So after knitting my very first baby garment (an adorable hooded sweater), the next baby gift I wanted to make was a pair of knitted baby booties…

I know it seems a little backwards, having done a really difficult project and then moving to a more simple project like booties, but for me it was just about the order of the babies being born and just going ahead with what I wanted to make! I didn’t want to be limited or slowed down by a difficult pattern. If I see something cute, I want to be able to make it, and I’ll try to just learn whatever techniques I need to learn to do that. It’s just the way I’ve always been and so far I haven’t hit too many road blocks in accompishing anything I set my mind to.

My first pair of booties turn out very well, although I found they didn’t go up as high as I would’ve liked. So I ended up modifying the “Small” size version of all future patterns to have higher sock sections. Since knitting that first pair of booties, I’ve now created a half dozen more pairs!

One thing I really wanted to try once I got going was added beads to my knitted booties. I can’t even remember where I had seen this, but it struck me as a really neat idea! My daughter and I had started a jewelry-making kit, so we already had some of the beading supplies, and there was a store in town that my DH had started visiting for some of his chain-mail making supplies that also sold a variety of beads. Checking them out, I found lots of beautiful options for beads. On my first trip, I got some regular beads. Then on another trip there, I was introduced to some very special imported beads that were created to be “perfect” – each one the same as the next. They were a little pricey, but I wanted to give them a try so I bought very small vials of a few colours.

What to do with all these baby booties? Well as much as there has been a bit of a baby boom lately within my wide circles of friends, there aren’t as many babies as can keep up with my love of knitting sweet little things for tiny toes! So I created a new section of my online store for those items to share with everyone…

Baby Booties Store

The new store been very quiet (no orders yet!) but oh well… At least it gives my knitting a bit more of a purpose. Still just loving this new hobby (a little more than 1 year in), as it is such a great distraction from the pain, which has been getting so much worse these days. It’s a wonderful feeling to just lose yourself in the texture of a soft material and think about the chubby little new person who might someday wear the creation you are assembling!

It’s been a tradition of mine for a while to do baby birth samplers (in cross-stitch) for each new baby. If I wasn’t able to have it ready as a “new baby” gift, I’d often give it at the baby’s first birthday. This is something I may or may not continue, but I find cross-stitch is getting a little trickier for me these days. Knitting is more comfortable for me and less straining and tiring. And the results and still just as a personal, yet are practical and enjoyed more on a day-to-day basis!

When I decided to start learning, I jumped in head-first! I bought one booklet with many baby patterns and several balls of coordinating yarn in blues. I had 2 close friends in mind for the first projects, whom I had known since grade 7 and grade 10, and whose little boys would be cousins! I admit now I probably *should* have started off with something simple, like a cap or a pair of booties. But no, I really fell in love with this little sweater pattern and had to start that right away!

The details were adorable: little stripey hoodie, nifty pattern along the v-neck collar…

It was a very challenging project and I plodded along pretty slowly! Lots of pieces and steps. I put to use all 3 stitch-holders that my son had bought me for Christmas (well, with strong encouragement from Daddy!). But finally, it was complete!

One part of the sweater I was really happy about was the faux drawstring along the hood. It wasn’t in the pattern, but I felt adding one would look oh-so-cute, making the hoodie look more genuine to the kind an older child would wear. So I researched online until I learned how to make an I-cordand then just found a way to weave one in! I made it small it enough that it wouldn’t pose any hazard to a little one wearing the sweater!

When it came time to wrap up this handmade gift from the heart, I had the perfect gift tag in mind… having just bought Stampin’ Up’s new knitting set of stamps! I created a tag that has a little sweater and the caption reads: “Hand knit by…”.

As for a label, well that took a little longer to come up with. I finished the sweater in time for the baby’s birth in the spring (and knit a generous size 6 months – on larger needles than called for – as this little one’s big brother had been an adorably roly poly guy!) but the label wasn’t quite ready. So I ended up bringing it along next time I saw them (at big brother’s 2nd birthday party) and stitching it in!

Here is a beautiful pic of the little baby and his mum. I’m so glad he has already been getting some use of of the cozy sweater!

Now that I’ve started my adventures in “baby knitting”, there is no turning back! I absolutely *love* working with the light yarn, especially now that the weather has become warmer… it is just too darn hot some days to work with wool and thicker yarn! I am doing things a little backwards by starting out with such a huge ambitious project and then moving on to other things, but it just taught me that I can pretty much learn to knit up anything I set my mind to as long as I have a good pattern and all the right materials (and time).

Stay tuned to see lots more knitted works from me!

I also finally went to a “real” yarn store… by this I mean a store dedicated to yarn and wool and fiber crafting. I’d previously purchased all my supplies in the fiber section of craft stores, but they don’t hold a candle to a real store!!! I was absolutely drop-jawed for the first several minutes stepping in – didn’t know where to start! I eventually slowly made my way around the small store, which was organized by worsted weight: baby yarns and lightweight wool at the front, heavier stuff at the back for winter sweaters and such.

I saved the sale area for last and that’s where I ended up getting my few purchases (SO shocked I only made it out of there with 4 small balls of wool!)…

2 balls of matching Shetland Chunky wool (for a great winter scarf and/or hat), a small ball of a wool mix, and a bit of a cool colourful wool

I think I may use most (or all) of these fibers to make Christmas gifts (doesn’t hurt to think ahead!).

With my growing stash of fiber, I have one big problem: where to keep it all!

I’d started out by emptying a small drawer in my plastic “wheely” set of craft drawers…

But then I found I needed space for all the baby yarn I’d started collecting as well!

Now, the whole craft drawer is full to the brim and I have a big paper shopping bag stuffed full of yarn! This is not counting the yarn scattered about the house that is tied up in current projects. I currently have 4 small baskets and bags with the following projects:

• New knitting tote: green scarf and kitchen towel
• Small knitting basket: baby booties and other newborn projects
• Bag upstairs: white scarf
• Box upstairs: winter hat for myself to match my scarf and mitts

I find it amazing that my “obsession” has grown to this level… and to think I only picked up a pair of needles to get this started only a year ago? At this rate, the house will be full in no time!