My Nephew's Newborn Business Suit

My cousin ("nephew" is her son) shared a picture with me in June of a baby with a necktie and asked if I could make one.  I created this set and gave it to my cousin at her shower on Sunday.

The hat is based on a free pattern I found on Ravelry  before Joshua was born.  I had the printed directions from ages ago so I'm unable to link the exact pattern.  I wrote my own pattern for the diaper cover for Joshua's newborn photoshoot.  After looking at a few free patterns on the internet that were free, I decided I could do better if I wrote my own pattern for the tie.  I really wanted that authentic tie triangle look.

Now we wait for the adorable pictures of Nathan the business man to come!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss and some odds and ends...

The last few months have been jam packed with holidays, end of semester and start of new semester craziness, and sickness that brought my entire extended family to their knees, including me (I haven't been seriously ill since 2009!).

I've had a few recent commissions that I wanted to share.  Here's the first twin set I created which happens to coincide with Dr. Suess's birthday.  These went to some very special babies in New Hampshire.

And here is a newborn version of my Girly Penguin Earflap hat that headed up to Massachusetts on Monday.

 Here is the hat for the hippest baby on the block.  If there are any teenagers in your life, you'll recognize that these are my spin on Beats headphones which are quite the status symbol!  One of my students commission and helped me design this hat for her cousin!  Oh, and its not my dyslexia kicking in, the "b" is upside down because these were made for a little guy named Patrick, so we swapped the "b" for a "p" to personalize them.

  Lastly (which I failed to notice until today due to the crazy month I had in February), Kate Nesi has some of my work featured on a little guy in her blog.

Exciting Moments: Hudson's Photoshoot

In November I custom made a Sutton hat for little Hudson in blue and white (guess who his parents' favorite  baseball team is).  Here is the first order from Erma's Inspiration's to be featured in a newborn photoshoot!  Amazing work by Kate Nesi!!

Result of the Sibling Collaboration Experiment

Well this is going to be difficult.  I want to share SOOOOOOOO many images.  I seriously think blogger would crash! 

For a first time event, we're calling it a successs. John snapped gorgeous photos of all my new hats.  I had 2 friends who participated (there were supposed to be 3 but one of the babies got sick). Plus my son who hates modeling but seemed to enjoy having some company. 

I'm hoping to do it again someday.  I'll have to make even more new designs though!

Without further ado, here are our outstanding photos.

Out Takes



Do I hafta smile Uncle John???
 

"No, I didn't try to pull that off, my head is just odd shaped"

Well, ya know this isn't the easiest place to sit ladylike, but I'll make it work. 

Mommies make us SMILE!



Reindeer!

 

 

 

At this point blogger can't handle all the pictures and I've lost the ability to add captions :( A picture's worth a thousand words anyway!

 

Penguins!

 

 

What a little beauty!

Kids being kids :)

 Time to slide!!

 

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!