Knitting for that baby...

.... the one we can't wait to meet. My niece! There's all kinds of excitement around here as we talk about babies and retell stories about, "when you were a baby..." I wish that I had taught myself to knit before I had babies. It's been the perfect thing to sit around and do.

This hat just begged to be modeled on the Effanbee doll that was mine when I was a child. (It's closing in on 40 years old.) But about the hat, so small that I can't believe a baby's head is ever so tiny. It's funny how much you forget.... how their head fit in the palm of your hand. This hat (70 stitches CO, size 2 needles) was knit using the Magic Loop Method and I loved learning it. I'll definitely be using this method again, and it makes so much sense. Easy... circular knitting with no double point needles... gotta love that! I added the I-cord up top for a little flower look.

The booties were a pleasure to knit. These from Erika Knight's newest book Natural Nursery Knits. This book, I got from our public library. It's just dreamy to look at with beautiful photos. You'll find yourself wanting another baby even if you don't knit. My husband and I keep joking about how wonderful it will be to have another baby in the family that we can love on and then hand back to mama and daddy. Perfect, if you ask me.

A year in the making

This bleeding heart was planted for my sweet girl's birthday, six years ago. A dear friend gave it to her when she was a tiny infant; it blooms every year on her day. How is it possible that she's six years old already, I ask you?! She seems so grown up. It's hard for me to think about six more years racing by. I marvel all the time at her independent spirit, and her sense of self. In the days leading up to her birthday, there were several moments of cuddling between my little/big girl and me. I recounted numerous stories of when she was a baby, although many of these details she knows by heart. I often hear her reciting these stories about herself to others. They have taken on a fable-like quality with occasional extra details. Such is the nature of the story passed down from generation... not written, but told from memory. She chooses each one to tell like she would pick from among some treasured pebbles in her hand.

Giving this sweater to her for her birthday was such a big deal for me. It's funny, by the time I was actually able to slip this gift in, it was the end of a very big day for her. There had already been so much excitement that my gift of hours and hours of labor was nearly brushed aside. She was polite and thanked me, but there was no exclamation of joy on her part. She was exhausted, and frankly, so was I. It was the next day that she found it again. She smoothed it with her hand, held it, and then told me how much she loved it. We talked about how many times she had watched me work on it, and pestered me to hurry up and finish. We also talked about how much she had changed in the past year while this sweater was being made. She insisted on wearing it to school the very next day. It made every stitch and blessed bobble on that sweater worth it.

So here's the pattern should you ever like to give it a try. It was well written, but plenty of work. Maybe it was a little much for this "less-than-expert" knitter to take on. When I bought the pattern, the woman at the shop said that when she chooses new patterns she always likes to challenge herself to learn one new thing. I learned several with this one; at times I felt very stretched by the enormity of my knitting ignorance. Still, I'm proud that I finished it so that she has plenty of room to wear it for a while. One last important little detail is that my mom was the elf that sewed up the seams for me. It wouldn't have been done on time otherwise. (Thanks so much, mom!) Such a special gift in so many ways, and my six year old has begun another year of amazing discoveries, accomplishments, and growth.

curled up like a cat on the couch

When I was a little girl, I could spend hours and hours reading. Now, I like to spend long chunks of my winter knitting with some reading mixed in. It's easy to give up my machine this time of year. My sewing room is on the front porch. It's enclosed but drafty... not for the fainthearted.

I get stuck on patterns like I get stuck on songs or albums. I've made six of these hats since right before Christmas, all as gifts. I love the pattern. It's from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. (This is an aside, but Hoverson's book Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts is wonderful, as well.) The pattern is called Kim's hats and there are several variations of it. These are the roll brim hat. I added a hat topper for the women's hats that isn't in the book. All of them are knit with Manos del Uruguay. I can't tell you how beautiful this yarn is. It's handspun, kettle died by a co-opertive which employs mostly women in Uruguay. The wool is not as soft as a merino, but nearly so. I could work with if for every hat I ever knit. Now I just need to knit one for myself.

I did it!

I completed my first sweater... and it only took me 6 months! Still, I love it and all the flaws look beautiful to me. I've come far because I don't even cringe when I look at all those imperfect spots. There are many. The thing that really slowed me down was the seams. No one told me that sewing up all those seams would be such a pain. I get why folks "knit in the round."


The pattern is from Debbie Bliss. I got the book from the library and it was so long ago, I can't remember the name. It's a great first sweater pattern if you ask me. Then again, I'm no expert. I taught myself to knit last winter from a children's "Klutz" book on knitting. Do you know that series? I doubt they carry it in yarn shops. Still, after many attempts at trying to knit I was ready to try whatever. The simple projects, directions, and pics guided me along. I made everyone that I knew a hat from that book last winter. They're super cute too. My motto is don't diss the "Klutz" series.

Nothing makes my day more than watching my little adventurer run by in his new sweater. See? He's trying to climb in there and show Mrs. Alligator what his mommy made him.

masterpiece, in my mind

There is so much I could say about this sweater. It is made of the softest cotton and the happiest combination of colors. It fits my little guy perfectly, I mean, everything about it. The size AND the brightness of it. Plus, I have a secret fetish for all things striped (and polka dotted.) However, the extraordinary thing about it is how very special it is. My mom made it for my son. It was incredibly precious the moment he opened it with her, and they put it on together.


I feel guilty about the gifts that have been made by hand for me or my children which I may not have fully appreciated. There have been many times I did not understand the hours and hours of work that went into a handmade gift (like the sweaters my mom and mother-in-law made for my daughter when she was born, or the hickory nuts my dad meticulously picked out with a needle for gifts every Christmas.) Other times I was just too busy to slow down and properly thank someone. (Sorry Margie that I never sent a thank you note for that beautiful scarf!)


This time, though, I got it. I understand that my mom choose to make something very elaborate by any of my knitting standards. I understood that this meant alot to her. It was fun to watch this sweater come together over time and anticipate my little guy wearing it.


When I was pregnant the first time, my mom gave me a children's book along with the sweater she knit for my daughter. It's a favorite around here.... Eileen Spinelli's "Sophie's Masterpiece." The spider knits a blanket for a baby and incorporates "moonlight," "snippets of fragrant pine," and "old lullabies" into the weaving. As she finished, "Sophie wove into the blanket her very own heart."


For me, that pretty much sums the experience of making something by hand for someone. It is more than just a combination of materials and time. A part of me alway goes into every project. The greater my love for that person, the greater my emotion in the making of that object. It is ultimately what seperates an object that is industrially produced from that which is crafted by hand... emotion and time.


I can see love woven throughout this sweater. I don't think I'm imagining it. I'm pretty sure my little guy can feel it too.