A Matter of Scale

Our first grandchild is arriving in only 3 weeks, if not sooner.  I am over the moon with anticipation at seeing the child of my son and his wonderful wife.

Can you imagine how I’ve been knitting for this new little Osborn?  First, a sweater by Stephanie Pearl McPhee called “Nouveau Ne” that made my heart race.  How perfectly she has interpreted the delicacy of babyhood without designing something too feminine. Little rows of brioche stitch separated by a garter ridge…lovely!  You see, we do not know what gender this little Osborn will be, so this pattern strikes the perfect note of sweet babyhood without femininity.  I think this sweater is just luscious, made even more sentimental to me by my addition of buttons made from shells that we collected in the Bahamas, where this baby’s mother and father visited us for two winters in a row. The yarn is a wonderful blend of superwash merino and silk.

1-IMG_2372

Then came a baby blanket, a lace design by Eugen Beugler called “Lace Plumes.”  I don’t think it’s too feminine of frilly either.  It is a slightly heavier weight of superwash merino and silk.  Only the finest for our new Osborn!

241dc188-64d8-4a7b-9511-ccda34df0dc7

Little Nugget (as we’ve been calling her/him for some months now) will be arriving anytime between now and December 14 (you may ask how I know that!  …because if Nugget doesn’t arrive by then she/he will be brought into the world on the doctor’s schedule, due to some conditions that are a little worrisome), so of course Nugget needs a Christmas sweater! And Nuggets’ mom has asked for knitted baby pants to go with a Christmas onesie.

I’ve just finished the pants but will wait to adjust the elastic waistband when I know what size to make it. I liked the proportions of this knitted fabric which was made with Cascade “Forest Hills.”

img_2941

Yesterday I started the Christmas sweater, a design by Sorren Kerr called “Anders.”  It is adorable…. but it called for sport weight yarn.  Hmm….

..I’m not so pleased with how the yarn looks at this scale.  It seems a tad bulky for a baby.  So I started it again in the same yarn I used for the baby pants–Cascade “Forest Hills.”  This yarn is a 50/50 blend of merino and silk.  It is not superwash so there could be some disaster in wait on its first wash.  I’m willing to take that risk.

Here’s the difference between a sport weight version and my lace weight version.  I have re-written the pattern to get the size right in the lace weight yarn.  I like it!

img_2938

I got the Ewe (love) Ewe at Knit New Haven when I visited the Andean weaving exhibit at the Yale Art Gallery back in September.  I think this yarn would be fine for a toddler or pre-schooler so I’ll just save it ’til then.  Meanwhile, maybe I’d better see if I can get another ball in the same dye lot so I have plenty for that larger size.

So….just saying….I prefer fingering or lace weight yarn for babies.  This means I have to re-write the whole pattern for Little Nugget, when time is short.  Still, what a nice way to spend my time as I await the big arrival.

 

 

 

One response to “A Matter of Scale

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *