Kids seem to grow right before your eyes. I mean that literally. I remember when my son was growing. It seemed like one day his pants were the right length and the next the pants were too short. He's 21 years old now and I think he is still growing (or the door frames are getting shorter)... He's 6' 2" tall for now. We run a bit tall in my family. :) When our children or grandchildren develop one of those fascinations with a particular character, animal, or style, our thoughts turn to how we can make that happen without going bankrupt. Its been my very great pleasure to provide my customers with that special gift that makes a child (or parent) smile broadly!
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Sometimes life hurts, it just does. Its a fact that people face heartache every day. We can't fix it, we can't take away their pain but in all cases we can add a little love and support. There have been times when my daughter and I have made special little garments for babies born early into this world, or for friends who may be facing their own mortality. Generally we do not take pictures of this work. We do put every bit of TLC into our the knitting/crocheting we do for those who need a hug as we do for paying customers, maybe more so. I try to remember that my talent for knitting was given to me for a greater purpose then simply selling my wears. Although I enjoy the sales immensely, its important to focus on the larger picture. People hurt, if my family can provide a little comfort, we try very hard to do so, quietly. Nothing like a hand knitted hug :)
This is one of my littlest customers... and one of my favorite models. The hat and booties were made by my daughter and myself. This sweet little angel has been wearing my designs since she was born. She's a petite little thing. As you know knitting/crocheting, designing for babies and young children is a passion of mine. Now my daughter shares that passion in her own business! We are blessed! I want to thank Melissa for allowing me to use her daughter's picture on my blog.
I made 3 adult sized hats in 24 hours for the Winter Carnival fun. Here in my little corner of the Adirondacks we have a Winter Carnival. Everyone in town participates. This year my husband will be part of the festivities :) I will be home, working of course. I wanted you all to see the hats... the hat for my husband is the green one. My daughter made the decoration. Its kinda fun. :) My friends the mighty Viking clan will be clad in the black hats which will be worn under their viking helmets. I told you it was fun. I hope to have some pictures for you to see later.
Our local Winter carnival is coming up. Its theme... Where the Wild Things Are an homage to the great Maurice Sendak's childhood fantasy book of the same name. Such an adorable theme. One I can totally get into as it was one of my children's favorite books. My son was a Sendak fanatic when he was a child. It brings back so many great memories. With all that said; I've been asked to make 3 earflap hats for the event. (Its going to be VERY cold). One hat will look like a monster, the other two will be plain black because they are helmet liners. (something wild and fun) I plan to get pictures not only of the finished product but also the participants of the Winter Carnival wearing said hats. LET THE FUN BEGIN! UPDATE: 2 down, one to go! People ask me what I do for a living. If I say, I knit and crochet, they dismiss it out right. If you say I'm a professional fiber artist they change their tune. They ask, what do you do? I tell them, they sort of squirm, because I'm sure what they think of is their relatives making them Christmas gifts of hand knit goodies like tube socks, and snowman sweaters. I'm a professional fiber artist, sort of... When dinosaurs roamed the earth, my beloved grandmothers taught me the basics of knitting and crocheting. I really did want to learn but I was a little young and dyslexic before dyslexic was cool. I did not seriously pick up another crochet hook for years. Like 20+ years. When I did it was for my Grandmother who was in the nursing home and wheel chair bound with Alzheimer's. My very first blanket went to her. After that the rest is history. Now I consider the true professionals those designers, especially the independent designers, who work hard to create and sell their patterns for the rest of us to buy. They have my admiration. I do work my own designs but some take a very long time! I don't write them down because I am terrible at writing out patterns. There are a few of my personal design ideas below. Currently I am heavily modifying a sweater. Its taking a long time. Between injuries, and illness, my customers have been very patient with me. Some of the designs below I can easily reproduce... others probably not ever that's very likely what sets me apart from the professionals and the merely amateur professionals. I do love my job. These are just a few things I've made recently. You can see more on my Facebook page. I just wanted to give you a sense of some of the things my daughter and I like to make. Its very hard to get a close up of the detail of the projects sometimes because they are for newborns and are tiny :) I love this picture. It was taken in October at Coe Lake in Ohio. Seated on the rock is my daughter and myself, standing behind me on my left is my husband Tom, and to the right my son. My dad took this picture of us at a family photo shoot. I love my family... All of it. My daughter a writer, my son a brilliant artist. Both of them are in college. My husband is a busy man. He's a Teaching Assistant, (para-professional) working on his master's degree, he works as a volunteer at the local jail, is doing some work as a personal trainer, and he's an AVID reader. (he tolerates my knitterly addiction)
I have the privilege of working with my daughter on a daily basis through our businesses knitting and crocheting. Sometimes my mom and dad even join in our business as we come up with special projects to help others who need just a little extra love. I'm a knitter, crocheter, reader, lover of old movies, cop shows, and I'm a history buff. So much so that I do a little genealogy just to keep my hand in. I have a Bachelor's of science in history education but for many reasons, I work from home knitting/crocheting my little heart out. Those many reasons you'll all learn about in the fullness of time. :) (Oh did I mention I like soccer and Rugby... Manchester United baby.) |
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Author**Opinions expressed on blogs about which I write are the opinion of the blog authors and DO NOT necessarily reflect my own opinion. |