SouleMama

"Tot Toppers - custom knits and patterns for your little tot. I got started by designing hats in particular, and now enjoy working on all kinds of garments for all ages. My projects often reflect a whimsical spirit and construction is seamless as much possible. I strive to add specifically to the body of knitting patterns for boys as I have two of my own!"

(There is a free pattern of Kate's - Cheery Scrap Cap - available in the Winter issue of Petite Purls.)

Kate: As the mom of two boys, I've been disappointed with the selection offered in boy stuff, especially once my oldest son was out of the newborn/baby stage. Not just in knitting patterns, but just clothing in general! I started designing when I wanted to sell handknits. It was hard to keep up with the demand though and I found myself more interested in working on new projects, then repeating the same ones over and over. So I started designing and fell in love with the whole process.

Kate: I was working on my PhD at the University of Florida, in political science. I am almost finished!

Kate: Flipping through catalogs that come to my home, walking through stores and seeing different elements. Playing with them in my head to incorporate them in a new way!

Kate: I do the work I do because of motherhood! I was a knitter before I had children, but my process was so inspired by my children that I doubt I would have ever begun were it not for them.

"... a little nature... a little imagination... a lot of play. Toys, tools and activities for growing minds. Imagine Childhood is a family owned and operated company offering high quality environmentally conscious toys and activities that encourage exploration, creativity, and open-ended unstructured play."

Imagine Childhood also maintains a blog, which can be found here.

Imagine Childhood: In it’s current iteration Imagine Childhood is going into its 3rd year, but as a family we have been selling children’s goods in one way or another for the past 20 years including a storefront in Denver Colorado that we ran for many of them.

Imagine Childhood: It had been a number of years since the shop closed and often we found ourselves drifting into discussions about the importance of good, quality gifts for kids. This of course, easily segued into “when I was a kid” conversations about each of our favorite toys and memories from childhood.

After a while we realized that there was a recurring theme. All of our fondest memories, whether from growing up in the 50s or thirty years later in the 80s, were of time spent exploring and imagining... of believing in the power of a stick, a piece of string, a sunny afternoon and a good sense of adventure.

That's why we started imaginechildhood.com, a place where we could share stories, toys and activities that encourage a kid to be a kid... to get out in nature and explore... to dream... to imagine.

Imagine Childhood: After completing my degree in art, I spent some time as a freelance children’s furniture designer/fabricator which eventually led me to the Field Museum of Natural History. There I spent a number of years working in Exhibit Design developing interactive educational activities for permanent and traveling exhibitions before I moved on to Imagine Childhood.

Imagine Childhood: I have a simple plastic Fresnel lens that I love. It’s meant to stick on the back window of a cargo van to improve visibility for the driver (by magnifying/expanding the viewable area), but I keep mine on a window in the house. There’s just something about the way it changes the landscape in the midst of landscape that I could look at for hours... parallel and diverse perspectives all in the same frame.