Caden

This is Caden. He is brand new too! His daddy took this photo while they were in the hospital and sent it to me. As if this new family isn't busy enough, they move into their newly built house on Monday. Congrats Lisa and Ryan! He's a lucky little guy to have you.

Brekka Jo

This is Brekka. She was born yesterday! Jodi, her Momma, is a friend of mine. I saw her just hours before she went in to the hospital. Brekka is their 4th! Jodi made Brekka's blanket. She makes the blanket then customizes it with her great sewing machine that I drool over.

I hand knit the flower on her hat with the softest wool I have ever found. I bought it from Shepherd's Choice. It's one of my favorite places to escape to. Kathy turned her red barn into a knit shop and it's so peaceful and full of charm. She has only the most luxurious, indulgent yarns. It's a knitter's dream. Oh! And she lets my kids help her get eggs from her chicken coop when we go. :)

Inspiration

We went out with the Birdwell's recently. I noticed Mandy's cute cuff on her sweater. A bunch of ideas for a new hat popped into my head. She was nice enough to let me take a picture of her arm in a crowded restaurant. :)

This is what I came up with. For all of you knitters, I did seed stitch on a straight needle. Then after that piece was finished I picked up stitches in the round to create the crown part of the hat. The buttons went on last. As you can see, the seed stitch piece will be a bit shorter next time to lessen the overlap. Jayden was gracious enough to model it for me (and Mandy to take the pic, of course).

More Mandy Pictures

Another pic of Chase in his striped hat
This hat was felted after I knit it. It's the same ear flap hat pattern I use. It fit me before it was felted! Look at that look he has. He's just started cooing and chatting. Those little looks and sounds never get old...

Sometimes I think it's odd how I love knitting so much. Sweaters bug me so I don't make those for myself. I'm not cool enough for leg warmers...on a rare day I remember to grab mittens and a hat. It's really the thought of others wearing the things I knit that makes me happy. So, when Mandy sends me these pictures I'm over the moon. :) Thanks, M!

Oh my Goodness.....Chase Richard

Have you ever seen a cuter face?!??! That expression is so adorable...so new and sweet.

It's astonishing to me how Mandy's pictures are such a stark contrast to mine (note my pic of the exact same hat below). :) I squealed in the Walmart parking lot when I saw this pic on my phone.

I'm back!

Hi Everyone! It feels good to be back in the blogging world. I have had a sick kid again...ugh! When he's awake he wants me all to himself which, as all of you know, makes life a bit more challenging. I have been able to knit when he passes out at night...thank goodness! I don't know what I would do without knitting to calm my mind.
This is Chase's new hat. I have all of this great yarn left over so thought this was a perfect way to use it up! If you recognize the style you must be a fan of Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats.
This is a newborn hat a friend of mine ordered. She has a new niece coming soon. She and her husband have 3 boys too so we're instantly bonded. :)
This is Lisa's hat. We met via scrap camp. Now I just need to figure out where I put her e-mail address so I can mail it off to her. :)
This hat is for Emily's little girl. It's a hit! I have since had 2 more orders for it.

Today

Graham has been such a good sport while we've been at home since Fin's sick. He's great at playing with the hundreds of stuffed animals we have around our house. These two are his current favorites.

This is Fin at Urgent Care tonight. It was the only time he's let me set him down all day. A few of the other patients wished they had on his PJ's. :)

Kendall

This is Kendall. Judging by this pic (and others) I'd say Kendall's pretty fun to hang out with, don't you think? She always has this adventurous look in her eye...I'm sure she keeps her Momma on her toes. :) And those jeans...so cute. I love the star patch.

Olivia

This is Olivia. Her Mom, Jen, and I grew up together. Olivia has a great black dress coat that this hat goes with. I used a variety of batiks (my favorite) for her flower. The fabric holds up great and is easy to work with.

Jen is one of the reasons I love Facebook. We are both busy with our kids and lives in general so it's nice to log on and see what she's up to. I have great memories of us hanging out being silly together. Thanks for the pic, Jen!

a new creation...

