Baby Sweater

I am really excited to knit for this new baby. The trouble is that s/he will be born in the next few weeks. Not the ideal season to begin wrapping a newborn in woolens - spring is right around the corner, no? And since we don't know if the babe is a 'he' or a 'she', I am shying away from knitting anything bigger, knowing there will be time to knit fall/winter items later in the summer.

However, a nice set of coincidences headed my way over the last week and I was able to knit up this little newborn-ish size sweater out of a lovely un-dyed organic cotton. Kristen Kapur - the famous knitwear desinger from Through the Loops - was having a blog-based de-stash sale and I was able to purchase some lovely skeins of organic cotton by Blue Sky Alpacas at a deep discount. I love this yarn! It knit up very quickly and is super soft. I also love that it is undyed and organic - perfect for a little baby sweater.

I found the buttons on a special trip to the yarn store with one of my older girls - she loves dogs (look here for one of her dog-themed holiday gifts) and my LYS has a life-sized stuffed animal dalmation in the store that she can snuggle up with while I browse. Arn't these buttons just the greatest? I was hoping to find something unique, like little fish, but a little fish in a fishbowl with air bubbles? Oh my. That exceeded every hope I had!

So this may be the end of the baby knitting for a little while, and truth be told I should really get on making a light sweater for my youngest daughter. As she transitions into 'big sister' she is going to need some extra attention and snuggles. She is very independent, and at 3 yo she is a full year older than her sisters were when she arrived in our family. I am so grateful for the independence, but she is also old enough to sense the change that is happening; and young enough still to cling to being the baby when she feels she is not getting what she needs. I think a little tunic like this (the last sweater in the post) would be cute - and I'll let her pick out the yarn color(s) as an added treat.