I’ve been a passionate knitter for quite some time, but the truth is I’ve never made a big push to knit for one of my own babes.
Not sure why. Could be that the complaint a whole lot of other interested parties issue (“If you don’t find out the gender, I don’t know what to buy/make!” echoes somewhere in my own heart. I am not a big fan of neutral green and yellow, and for me, the project is really 25% about the end project, 75% about the fiber in my hands as I work. So knitting something that I may adore in yarn I feel eh about? Not a big draw.
But this time, necessity calls. Before we left for Nepal, every stitch of baby clothing, every cloth diaper, every everything found its way into someone else’s hands. Yes, the precious wood cradle that has held my last four babies (and some foster babies in need of love) is still in storage in WA. But it won’t make it its way to NC in time to feel the weight of this one rocking through the long evenings.
We are starting over. From scratch.
And when starting from scratch, one might as well grab up some of the yummy yarn meant for other projects and reimagine the end results. Right now, that means that a second diaper wrap from this ravelry pattern by Ruth Garcia is on my needles. My first attempt at the listed newborn size (in a slightly rougher than I’d like, but beautifully toned nondescript wool from Nepal) resulted in what I’d deem a 3-6 month size wrap– and I give birth to 10 lb babies! So I’m trying again, throwing in the variation of a little stripe for curiosity’s sake, and hoping for something that this baby might wear home from the hospital. (Everyone says the colors are decidedly boy, but it’s what I had on hand, and I think it could go either way.) I’m also planning on a pair or two of Tiny Pants, once I finish a few wraps.
I’ve already finished one Simple Baby Bib from Colleen Kadleck’s pattern for this wee one and plan on knitting as many more as I can pull off in the coming months. It’s such a quick, mindless knit that this has become my go-to baby gift. Any sturdy cotton will do, but I am especially fond of the Lily Sugar n’ Creme my friend Jenna sent me. I also love this cabled baby bib, and plan on a few of them to round out the collection and break up the endless rows of knit.
Since this baby is due in early May, in the south, to a family without the resources to run the air conditioning at a level beyond “cooler than the outside temps,” I am going easy on the adorable baby items that I might otherwise indulge in. Sweet pilot caps? Booties? Not needed. I have long dreamed of the Puerperium cardigan wrapping one of my babes on a crisp day. But there will be no crisp day to warrant that sweet little handknit. Maybe the following winter? Definitely a Milo and Pebble in the fall, but not until then. This romper might be an option in a lightweight cotton, but I can’t decide if it would be cute or formless in an oatmeal or natural colorway. I’ve also thought of this sweet little gown (again, in cotton) as a coming home outfit. But it might end up a one-shot wear due to weather, and I don’t know if it’s worth the effort when I’m already 25ish weeks.
Those are my thoughts as I ponder knitting and babe and all the other things that conspire to make me daydream these days. What’s on your mind as winter presses on?
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