Stuff (aka: I have no cute title for this post!)

Its winter here in the Midwest, but its been a strange one.  We've had some record highs, and some typical lows, some snow, some rain, and some beautiful sunshine!  Along with parenting my 3 kids, keeping up on housework (which seems never-ending in the dreariness of winter), and hanging with my hubby, I've been keeping myself busy with a few projects.

First up is a Beard Hat in Colts Blue & White, as requested by another Indianapolis native.  Modeled here by my ever patient husband (he's probably modeled 16 of these hats for me now!)

Then a spring-inspired Swirl Hat modeled by my lovely daughter :)

Next, I made this quilt in a fit of crafting frenzy when I realized I didn't have a gift for one of my college roommates who just had a new baby!  I love how it turned out.

Lastly was this teeny tiny newborn Stripey PomPom hat for a friend of ours who wanted a hat for her soon-to-be-born daughter to match one she purchased for her son, but in girl colors.  She requested the pompom have stripes.  That was a new one for me, but I was pretty happy with the outcome.




And so as not to leave my other boys out, enjoy this shot of my littlest "reading" a book (love his smile!) and a photo my husband took of our oldest checking out the skyline of Chicago on a trip they took together this month.

"Falling" Behind

See what I did there?  That was a pun... cause its fall and I'm falling behind in blogging...... *ahem* moving on.

September and October have been eventful for me, most of which I enjoyed.

In the past 6 weeks I've walked in the woods;

gone to the pumpkin patch;

enjoyed warm days outside and cool evenings by the fire pit;

practiced some new photography tricks;

visited cities;

spent time in my favorite places;

celebrated birthdays (he's 2 already!),

   
         (and he's 34 already!)

and remembered two special lives passed.  I lost two grandmothers in the span of 3 weeks...

But in the midst of it all I've even had time to work up some new projects.  I just haven't had the time to share them with you.

(left to right:  Red/White Kitty Hats, Gina Giraffe and Newborn Newsboy Cap, Striped Brimmed Hats)

(Swirl Cap with large flower)

So now we're all caught up!  What have you been doing to enjoy the glory of fall?

Playing Catch-up

Whew, I knew it was coming.... I'm rolling in hat orders right now!  September is the time people start thinking about looking cute in the warm weather, and I don't blame them.  One of my favorite things to do is pull out all of my sweaters, scarves and hats and accessorize at the morning bus stop!  I have worked on quite a few things over the past few weeks, but here are a few of my favorites:

First is a set of 3 hats for a newborn boy, and 3 & 5 yr old girls.  Their mom wanted them all to have coordinating hats, but for each to be unique.  We went back and forth with ideas on colors and styles and came up with these.  I'm so pleased how they turned out and I can't wait to see how their family photoshoot turns out!

I had tons of fun working up these fall-color teacher totes!  I love how they have fall/Halloween colors while still being cute and trendy :)

My daughter went gaga over this sweet red and white Kitty Hat and I'm pretty sure she'll be bummed if there's not one of these in her stocking this Christmas.

Another fun hat was this dino newborn photo prop.  It was a special request by the winner of my 200 Fan Giveaway on the Knits and Knots Facebook page!  I hope she'll send me a pic of her sweet boy in it when he's born :)

Sister Set

My first order from the Summer Line was a "Sister Set" of coordinating pillowcase dresses.  The dresses are for the daughters of a dear friend of mine.  She wanted them to be in the same print but not identical.  We chose this gorgeous bold print and accented it with cream on one dress and black on the other. 

I love the versatility of the pillowcase dress.  It can be worn as a typical dress, with leggings or capris for a fun contemporary look, layered over a long-sleeved shirt and jeans or tights for a fun winter style, and it can even be worn as a top as the owner ages!

Fishy Business

My son's best friend has a goldfish, Goldie.  He is very fond of this fish, and to honor the beloved pet his mom asked me to make a goldfish stuffie for her son for Christmas. 

I couldn't find a pattern out there for a goldfish so I had to improvise.  I had so much fun putting together this little guy - from the fishy shaped body, to the ribbed tail and multiple fins,  to the bulging fishy eyes! 

I'm really happy with how he turned out! and the addition of the smooching fish lips as suggested by the client really pulled it all together.  I'm sure this will be a much better playmate than the real thing :)

Lots O' Hats!

