Baby Yours

A little while back, the world welcomed a new baby. At the time I was embarrassed to admit that I had not hand crafted anything for the little tyke. Not only was he the child of one of my best friends, but the child of a knitter too. Oh the shame. It wasn't that I hadn't planned ahead. Within hours after finding out he was coming I publicly announced that baby knitting would ensue*. Within days I had dragged the grad student I was staying with to the local Hobby Lobby to search for something that I could make, and this beauty was both in my Rav queue and the pattern was purchased. I would not knit, I would crochet! I'm faster at it anyways, and Noah's Ark is just perfect for this recipient! But I was squatting in a grad apartment miles away and I was already going to have to ship stuff home since the travel plans had changed from driving back to flying back, and more yarn didn't fit into that plan at that exact moment. It's ok, I have plenty of time.

May: Orlando, New Mexico, Job Offer, home finally, for a week. It's ok, I have plenty of time.
June: Stockholm, Boulder, house hunting, car accident, house on the market, yarn is being packed. It's ok, I have plenty of time.
July: Packing, providence, house hunting, visiting, finishing post-doc. It's ok, I crochet fast.
August: Well, I don't really know what happened to August. We started it off there and now we're here. There was a trip to the craft store somewhere in there, but I didn't bring the pattern, didn't know how much, what colors, etc. The magazine had been packed somewhere...
September: Hurricane, back to to the field, setting up an office, unpacking boxes. Not ok, I don't have time.
October: The blanket just isn't happening, what else can I make....


Well this particular baby lives in Texas, and he'll be heading home to a cold New England for the Holidays, and it seemed wholely appropriate for him to be wrapped in Christmasy goodness of wool.

Here we go.
Pattern: Baby Yours, by Stephanie Pearl McPhee (aka Yarn Harlot)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepard Sport color cranberry (under two skeins) purchased on ebay from emtnestr
Needles: US Size 4
Size: 6 Months, I made the bigger size sort of just on feel since I haven't seen the kid yet in person, and I'd rather it be a little big than too small.
Buttons:purchases at my LYS.


This pattern was easy to follow and quick to knit. That's the really great things about kids being so small. The yarn is gorgeous, it's a "solid" but it has beautiful tonal changes in it. It is soft and squishy and wonderful to work with. I've heard lorna's referred to as the yarn equivalent of crack, and I'll admit that it could become an addiction. It did shed quite a bit of color when I wet blocked it, but everytime I've worked with a red yarn that has been the case. I think that where I sewed the sleeves to the body it's a little wonky, but I'm critical of things like that in my own knitting. I'm in general not a big fan of cabling, but on a small item like this, the cables were just enough to keep me interested, and not too much to annoy me.
Overall I hope that the little guy likes it. Hubby says it looks like an old school Star Trek uniform. While I'm not that big of a fan, I'm sure that the parents will appreciate the similarities.

*Side note: scrolling through some of those old posts is giving me a new appreciation for my current situation, one home is so much better then that chaos of last spring.