Betsy Jo Photography Blog

Capturing emotion & beauty in tandem

7.16.14

Dear Leah. Senior Photos.

I’m not good at finding just the right words for this one. For some reason, when a subject is this close to my heart, it’s really hard to for me to find the right vocabulary.

This is dear Leah. She’s like extended family, this girl.

We went up to Minnesota in June to visit, and it was such a wonderful 5 days, full of laughter and sunshine and memories. During that time, we were treated with the best hospitality- from all of the Steiner crew. Their kids and ours don’t all match up directly in ages, but they treated our children like siblings. Andrew had Joel and Connor keeping pace with laughter most of the trip. Leah and Tess opened Nora’s eyes to what it’s like to have older sisters. They didn’t patronize or try to go out of their way to include her. They just brought her right in, like it was the most natural thing. I will always remember that part of the trip as one of my favorite things.

It’s a long and winding story, how this relationship with our family and theirs came about. But I firmly believe that it was meant to be, at just the right time. And my heart is happy thinking that there are more memories to come.

Leah, we love you dearly and are so impressed with your hard work and the tenacity of your spirit when you set your eyes on a goal. We have all sorts of happy wishes for your future, and are so thankful that we get to watch it unfold.

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July 17, 2014 - 2:23 pm

Amy - I have been not so patiently waiting for this one! BEAUTIFUL JOB! Your words as well as the photos. BEAUTIFUL job and BEAUTIFUL girl!

July 17, 2014 - 7:04 pm

Donna Knoblock - Betsy, You do such wonderful job with your photography. I have SO enjoyed getting to know you through my sis, and although we really don’t know each other personally I feel like we are friends. The pics of my niece are beautiful!! She is a beautiful girl inside and out! Thanks!

7.1.14

Jesse & Rachel

We met for this session on a (very) early Saturday morning, filled with summer sunshine and laughter. Jesse and Rachel just make you smile when you’re with them. They are good together, these two, and it shows.

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July 8, 2014 - 9:00 am

Pam - Betsy, These are great. Love them all (the pictures and the people).

6.3.14

A Blanket of Sage.

This little blanket has been in the making for awhile. It actually sat on a shelf for some time, waiting for just the right little baby boy to be born. But then a little girl named Sage arrived, and this blanket suddenly made the most sense for her, with its dusky green colorway. To finish it off just right, I ordered some lovely ‘Liberty of London‘ fabric and put it on the wrong side of the blanket for a sweet feminine touch. I hand-sewed it on, and being that I’m not exactly a seamstress, it’s a little less than perfect. But I hope it looks more handmade than homemade, with lots of love in every one of those little stitches.

Details on Ravelry, here.

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June 3, 2014 - 7:57 am

Kristin and Sage Skinner - The sweetest loveliest little blankie from the sweetest loveliest lady.. We love you and this gorgeous blanket so much- and to everyone else… She’s fibbing , it IS perfect! Better than perfect Betsy , can’t thank you enough -xo, kris + sage

June 3, 2014 - 3:28 pm

Cheryl - Nice, Betz!

June 5, 2014 - 12:20 am

Estela - It looks beautiful!

June 5, 2014 - 10:46 am

Danna - Beautiful! I love your color choices, may I ask what yarn that is?

5.20.14

Bubble.

I love knitting for her.

She gets rather excited about the end result, which makes me want to knit for her again and again.

So for now, I think I’ll do just that.

I decided, on a whim, to join the Very Shannon “Tops, Tanks, and Tees Knitalong” – and this pattern just jumped out at me. The dates were from May 7-May 24 and I thought there was no way I’d finish by the end date. But thanks to a few days on call, I had plenty of knitting time.

The pattern is called Sourpatch, by Corrina Ferguson. It’s a free pattern, available on Ravelry- and I highly recommend it. The bubbles were so fun to create and I loved the top-down construction.

The yarn choice is my favorite part. Those happy Nice and Knit colors just yell ‘summer.’ It was fun getting Nora’s opinion on which order they should be in for the bubble stripes.

I modified the pattern a little (Why do I always do that?) -so that the bottom hem was ribbing instead of the called-for seed-stitch. I love seed-stitch but wanted something a little more tailored-looking.

I also modified the yarn weight, choosing DK instead of sport, for a little more heft and structure in the body.

I still used size 4 needles, but went down to a size 8 due to Nora’s petite frame. Glad I did, because I loved the fit and didn’t block it so that it would stay just right. A little steam iron and some weaving in, and she was ready to wear it.

In short, I am so happy with the pattern, thrilled with the Nice and Knit DK weight yarn, and think this won’t be the last time I knit one of these up.

(I took too many photos, and I know it. Sorry. But you should have seen this post before I narrowed them down… Because golden light and that girl, and some pretty yarn kinda’ make me happy.)

On Ravelry here.