When you hear an announcement of a baby who is going to be born, it is always exciting.  When you hear an announcement of a baby who is going to be born and you are a knitter and have time to work up a little something, it is even MORE exciting.  Especially when the newborn is going to be a member of the family!

So, upstairs I went to my ‘yarn shop’ remembering that one of my goals was NOT to purchase any new yarn this entire year.  I had in mind a little book of baby patterns called Sublime that I purchased years ago hoping then, that one day, I would be knitting for babies.

I had an initial idea of what I was going to make and what yarn I might choose.  Upon studying the pattern’s gauge, I realized quickly that the yarn I had in mind was not compatible with the pattern.  Looking through the many bundles I have in my stash, I found what I thought would work, a washable merino (bands gone for clearer content), however I concerned myself with the color.  Too dark?  Not baby-like?  I worked up a swatch, liked the durability of the fabric and the striping effect of the slipped stitches.  I even loved the name of the pattern, Sporty Car Coat and could imagine it as a practical, useful garment.   I put aside my worries about the color and forged onward.

The pattern was very well written with one minor schematic issue in the fact that there was no measurement for the circumference of the neck.

I am not an experienced knitter of baby clothes and was unable to pick up the number of stitches around the neck edge according to the pattern.  I wanted to know why I couldn’t.  A measurement indicated on the pattern would have been helpful to the cause.  I was achieving the correct measurement in every other direction.  This constant attention to measurement to schematic is very important (to me) as that is what tells how the garment is going to fit in the end.  So, in this case, I just kept going picking up the number of stitches that neatly fit into the space I had.

Hubby’s suggestion of yellow buttons, also from stash, took away any angst I had about the color of the yarn and here is the happy recipient (well, the mother), my lovely niece, receiving the gift during her baby shower.

Now, all we need to do is wait for Joaquín Antonio González McCoy!