Meeting Little Gavin!

Gavin taking a hard core nap!

This weekend I FINALLY got to meet my best friend’s newborn son and man is he a handsome little thing! At a fresh 3 weeks this little man looked and was as strong as a 3 MONTH old. My husband and I were both so thrilled to get the chance to meet him for the first time and had a blast hanging with him for a few days. Plus it doesn’t hurt they live a good three hours from home so a little out of town time away was a great little vacation for us.

Blair and I driving to Auburn!

 It has become a tradition for me to make a blanket for all of my close friends' children - which seem to be more and more frequent there must be something in the water. A few months back when I started Gavin’s, I did a post on it’s beginning stages (to see it click HERE). I haven’t said much else about it due to the fact his mommy wanted to see the finished product as a surprise so it’s been top secret for a bit.

Here it is in all its glory! I used a stitch pattern called entrelac that creates a series of blocks in the colors Mom picked out for him. Since this type of stitch has a front side and back side (not reversible) I chose a cotton fabric backing of brown monkeys to back it complete with a brown bias tape border! I’m not an expert seamstress but I must say I’m pretty pleased with how the sewing portion turned out too. It’s machine washable so safe for real use – spit up and all! I have secret (well not so secret anymore) hopes that this turns out to be the one blankie he eventually carries everywhere until he’s grown… we’ll see (fingers crossed).

Can't you see how much he loves it?!?!

thinkin' hard

 Special thanks to Erica and Brandon for letting me share their handsome son here on the site! Love you guys!

Blue Steel Face!

Little Bundle of Joy

My maid of honor is having a little boy and I couldn't be any more excited for her!!! As a new and growing tradition, all of my closest friends have gotten a special blanket for their little new ones for their baby gifts.  As I've mentioned in previous posts we have picked out a pattern: it consists of small squares, each row a different color. Here's my inspiration:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/iHodge/tumbling-blocks-blankie-80661ad

Last weekend we picked out a yarn and color. I'll be using Vanna's Choice Baby yarn for this blanket. Generally as a rule of thumb I NEVER buy yarn that I can get at Michael's or Hobby Lobby because it's usually a low quality yarn made with low quality material but this yarn is actually pretty good, not to mention it's machine washable which is SO important with a baby blanket.

So here it is, the color combo and yarn! I'm also going to use the brown as a border for the whole thing. I think this is an excellent color choice by the future mommy! 


I won't be able to get started on it until at least after the wedding, but I can't wait to get it started for him. I think it's going to be beautiful. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful friend & I'm so glad that I can do something this special for her and her first child.


The best thing about making your own baby blankets (or having someone make it for you) is that your can do just about ANYTHING you like. These colors will match his new room just perfect, and the colors are in the EXACT order she wanted them in. I'm always taking custom orders so if you are interested in having one for your next new bundle of joy message me for a quote!

Future Friday ~ Flower Pin

One of my closest friends has a sweet little baby girl. We spent this past Thanksgiving with her and her family. While we were thanking and feasting, I noticed on her little headband was this great little flower clipped on it. BOOM! Innov8ive Knit's new line is born (in thought at least)


People do this all the time, clip bows and flowers to those little scrunchy headbands for baby girls. It's quite genius, and so simple I can't believe I didn't think about this earlier.


Remember this hat?

This is that precious ball of inspirational sunshine I was talking about by the way. Innov8ive Knit's next new flower clip is going to look a whole lot like this flower. Except smaller and attached to a great ribbon covered clip and all kinds of fun centers!


I currently have in the mail on it's way to me several new colors with this project's name all over it. Keep on the lookout for these to hit my Etsy store soon. Pre-orders are available (contact me) for details. I am thinking of selling individuals and doing deals on sets of 3's and sets of 5's. 


This isn't the only flower style making it's way to the new baby clip line, it will make it's Future Friday debut soon.


I am dying to hear your opinions on this, and what colors you want to see these in first! Comment away.

Weekend wrap-up ~ Treasury, Pinwheel hat, & bearded beanie

I just love the weekend, and hate how quickly it goes! This weekend I started the bearded beanie hat. I re-wrote the pattern to make the hat have stripes and changed it into knitting insted of crochet (I personally like the cleaner look of knitting over crochet in this case). It is coming along well and the details on the giveaway will be here before you know it!  I can't WAIT to finish it and show you guys how awesome and fun this hat is going to be! There will be 2 made so if you don't win the giveaway, you can still get one.

Today I did a photo shoot for the pinwheel hat w/ flower. This hat is just so precious, especially after adding a little bling to the flower.

