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!

Weekend Wrap Up ~ Trip & New Endeavours

This weekend I made another visit to one of my closest friends up in Auburn. We always have such a great time together. She just found out she's having a little bundle of joy and I will be making her new addition a special blanket. I haven't started it yet and she hasn't picked out the colors but here's what the pattern will look like:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/iHodge/tumbling-blocks-blankie-80661ad
(not my picture or work - see link for details)

I think this is SO cute and I can't wait to get started on it for her!

I had a little excitement of my own this week as well - my first international order. Innov8ive Knits is officially international. That is so exciting for me. It's amazing how many people from how many places get to see my work. 


I have 2 things to thank to my special sale this week and a tremendous jump in my views & favorites. For the first time I tried out Etsy's search ads. For a reasonable amount of money I got approximately 14% more views than I would have without it. Along with that, I went through and re-did my listing titles and tags to improve my SEO (search engine optimization). It certainly made a difference in my stats this week and I'm very pleased with the results.


Another new thing that I've gotten involved in is that I'm now a proud boutique partner for Oleo O Models (click me).

 This is a great little modeling business that provides precious models in professional photographs for small business like me. I will be sending out a few of my flower clips for some of the models this coming Tuesday. The girls I chose are cuter than cute and I can't wait to see what I get back! 


I started my photography class this month and once I complete it, I plan to take a large chunk of my store photography myself on local models. I enjoy photography and being self sufficient is exciting and important. Up until this point all the photography on my site has been mine. I an excited to get some professional shoots as well as looking forward to improving my skills in photography as well.


I have a lot of things to tackle this week. Hopefully this week will be as productive as the last!