Monday, June 30, 2008

Knitting for a baby

The past week has very much been work and knitting.
And not just any knitting, but knitting for a baby.
Not something I've tried before, but it's hugely enjoyable and somewhat addictive, I'm afraid. There is no other way you can finish a dress, a hat and a pair of socks in less than a week if not knitting for a wee one.
She's not due to arrive until August, but her mother, my lovely colleague, will be going on maternity leave by the end of this week.
But I could not wait until then to present her with this:
(I was in a bit of a hurry to take the photo as I was running late for work. So it really does look much better in real life, not as if it has just been dropped on the floor and then stomped on by a horde of mad cats. Which is a fairly close description of the situation seconds before the photo was taken)

The dress is largely based on a pattern from Drops/Garnstudio. I changed the waist and borders from boring garter stitch to a pretty ribbed pattern. At least I think it's pretty.

The hat I made up. I had a few gos at the bonnet that's part of the dress pattern, but I don't think tying satin ribbons around the neck of a wriggly baby would be much fun on a regular basis. And the babies I've seen have been very wriggly.
So I decided to do a little hat instead. And it's terribly cute. And I hope the little girl has a small head (a hope shared by her mother).
And the socks are actually "Perfect Baby Booties". I think I would like to make more of them. But attempt to knit the whole lot in the round and maybe top-down, as I suck when it comes to seaming.
My seaming really is wonky and my crochet shows how challenged I am in that particular area, but then it shows its loving handmadeness only so much better.
And handmadeness is very good according to the trend types.
And the mother truly appreciated it.
Her reaction was every knitter's dream.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a lovely baby outfit. Great job!

Anonymous said...

How darling! What a lucky baby.

Batty said...

That's beautiful! Does that come in adult sizes? It's so cute.

Anonymous said...

It is darling. And I am so glad she loved it. Just thinking about a nice reaction makes me giddy.