Giraffe Themed Newborn Set

I love customer orders. It is so much fun to work the the customer and create something unique! Sometimes the customer has a very specific request, other times it starts as just the beginning of an idea and I can take it and run with it. Remember guys, I am a professional... I know what I am doing (despite the huge mess this appears to be!).

Back in February my friend approached me and requested that I make an afghan for her friend's baby due in April. Very excited at the opportunity to broaden my horizons, we threw around some ideas before she decided that she would like a giraffe themed gift set. I sent her some examples and got to work.

The first product, as posted on my social media pages, are these adorable little Ugg-style baby booties. I decided to make them larger than newborn so they were more versatile size-wise. With summer being right around the corner, I would hate to make a product that the baby could hardly wear! I used this pattern from Jinty Lyons. The pattern was a little finicky and I decided to change the hook size so I could get nice tight stitches. I measured and compared with size charts online to make sure I was on the right track. Although the booties are not specifically "giraffe" themed, I love the color combo and thought it complimented the other pieces well.

Second, this lovely little giraffe hat. I used this pattern from Repeat Crafter Me. It is one of many animal themed hats that are all adorable. I used an amazingly soft pastel yellow for the body that worked up nicely. This hat definitely required more work than I bargained! Lots of sewing and securing and weaving in ends.



But it was totally worth it because I cannot get over how cute it turned out. The back has just as much character as the front!

Lastly, this giraffe lovey is the best of both worlds! A blankie and a stuffed animal, loveys are really popular right now. I feel in some regions and cultures new families are overwhelmed with handmade blankets. So much love and time goes into making them, I think this smaller piece is a great alternative. The pattern is from LuLu's Crafts . Fantastic pattern and I just added a decorative row and scalloped border. I used the pattern for spots from the Repeat Crafter Me hat.

I love the way everything came together. Working on so many different pieces of varying sizes and colors and yarn types provided a fun challenge. I hope you enjoyed my post and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Sneak Peak- Christmas Tree Skirt

I have been a little absent from the blog as of late because I have been working on a massive custom order. My sister asked if I could make a Christmas tree skirt and I ambitiously and naively said I could. I already had my eye on some projects, so she picked out a pattern she liked, and armed with coupons I made a trip for yarn.

This project is a very colorful one. It involved not one, two, or even three colors but 10 different colors of yarn! My face when I was able to find the center-pull string in every. single. skein.

If you have no idea what I am talking about, you will never understand the struggle. It's better that way. Here is my set up.

This perfectly sized basket made the yarn very easy to work with. It was especially handy since I was changing colors so often.

I have worked with granny squares before (read about it on my personal blog here). But nothing of this magnitude. Each square was ten rounds, and I made 12 squares. Although if we are splitting hairs they are trapezoids. ;) I put together this fun Flipgrams so you can see the process as I added each round. I certainly wish they went this fast!

After finishing the granny trapezoids I still had the inner ring. Then joining, more joining, weaving in ends, and last of all, the border.



As the project continued I was amazed at how large it was becoming. My sister has a 6 foot tree. Not the tree from Rockefeller Plaza. Opps. At least she has options now. I figured it is a versatile project because you can drape it however you like to accommodate style and width.



Wheww! I can't believe it is finished and ON TIME. Now it can be admired before it is covered in presents. I am really proud of this huge accomplishment, and I can't wait for my sister to receive it. I will post more complete photos once I get it to her- this week!