In fall everyone's looking for a good hat to keep their little ones' ears toasty.  I've had a variety of different orders lately with lots of fun colors!  I'm pretty lucky to have several in-home hat models to test out my sizing on, and to just enjoy the cuteness of these little toppers :)

Owl Hat

I recently had a request for an owl hat to be used as part of a little boy's Halloween costume.  I thought the idea was brilliant, and couldn't believe I hadn't done something similar for one of my own children in the past!  Looking on Etsy I found a super cute pattern that allowed the user to sell items made from the pattern (not always true!).  While the pattern wasn't as thorough as I am used to I was able to complete the hat and make it look just like the example.  I was thrilled with how it came out!  It was made with a bulky yarn and is super soft and should be VERY warm, which is good since it was so cold at Halloween this year :)

The customer also requested some mittens made from matching yarn.  We chose to go with a thumbless mitt because of the age of the baby, and it had a connecting cord to keep those little mitts from getting lost when baby inevitably pulls them off!

Giveaway

I'm doing a giveaway on the Knits and Knots facebook page.  If you're a facebook user, check out the page and enter to win a white Divine Hat in any size and one flower of your color choice!

Layer Dresses

I recently had the pleasure of making two sibling sets of layer dresses.   One for my good friend Anne and her two daughters.  They are about 18 months apart in age, but pretty much the same size.  We picked out some fun safari-type fabrics and coordinated the dresses without making them identical.  You can't tell from the lighting of the photos, but the fabrics are the same :)  The fabric for these was Fabric Central Exotic Bundle 2 plus an extra fat quarter of the yellow fabric purchased from JoAnn's.

The second set was for a friend of Anne's two daughters who are several years apart.  This time we went with fabrics that were "pink and girly" by the client's request and the dresses were made in different sizes.   The fabric for these was Bloom and Grow by Riley Blake in the pink and cayenne colorway (purchased at Karamat on Etsy - great service!)

It was so fun to take a design I made for my daughter and make it for others too!

Yet Another Cowboy Hat

I recently contacted a few photographer friends of mine to see if they were interested in some custom pieces (hats and the like) for props for their photography. A couple of them had asked me about the possibility before, so I wasn't making unsolicited requests! One of the girls saw the baby cowboy hat and really wanted one. While this still isn't my favorite pattern to make, it seems to be a crowd pleaser. She wanted it sized to 3-4T. I sort of did a combination of the previous baby cowboy hat pattern and the Yeehaw Lady from SnB Crochet book. Its made from 100% worsted weight cotton, held double and an H hook. I think it turned out very nice, but I didn't get great pictures of it. Maybe when my friend uses it she'll let me use one of the images... ?

Girl's Shrug Pattern

Make this adorable shrug for the fashionista in your life! The shrug can make jeans and a t-shirt look hip and trendy, or it can be an elegant accessory to a beautiful gown. The bead stitch pattern allows for warmth without adding weight, and the adjustable length of the sleeves make this shrug good for all seasons.

This is a CROCHET PATTERN only. The pattern comes in two size ranges: sizes 18mo-4T and sizes 5-12. Both size ranges include standard sizing plus a custom sizing guide to make sure the shrug fits perfectly!

Size 18mo-4T

Size 5-12

Easter Shrug - Pattern Now Available!

My daughter and I made an un-accompanied visit to Walmart this week. As we strolled past the baby section, the Easter dresses made me halt in my tracks! Now in the past, Anna has received dresses that were appropriate for Easter well in advance of the holiday, but not this year. I resisted the urge to buy the frilliest, girliest dress I found. Instead, we went for a less expensive one that I thought she might actually wear again. For some reason, every single Easter dress there was short-sleeved, even though its usually less than 50 degrees here on Easter day! Since I've been on such a crochet kick I figured I'd make my little girl a sweater to cover up her bare arms, and this is what I came up with:

Fortunately, as you can see below, the shrug looks much better on than off! I have never made (or worn) a shrug before, so I was concerned about this "tube" I was making for my daughter, but she looked so adorable in it. Its scary how much older she looked in this "grown-up" piece! She's only 2 1/2!!! I think part of it is the dress - which almost gives her the appearance of a "bust". YIKES! I'm certainly not ready for that!

You can now find this pattern on Etsy or Ravelry!

Toddler Dress

I saw this Toddler's Dress pattern and just had to make it for my daughter! However, after getting part way through and trying it on her, I realized it was not a size 3T like she needs. So, after ripping it back and making some adjustments, this is what it turned out to be. Not my favorite project so far, but she's still cute in it. In fact, I can't imagine her being not cute in anything, so that helps :) I loved the picture with my son with his arm around her too! His comment was "ohhh that's so pretty!" I think he's my biggest fan.