Recently I had a request for a hat that was on Mandy's blog. I had never seen the hat before so it was fun to look at the picture and come up with my version. I really like how it turned out. I hope you like it Shannon!

Brynn and Tenley

Here's Brynn in her hat. Can you believe that beautiful hair? She is the most friendly, fun little girl too.
Here's Tenley and Daddy playing in the snow. Under that hat Tenley is getting curls just like her sister. :) Thanks for the pics Kristen!

So sweet...

I was in the kitchen and saw this...these are the moments that make all the work worth while. The pillow they are leaning on was my first attempt at free hand quilting. I love that it's become a staple in our house. We are big on pillows and blankets around here.

Courtney's

This hat is perfect for a day like today. It's still hat weather, but feels like spring to all of us used to below zero temps. I hope you like it Court. :)

a day in the life of a 2 year old...

After I post Fin crawls up and looks at the new pictures. He sits and talks to the screen in his gibberish.
Lately Fin insists on wearing his brother's undies. He strips down and I find him up in their room with 2 or 3 pair on at a time. He's so proud when he gets both his legs in just right.
Baking Soda baths have been frequent around here lately. They seem to work well for sore bottoms. I just like seeing him in there...so cute.

Some new ones...

I am in love with these fabrics by Moda. I bought them in a charm pack so picking colors was easy! I love how the flower adds so much...otherwise it would just be another black hat.
Here is Noah's newborn hat. I hope to get my hands on a picture to share of him in it. I know slates and greys are very "in" right now and they just seemed so "boy" to me without being too traditional. From what I hear his parents are very cool people so his first hat needed to be cutting edge. :)
This is one of Tenley's new hats. Sorry about the blurry pic. This fabric is Amy Butler. I use it a lot but love how every flower turns out different since there are so many colors in the print.
This is Brynn's new ribbon hat. She looks so cute in it. She has long curly blonde hair...can't wait to get a pic and show you! Have a great day...finally some sun and warmer temps for us in MN!

Welcome to the world, Dillon!

Just hours old :)
Here's Dillion with his Daddy-o. I love the hospital pictures. The time is such a blur it's great to have it documented.
Here he is with his both his parents! Auntie Mandy went to see all of them yesterday and snapped these pics. Clearly Meg is one of those girlies that shows no evidence of JUST having a baby... isn't she gorgous?! Looking at Drew and Meg, I'm pretty sure Dillon will do well in the looks department! Congrats...I hope you get to hibernate and have lots of snuggley naps with that little guy in the next few months.

Megan, a very talented scrapper, has a blog. Check it out. If you scrap you'll be seeing her work in Creative Keepsakes (if you haven't already).

a brand new baby boy...

Oh my goodness...look at this brand new human being! Wow is God good or what?!?!? This is Hunter. His Momma has a very dear friend named Kurstin. She had me make a hat and bootie set for him. It was all packed and ready to go in the hospital bag for a long time...he was 2 weeks late!

stripes

Jake was kind enough to model this hat for me. I love how chunky and squishy it is. I like it with brown too. So boy! Thanks Jake!

Some New Things

Ginny
Jayden



I'm changing some things around on my blog...thanks for bearing with me. I'm not computer savvy in the least, but having fun and feeling proud when I make progress. I'm hoping to make it a bit easier for you to design and order your hat(s). I'm also working on having my patterns available to whomever would like them. :)

Here are a couple recent pictures to share. Thanks to Mandy for taking them. Hop over to her site to see some recent scrapbook pages she did at craft weekend. They call it "hybrid scrapping" (traditional and digital combined). I am in awe of scrappers. Mandy's sister, Megan, just recently got published. A very talented family indeed!

Still no model for the ribbon hat. I think I will need to tweak the pattern a bit. I may have Fin put it on after his nap to check it out. I'm sure he'll negotiate a sucker out of the deal.

A New Ribbon Hat

I've been into ribbons lately. I've noticed kids like the "craziness" of them on hats...with this project I think I took it to the next level. :) It'll be interesting to see if this hat will be cute on or a bust....I'll find a model today and let you know!