My name is Brandy Fortune, and I design knit-wear for kids. I love Crème Brulée, Sci-Fi, 70 degree weather and reading a good book in bed. I spend my time knitting, sewing, taking pictures, co-editing the web-zine 
Guess what today is? LG’s birthday! My little girl is turning One! How exciting, and at the same time I’m a bit sad it means she won’t be a baby for much longer. I have some big news. I was supposed to go back to work this week after having been on leave for a year, but decided that what would be best for our family would be for me to stay home and be with the girls. Making the big decision was hard, and scary. I could not be happier though! I feel like today is the first day of the rest of my life. I worked for my previous company sense 2001, immersed in cooperate america for a very long time.
Now my first priority is my girls. As I am not the type to sit idle, and I like to have goals and challenges to feel centered, my little knitting career will now provide exactly the sort of activities I want and need to be involved in. I love learning, and right now I am trying to learn as much as I possibly can about garment construction and fashion design (and I just love styling a photo shoot!), and I am also trying to learn as much as I can about photography. At the same time I get to work on Petite Purls which utilizes all of those wonderful skills I have from college and my many years working professionally as a graphic designer, front end coder and information architect.
I’ve been very busy the last few months, and next spring you should be able to find my designs in lot of fun places! I’ll give you lots more details when I am able, it’s all very exciting. During this past week I was able to put both girls in daycare just for the week, and it makes me very confident in my decision to be home with my girls, and reminds me of how different each child is. BG is a social butterfly, she loves to be in the middle of lots of activity, wants to play with “friends” and loves going out of the house, usually behaving very well. When I used to take her to daycare back when she was LG’s age, she would get very angry/upset when I would leave, but in one year at daycare they only reported on one single day that she was “fussy” or had a bad day. Even that first week, aside from not eating a lot, she LOVED daycare. I have no worries about when school starts. She’s going to love it.
On the other hand, my little laid back and chilled out LG, has had a very rough week in daycare. Every day that I have come and picked her up, she has had tears in her eyes. On the one hand, she has no emotional reaction to my leaving, she doesn’t seem to mind at all, but she does not like being at daycare all day. She wants to be at home. When I come and pick her up she just sort of stares at me, I can sit down on the ground in front of her and she walks up to me and just stands there staring at me (I don’t try walking away, I am sure that would get a reaction). Isn’t it funny how different children can be? How one doesn’t mind being left, but does not enjoy being there, and the other one has to be peeled off my leg, but thrives in that active environment. I have always said, some kids like daycare and some don’t, and little LG is an example of one who does not. I am sure she would get used to it if she had to and she would be perfectly fine, but I feel so happy to know she won’t need to make that transition and can just be happy and at home with me. I am thankful every day for having that flexibility.
When my husband and I chose our first house, we could have afforded something much larger then what we have, but we were too nervous to have our first house be something large and expensive, and every day I am thankful for that decision because it has allowed us to do so much more then we would have been able to.
This year I have discovered that I can get a lot done in a very short amount of time, and that sometimes it IS important to say no to things in order to give myself more breathing room. I’ve also re-discovered that just because someone says no doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again (in all aspects of life). Being home with my kids does bring on many moments of “omgoshwhatwasithinkingpleasesendhelp” but in the end I would not want to be anyplace else. We have 1 more year at home before BG enters pre-school and I plan to make the most of it! My two girls, and my husband are the center of my heart and my world. Happy Birthday Little Girl!
Love this post. Happy Birthday LG!
A year already! Wow, time passes so fast! Happy birthday, and I’m glad you’re able to
stay home if that’s what you want to do.
Best wishes for much happiness and success for all!
Congrats on making such a big decision. I’m sure your girls will appreciate it.
Happy Birthday, LG!
Happy Birthday to LG. Congratulations to you. Enjoy your girls…they are your gift from God.
It is so fantastic that you get to stay at home with your girls. I find it to be a blessing also.
Funny thing, I knew our LGs were close in age, but it turns out they share the same birthday. So, happy birthday to your little girl.
Congratulations to you & your family! Sounds like a happy time for you all.
Happy Birthday to LG.
You three ladies look lovely, thanks for sharing.
Congratulations on your big decision!
Great read! And, congratulations! I appreciate how much back-n-forth it must have been to make such a decision, but priorities! Yes, you have the priorities right. And you are definitely blessed to be able to leave the corporate job. I look forward to seeing your creative endeavors unfold. May we all do the same in our own veins of interests and talents!
Hi!
I just bought the cutest hat pattern (Serendipity) I have ever seen….now I have to figure out how to knit it. Looked simple for this novice knitter, but I already cannot figure out what negative ease means. help?
I cannot find a 13″ circular needle anywhere in my town….so what does dpns mean?
Maybe I will find something on the internet…but I thought I would ask anyway.
Thanks
Johanna
DPN means double pointed needles, they sell them at Joann’s though if you have never worked with them before you may fine them a pain. You can order 13″ circular needles online, 12″ will do as well. Circular needles are connected by a wire. It just means you needle a circular needle that is the same or smaller then the circumference of the hat so you can knit in a circle very easily and quickly. If you have never knit in the round before you may want to stop by your local yarn shop, bring the pattern and ask for some help. Sometimes yarn shops offer project classes, in which you can work on a project of your choosing and they help you through it. Joann’s also sometimes offers knitting classes. Knittinghelp.com has FANTASTIC forums for asking lots of questions, and loads of video’s. You would want to learn how to knit on DPN’s (double pointed needles) or even better, how to knit in the round (circular knitting). Negative ease just means that the knitting it meant to be slightly smaller then the actual size of whatever it’s knit for, and it will stretch out a bit as the person wears it. Some knit garments have positive ease (are bigger and baggier) or negative ease (fit more snuggly and form fitting) or no ease (0) which fit the body exactly. I hope this makes sense. E-mail me pixie AT pixiepurls.com if you have more questions.
It is a very simple and quick knit, many people have said they knit it in one evening, but if you have never knit in the round before, it will be more of a challenge (but a wonderful one, because knitting in the round is SO fun!).