OOTD - The Knitting Lesson (SIA)

It's time for another Style Imitating Art!  Jen, of Librarian for Life and Style, picked this lovely piece for today's inspiration:

"The Knitting Lesson" by Earnest Bieler (1908)

This was a lot of fun to center an outfit around, and gave me an opportunity to wear a hat that I received as a gift, but don't wear often enough.  It echoes the patterns on the little girl's hat in the painting, and also has another great story behind it.  Want to see it?  I know you do:

Not only is the hat adorable, but it comes from an awesome company called Krochet Kids.  If you haven't heard of them before, you should check them out.  They're a fair trade company that "work[s] with highly vulnerable women who live in poverty stricken regions of the world. [Those areas are in Peru and Uganda.] [Their] program empowers women with the resources to rise above poverty. Forever."  (from their What We Do page)  It only made sense to include this hat in the outfit, since it was made by a company that caringly teaches it's artisans the craft of Crochet (which is almost the same as knitting, only different.)  They also have scarves, tees, and other goodies on their site.  I'm especially in love with this sweater.

I kept the rest of the outfits simple with black and blue to echo the grandmother's outfit.  I even included a scarf I made myself, with some adorable buttons that were a gift from my MIL.  Actually, as I looked at these pictures earlier, I realized a lot of the pieces from this outfit were gifts from my family, which just makes this outfit even more special!

Outfit Details:
Top: free via clothing swap
Jeans: thrifted, $5
Hat: gift from SIL
Striped Bracelet: gift from MIL
Charm Bracelets: DIY (tutorial here)
Scarf: DIY with gifted buttons from MIL
Shoes: thrifted, $2
Grand Total: $7

If you'd like to see other outfits inspired by this painting, be sure to check out Jen's blog tomorrow for the SIA round-up!