Iam certain I would not have authored this book were it not for the myriad wonderful people that the Lord has been gracious enough with whom to surround me. I have been given the most supportive husband ever who is also an incredible father and an example to all of our little men. Thank you, Ryan, for putting up with the messy house and a lot of takeout—especially while this project was in its final stages. Thank you in advance for continuing to put up with the messy house particularly because, let’s face it, housekeeping is not my strong suit.

My dear, sweet boys, Jesse, Charlie, Oliver, and Eliot, are the inspiration behind this book. These poor children don’t even know that it’s not normal to wear hand knit sweaters in 95-degree weather so that mama can have pictures taken for work! I give a huge thanks to the babysitters, Grandmommy and Nana, who helped to keep my people happy and fed, if not clean, during various photo shoots and writing time, and for their love and devotion to our family always.

Sara Parker is such a talented photographer and I am so lucky to have had her work with me over the past few years, almost from the inception of Tot Toppers. I do not know where my brand would be today were it not for Sara and I will miss her terribly as she is moving away. I thank her for always making time for us.

I am grateful for my friends, Anne and Brantley, who graciously opened their homes for pictures; Mrs. Mitchum on behalf of Pleasant Hill Elementary, and Jesse’s first grade teachers, Ms. Hughes and Senorita Hood, for allowing the use of their classrooms. It was so important to me to keep these boys in their natural environments.

I had such a slew of adorable children whose parents let me borrow them for this book. I thank them so much for going out of their way to bring me their kids, dress them up, and most of all for making funny faces, jumping up and down for real smiles, and trying to prevent them from sweating as I failed miserably in my attempt to beat the South Carolina summer heat.

To Kim, Renae, and Joan, who were all so crucial to getting these pieces knit. I am grateful for the millions of questions to make sure the knitting was knit my way, for ripping and redoing when necessary, and for making every single deadline.

The combined influences of great Aunt Dindy and my sister Joey led me to knitting in the first place; Aunt Dindy was the teacher and Joey was the competitive force that first sparked my interest. I also thank them for being willing to proofread this manuscript and provide feedback. Thank you also to Wendy Bernard for being a source of encouragement and another volunteer copy editor.

I appreciate the excitement from Stackpole about this project and the freedom I was given to create the book of my dreams. Thank you to both Kyle Weaver and Candi Derr, my editors, for the positive feedback and expertise that brought this book from my head to paper. Many thanks, also, to my paginator, Wendy Reynolds, and Caroline Stover for creating the schematics.

Thank you to these little men for modeling the items in this book:

Mattox James Bolen

Tucker Allen Bolen

Joseph Henry Crosby

Caden Wei Gissendanner

Jacob Michael Large

Reyburn Benson Lominack

Jesse Ryan Oates, II

Charles Lee Oates

Oliver Henry Oates

Eliot Thatcher Oates

Jacob Speece

Cooper Douglas Stone

Kevin Williams

Charles Edward Winston