Ruthless Knitting

Well, hello there. It’s been a while. Some people seem to be easily able to manage wrangling a baby, working, and continuing to knit, but apparently I am not one of them. No matter. James is thirteen months old now, and I’m finding a little bit of time here and there to knit. And for almost the first time since he was born, this morning I am finding a little bit of time to blog about knitting. Let’s resume, shall we?

Over the past thirteen months, I’ve had an opportunity to make some first-hand observations about baby knitting–which baby knits are worth the effort and which aren’t, what comes in handy and what doesn’t. Here’s my list.

(1) Hats are great. A newborn, particularly one born in the winter, needs quite a few hats (at about 14-15″ circumference), and they are quick to knit and adorable to behold. I made half a dozen before James was born, used and enjoyed them all, and then handed them down to a friend. These two were my favorites.

For an older baby, hats are still awesome. If you make them big enough (say, 16-17 inches around), they’ll fit for a large part of the first year. Lightweight, machine-washable hats come in handy for spring, fall, and winter. I got a lot of use out of these two, the first of which I actually knit for my nephew but got back as a hand-me-down.

(2) Blankets are barely worth the effort. I used the Carseat Blankets that I made for James quite a bit, both to wrap him up as a newborn and to tuck around him in the carseat, but I found that if I wanted a full-size blanket, I wanted one made of washable fabric, usually to lay down on the floor underneath him. I think in the future I’ll stick to teensy blankets for new moms.

(3) If you’re going to make a sweater, make a V-neck cardigan or a vest out of lightweight yarn. The sweater that I’ve put on him the most is one that I knit out of wool sock yarn. Not only does it make him look like an adorable old man, but it’s also very functional. It makes a good second layer, and the V-neck and short, wide sleeves keep the sweater out of his way. It doubles as a jacket in the spring and fall.

I haven’t actually knit James any sweater vests, but I did recently buy one to use for layering. We keep our house at 65 degrees during the day, and he usually needs something on over his long sleeves and pants to keep his hands warm. A full-size sweater or hoodie sometimes seems like too much, and that’s when I want the vest.

(4) Pants are adorable and warm. My mom knit James some brown wool pants in a pretty heavy yarn (worsted, I think, but maybe DK), and I put them on him a lot. They’re warm, soft, and seem comfortable. I wouldn’t want a whole wardrobe of wool pants for him, but I like having the option. I think the pattern she used is from Chic Knits for Stylish Babies.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Your mileage may vary. Hope to be back soon, posting about one of my works in progress!