Yarn Along: Baby Knits

So, now that the cat is out of the bag (or the bun is in the oven or whatever you'd like to say),  I can finally talk to you about all the baby knitting I am not doing. Morning sickness all day sickness has pretty much taken over, but I'm now on day 2 with my new best friend Zofran and have begun again to think fondly of repetitive motions such as knitting.


Since it's hard to share pictures of non-knitting, there won't be pictures, but there are a lot of links to yummy baby knitting.


Let me first say that I did nothing crafty when my boys were born. I learned to sew the summer Ezra turned one, and then to knit that fall. So I'm not one of those knitters who has woolens to pull out from previous babies. This baby is going to have to be freshly woolen-ized.


Second, I have to say that gender-neutral sweaters and cardigans are kind of a joke. It is just not as easy as picking a "girl color" or a "boy color" and going for it, because the little details can scream one gender over the other.


{And as a side note on gender: My 4-year-old thinks that if the baby is a girl she'll have pink or purple hair (being a girl and all) even though all the girls he knows have normal colored hair. And no- it doesn't matter how many times we point out that he wasn't born with blue or red or green hair. He has his own little universe where bizarre genetics play a big role- like how he thinks his "blonde" cat is his long-lost twin brother.... because they're both blonde, you see.}


I've lined up a few favorites that I think can go either way in a "babies don't really care" kind of way and I have ideas for neutral colors- a soft heather gray, a creamy beige, perhaps even something white...

Puerperium Cardigan

Sweet little Kanoko Pants

Milo (which I think breaks the afore mentioned gender neutral joke)

Garter Stripe Baby Socks

hats, hats, glorious hats...

And a much longed-for knit: the Hemlock Ring Blanket. I have loved that blanket for a long time and now there is finally a baby to receive it.

So two questions for you:

1. What is on you "absolutely must knit" list for babies?

2. What are your favorite baby yarns to knit with?

I'm looking at superwash for some things, but that is not a necessity- super comfy and soft is key.

{Yarning Along with Ginny even though it's been a few weeks and this is not my usual type of Yarn Along post. As long as the Zofran continues to work there WILL be knitting to show next week.}

Here and Back Again

First of all, THANK YOU. Your comments, your emails... Just thank you.


The memorial was held at the end of last week followed by a trip to bury her ashes in her hometown where she wanted to be buried. We are glad to be home and I think we're all glad to be welcomed by a "normal" week this week. We'll ease back into school a bit, and Brian and I both go back to working our full schedules.


I'm catching up here and there. I spent yesterday afternoon revising our homeschool plans to account for very little "real" schooling in the last month, and I opened my google reader with the intention of catching up, but with over 1000 new posts in 2 weeks, that isn't likely.


And there hasn't been a lot of knitting or reading these last few weeks with all that's been going on. It's partly because of recent events, partly because of having to commute to work for the first time in 4 years (a time suck that I'm trying to rectify with listening to knitting podcasts and sermons), partly because of trying to put our priority on being present with the boys, and partly because I'm totally exhausted all the time.


I thought the exhaustion thing was normal at first- all the hospital time, driving a lot, and being worn out emotionally made sense. But after having some other pretty obvious symptoms I'm happy to report that the current knitting drought is for good reason- we have another little one joining our family this spring. I can't even begin to tell you how excited we are, though feel a little curiosity at the timing. What an interesting expression of God's tender mercies poured out on us just when we need them most.