspective on life in so many ways. I fell in love with the music, colors, love, smiles, people, fashion, and everything else about the chaotic lifestyle of festivals. I now attend festivals all over the United States and have never felt happier, more comfortable, stunning, and more at peace than when I’m at a festival!

After encouragement from my husband, I created my business SunnyDazeeeWithSam in 2019, originally as a hemp and macramé business. I created a variety of products with hemp cord: jewelry, sandals, dreamcatchers, keychains, and more. On the other hand, I quickly found myself bored with the macramé craft and wanted to experience other forms of art. I experimented with a variety of other crafts at the start of my business: resin artwork and jewelry, nature jewelry and pendants, and tie-dye clothing and accessories. I especially enjoyed creating handmade resin pendants, walnut pendants; my husband and I would go out to our favorite hiking trails and hunt for unique and interesting walnuts to turn into pendants. These opportunities to expand my creativity led to the creation of my favorite evil eye pendants, which feature eye-catching glitter and colorful eyeballs.

After a while, I decided I needed another new hobby; that is when I discovered crochet and quickly became obsessed! After months of learning and experimentation with crochet books and YouTube videos, I learned that people could create anything with some yarn! In December of 2020, I made my first crochet piece, a beaded acrylic handbag; I was so impressed with how my first piece turned out that I immediately dove into making crochet tops, bags, and hats. From day one of SunnyDazeeeCrochet era, all of my pieces have been freestyle crochet pieces (with the exception of my hexagon cardigans that follow a basic structure and pattern design), meaning that every design is freehanded. I love working with cotton yarns and acrylic yarns, especially UV-reactive types.

Over the past year, crochet has taken over my life, allowing me to turn my business full-time. Nowadays, I don’t go anywhere without my yarn and a hook. My husband even gifted me a travel crochet bag for Christmas, perfect for supporting my yarn addiction! Now, my business primarily focuses on crochet cardigans, with my bestsellers being my Mermaid Magic cardigan collection, my Shaggy Fringe collection, and my Rainbow Brain collection. The first cardigan I created was my freestyle shaggy fringe cardigan, where I taught myself how to freestyle a cardigan that all began with a loopy fringe stitch out of the crochet book I had received from my husband. My first cardigan took me almost 3 weeks to create and well over 55 hours of hard work, using black and neon acrylic yarn. In June of 2021, I created my first one-of-a-kind Rainbow Brain cardigan, taking two weeks and over 30 hours of crocheting. This design took off immediately, and I sold over 10 Rainbow Brain cardigans within the first 2 months of releasing the design!

Crochet fashion is so unique, complimenting, and gorgeous. Throw in some rave inspiration and you can create some magical, trippy, sexy creations! Knowing that my idea of confident fashion resonates with so many people means so much! If you ever see me at a show, I’ll be wearing something handmade, probably with some ears on them. My favorite crochet items to make to date are my Aikido Caps (which are crochet bucket hats and beanies with faux fur ears) and my Aikido Cardis (crochet cardigans with faux fur ears). These pieces are completely inspired by the festival and rave scenes with their vibrant, addictive color schemes and their soft, unique, faux fur acrylic ears. These pieces are customizable to make every rave babe comfy, cuddly, cute as a cat, and confident!

I never expected my business to receive the love that it has, reaching over 53K people on Instagram. I love making peoples’ festival fashion dreams come to life, but I love seeing my customers in my work at festivals even more! It is beyond humbling when I stumble upon a customer of mine at a show wearing one of my creations. It feels amazing connecting with my customers over such bright and bold fashion. The love that my artwork and clothing have received is out of this world! I am still in shock some days that my business has expanded as much as it has over the past few years, and I am so grateful that I found the art of crochet, connecting with so many kind-hearted and loving people all through a few balls of yarn. I never expected my business to be where it is now when I started SunnyDazeeeWithSam—making hemp jewelry in our one-bedroom studio apartment—but I am forever grateful for what the present has brought me and what the future may hold! □

Article Credits

Samantha’s Instagram: @sunnydazeeecreations

Samantha’s Website: www.sunnydazeeewithsam.com