I also made my first treasury this weekend. I think this is something that I am going to do on a regular basis to share special things that I come acors that I really think are great finds. These aren't knitted things in particular, just things that I find are wonderful, a bargin, or unique! I like to share my style and hopefully you find that it is great too. Maybe do a segment called "Treasury Tuesday"! Here is this week's in advance!

White as snow!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62192799/yafah-swans-organic-bone-earrings?ref=tre-942738343-1

I am very sad to see this fab and productive weekend come to an end, but here it is once again. See ya next time, there's a very good chance this time next month the bearded beanie giveaway will just be getting started!!



Future Friday ~ Pinwheel Flower Hat

Hapy Friday! Man have I been looking forward to this weekend! I have been doing SO much this week (mostly for the day job), but those details will come up in the weekend wrap up.
For this Future Friday I am introducing a little girl hat: the pinwheel flower hat. This one is already reserved for a cutstomer but I am planning on making some for the Etsy store in the future. BTW I have recently opened it to start adding products. Look out for a blog in the near future about the grand opening and other details on that. 



http://www.etsy.com/transaction/58194124



I am making this hat out of a SUPER soft yarn in a pink and green! I plan on maing a modification to this hat by adding a jewel/crystal of some sort into the center of the flower. I think this will make it POP a little better and give a little more "princess" to the look. Nothing says princess like bling :).

On a side note I already have a model for this hat but I am still looking for a little boy to model the rhythm hat. If you or someone you know may be interested please feel free to message me and pass the info along. (There is a tap at the top of my page to get in touch). Also I am making things all the time for people of all ages, if you are interested for future shoots, I would love to hear from you too!

Weekend Wrap-UP ~ Busy bee! rhythm hats, polar bears, and lions, oh my!

Happy productive weekend time! I just LOVE the feeling of getting things accomplished. Although my poor fiance has been left to his own devices this week because I've been so busy, I have been tearing up my to do list and taking names! I was quite sure at times I had taken on too much this week and my head was going to explode but it didn't and I feel so relieved to be able to look back on what all Innov8ive Knits has gotten done this week:

Polar Bear photo shoot & edits. I finished up the polar bear set sometime last week and since my customer was in need of them for a shower fairly quickly I found a last minute model and did a shoot after work one afternoon. We met up in a grassy area near an abandoned church that my model's mommy recommended. I would have never thought to go there but they turned out very good. I got the chance to finally sit down and narrow down the pictures I took and edit them. Put to work some of the new things I have learned in my much valuable Photoshop class- taking out odd things in the background, adding my business name in the photos, making the pictures have brighter pictures and softened them with more light. I'm so thrilled with how they turned out. I was concearned with that after I looked at the original pictures because my settings weren't right and they turned out a little blue straight from the camera. I'm really pleased overall with them and quitr proud of them. Each time I do a shoot like this I do new edits and new angles, and they look better. You can almost see the progression in my albums. Photography is so important in a mostly web based business.

You can see the full set of pictures on my Facebook under Polar Bear hat & diaper cover set in my albums.

Also this week I finished the Lion Toy. I must admit that this project entailed a bit more than I exptected! There's about a MILLION strands of hair this bad boy needs to have individually cut and attached to his head. I have taken some pictures but haven't gotten the chance to edit them just yet because I want a couple more first. I do plan on sometime before this weekend taking him to the park and photographing him in places children would play- sitting in a swing, on a see-saw, climbing ladders, etc. I think this will bring a fun, playful element to the pictures.

AND I started the rhythm hat from last Future Friday's post. It is coming along fairly quickly and the colorwork is very cool. I love watching a project take shape, I think that is my favorite thing about knitting/crocheting is watching a shape develop from nothing. It's like magic.

On the business side I have also put together some spreadsheets to keep track of profit, what has sold, and what hasn't. And I'm preparing for doing a grand opening on Etsy. I was going to wait until I had a few more things in stock to add but what time is better than the present right?  I am planning on having it open by the end of the month! I've also created a new cleaner/professional Quote & Invoice template. On top of that I have hired a graphic designer to create my logo and we are working on the details of the design and soon it will be on EVERYTHING. I can't wait to get new business cards, make new website banners etc.

 Things are really coming together, and although it's not at the point where it pays all the bills it makes me happy and it certainly is growing. I've picked up 4 custom orders just this week! Once the Etsy store is open I hope to be selling stock and picking up more orders. Especially with Christmas on its way I need to take advantage of that and be prepared. If only I had more time to knit!

