"Knitting Clothes Kids Love" by Kate Oates

I did some photography work this past year, photographing three craft books for Quayside. The first book is this one, Knitting Clothes Kids Love. Quayside continues their children's handmade apparel series, this time with knitting. Quayside asked if I would take the photos to make the book consistent with the look of Sewing Clothes Kids Love. 

The beautiful knitting projects and the authorship of this book are the work of designer Kate Oates of Tot Toppers. Kate created 25 small knit projects for this book that are so versatile and eye-catching. They add just that right amount of texture to an outfit. And they are so super cozy, too. Furthermore, Kate, the mother of three boys, made sure there are just about as many boy projects as girl projects in there (unlike a certain preceding book...hmm...).

The projects are generally for kids about 4 to 12 years old. But you knitters are good at adding/subtracting rows and makin' it work, aren'tcha? 

From head to toe...

- Hats

- Hair accessories
- Scarf

- Capelet

- Backpack

- Glovelet

- Wristlet

- Leggings

- Slippers

- Socks

Photography is really easy. Really: Click. Boom. Done. Playing the piano is easy, too: Press several keys and voilá. I do a lot of manual metering and so on, but really, the cameras these days are better at it than me. And a good hunk of Carl Zeiss glass can make toenail clippings look amazing. But photography (and playing the piano), because it is so easy, is really hard, too. I, myself, do not call myself a photographer. I take photographs, but, of the thousands of photos I have taken, I haven't yet taken a single photo that transcends beyond the image captured. Once I finally take that photo, I might call myself a photographer. (Like this guy is a Photographer.) But I try and try and one day, maybe, I will take a photo someplace and then that photo will take someone else someplace else, and then, finally, I might be a photographer.

When photographing my own Sewing Clothes Kids Love, the risks I were taking were mostly my own. If the reader didn't like my styling, well, it was my photography styling of my clothes of my designs (and Sabine Pollehn's, of course) and I was striving for something back then that was different from other books on the bookstore shelf. If a reviewing reader said it looked like "weird drama clown-like clothes" (like that's a bad thing...?), I'm fine with it: Everybody is entitled to an opinion and I appreciate even that feedback (...maybe not the first time I read it...or the tenth...but, now years later, yeah, okay, there's a point of view I can respect, I s'pose...).  But in photographing someone else's work -- sheesh -- that's a huge leap of faith. I wanted to tell stories, as well as feature the items. I hope it worked. I hope Kate is pleased and I hope the knitters of the world like the book as well. 

The projects are quite adorable and there's something in there for everyone: From cutting edge to classic design. I am quite humbled to have been entrusted with someone else's very personal, from-the-heart work. And for that I want to thank the folks at Quayside/Creative Publishing International.

Here's a taste of what is in Knitting Clothes Kids Love.









And, as always, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my wonderful girl. She is such a trooper and actually enjoys being in front of the camera. She'll put on a Red Riding Hood Cape or Cinderella slippers or kiss a frog, no probs, mama mia. (And my son is in there, too, and I love that kid to pieces, too). My daughter's sweet, sweet friends, who modeled for us, were also marvelous, marvelous models. Kids are just awesome, is all I'm saying.



Knitting Clothes Kids Love is scheduled for release on January 1st and is available for pre-order on Amazon now.