What do Violet, Princeton, the Green Hornet, and Dog Ears have in Common?

They were all part of the custom orders I completed this month.

Here is a collection I made for a little girl name Violet expected to arrive in April.  There is a set for her arrival and a set for her when it gets cold in the winter.  The hat is a variation of my Penny hat, one of my first creations!  The cowboy boots I've made before but never listed in my shop--that will have to go on my to do list.  I customized them by doing her initial in a lasso style font.

  Here's another custom baby shower gift.  This time for a little guy who's mom works at Princeton.  Too bad I didn't have a tiger to model it on. This is the first time I made a letter of the alphabet that wasn't embroidered or just a chain.

A friend's brother is OBSESSED with the Green Hornet; he even has the car to prove it.  His sister ordered these snoods for him and his wife.  (the flower is much prettier and less blurry in person.  It came out that way every time :/) The boy is based on Green Hornet colors and the girl's snood was made to coordinate.  

And finally, one more custom snood.  A customer contacted me through Etsy to see if I could make a snood with ears like her chihuahua, Bijou.  How did I do?

Recent Custom Creations

I've done a few custom order in the last few month that I wanted to add here to the collection on my blog.

First here is a custom hat based on The Penny.  The patron wanted it to be gray and light pink (the same colors used in The Madison) as well as taking off the leaves.

Then, my friend Marcy asked me to make this hat, two of them in fact.  She sent me a screen shot of her pin.  So I just wrote my own pattern.  Here is Josh, my reluctant model.  

I will be adding this to the shop after I get good shots of it.   

Then I had an order for a blue version of my Rutgers Little Fan hat, which looks to me like a Giants hat, or maybe Captain America (since I live in Eagles country and so does the recipient).

  

 After that I had an order for two Gingerbread Man hats, with the addition of a pair of baby legs.  This is the first set of baby leg warmers I've made.  I read a tutorial pattern and I adapted it to what I needed,  of course now I can't find the tutorial I used, so my apologies for not being able to link that.

Finally, my husband co-worker had a special request.  His son was outgrowing his favorite hat.  He asked if I could make a replica and sent me this picture.        


How did I do?

The funny thing is I wasn't sure what animal this was while I was working on it,  I though raccoon, but then I thought the colors were wrong so maybe it was a fox, heck maybe it was some weird animal I don't even know.  My husband confirmed upon deliver that it was indeed a raccoon,  I think I will make a gray, black, and white one for the next shop photoshoot.

Penny's Hat

 

This beautiful little girl's mommy commissioned a hat for her and left me a lot leeway for artistic discretion.  The mission: create a hat with a deep red flower with an off white/creamy tan for the main body.  I am quite happy with how this turned out!  In additon, my little man was excited that he didn't have to model this one (don't let the gorgeous blue eyes fool you, it's not my son in the picture).

 

First things first--go get some wool.  Michael's is great because they have a teacher discount you can use (well if you're a teacher) along with their rewards.  15% off makes a difference.  This hat is made of my favorite yarn, which just happened to be on sale, Vanna's Choice.  It is soft but sturdy. 

 

Previously all the hats I'd made like this had three colors.  Threes just seem to look more complete.  I love purple, so first I tried adding a purple in there.  Though I liked it, I suddenly panicked, wondering, "What if she hates purple?"  I adore purple by I have a friend who absolutely hates it.  Hoping that Becky liked purple would not suffice, I had to make another hat just in case purple was the bane of her existence! 

Pic the hubby took of the hat with purple. We've got a bet going, he thinks he can sell it faster than I can!

 

This time only the colors specifically mentioned would be used. I modified the pattern a bit so there would only be two rows of color. The thinner band of color achieved a more feminine look.
   

Then lightning stuck!  A little light bulb went off when I had the idea to add green leaves. I created a simple leaf pattern (which will be shared on this blog for free very soon). Isn't it perfect!  If I ever am blessed with a baby girl, you can bet this will be the first hat I make her.

 

Penny presented a special challenge because her head is a little bigger than average (although no one would ever notice, her mommy told me she has a tough time getting some shirts over her head).  A simple sizing adjustment was made by adding one stitch to the very first round and as you can see, it fits perfectly!