Future Friday ~ Rhythm Hat

I just LOVE little boy clothes! I had a customer request a clean and simple newborn hat. No fru-fru's, animal faces, etc and something warm too. Hats like this are excellent for everyday wear, not just a photo prop. Sometimes when giving a gift (as in this occasion), you want to give something extra useful. When you are uncertain of a mom's style or they already have a little of everything, a hat like this is just the ticket. In this case less is more. It has unique color-work that puts a fresh attitude to the common hat.




http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rhythm-hat



Pattern: Rythm hat
I plan on using a sport weight 100% peruvian wool yarn. It's a nice wool that is warm and sturdy without being itchy. Being wool it is a hand wash only item. I will be using a denimn blue and a pesto like green colors per my customer's request. I think they will contrast nicely and really pop to show off the work!

As a moderation I plan on making this hat just a tad longer than the pattern calls for. This will give a little extra growing room and assure that it will cover the baby's ears no matter how big his newborn head may turn out to be. The baby will be in a chilly area and we want to make sure his little ears will be nice and warm.

I have been doing a lot of crochet patterns lately and although they work up a good bit faster and have a truly hand made look, I have been really missing my knitting needles these days! I am quite looking forward to popping those pointy needles out and getting to work on this project.

If you were to buy a hat like this, what colors would you like to have???

Future Friday - ROAR! Lion toy

This future Friday's project is a custom order from a local customer. In fact it's a project that I plan to start tackling this weekend.


http://www.etsy.com/transaction/57164587

 This is a pattern from one of my favorite Etsy designers- Beezy Mom's Creations. I've decided to do this project in a special yarn made of a tightly wound cotton that makes it durable, absorbent, and washable. As a baby toy, this will need to be washer friendly and a natural fiber that can be in a baby's mouth. This will be filled with fiberfill with a lining around it so the fill cannot be pulled through the stitches.

I'm very excited to add to my portfolio Innov8ive Knits very first toy! If you or someone else are possibly interested in a special hand made toy let me know. I am always interested in new ideas and challenging projects!

Weekend Wrap-Up- Newsie Hat photo shoot/ editing

This week was a short one thanks to the holiday but man was it smack full of adventure! From last week's weekend wrap-up you all know I finished my new favorite children's hat - the red newsie! This thing just has such a classic look I couldn't wait to get it on an appropriately sized head (and not just mine). 


This week I got the chance to use it in a photo shoot on the most precious little blue eyed boy I know! He was such a trooper for the shoot and was surprisingly content sitting in the grass for a nice chunk of time. Special thanks to Valerie for letting me borrow him :). Since this hat has such an old fashioned style, I really wanted to convey that in the editing of the picture. Give it an all around look of refined & antique. Valerie dressed him in sweet little overalls with no undershirt and brought some antique looking toys along for the shoot, which not only helped him keep occupied it really added to the effect.

Little story about the photo shoot ~ Sometimes when your brain starts leaking out of your ears and you start acting like a crazy person, you know that you are doing too much in too little time. Prime example here. This whole week I have been doing strange things at work like scrambling simple paperwork, forgetting to do routine things, etc. The night before the shoot I made sure to charge my camera and have it ready to take with me to work in the morning because I was heading to the park right when I get off. I was so totally excited and prepared. Once I made it to the park after work I realized that I had brought the camera and totally FORGOT to bring the hat! I mean HELLO it was main reason for the shoot. So last minute I got my sweet fiance to save the day and interrupted his studious homework time to bring it out to me so I wouldn't be late. After he so kindly saved the day and I was on time (being late is a huge pet peeve of mine) I couldn't find my little model and his mommy. Why might you ask? That would be because I was at the wrong flipping park on the other side of flipping town! I can't even begin to explain how embarrassed I was. This type of behavior is so unlike myself and I could have just DIED! Luckily, I was able to make it to the other park in a somewhat reasonable amount of time (although late grrr) and got to do the shoot in plenty of time before sunset. Little Mason (my model) really kept his cool for me keeping him waiting so long and close to bed time. I still can't believe I did that :-/

I hope that the photos will end up useful in the future for sales. They will be the only impression that most of my customers or anyone interested for that matter will come across before they make a decision. I am learning slowly how to use photoshop from trial and error and I must admit I'm pretty proud of these edits. (BTW I am taking a photoshop class at the local university and plan on sharing some of the tips & tricks that I learn with you- if you bought Photoshop like me and then realized it's a little more in depth than you anticipated) If they don't sell before my grand opening of my Etsy store, the goal of these is to really catch the eye and show the attitude and quality of the work for customers. We will see how affective it is here soon enough :) Wish me luck!