I'm Late Again..

I had two 'unexpected' babies to knit for these past few months. Well, one was unexpected. The other one was placed on my agenda, but I thought I had a few more months (like until this Fall) to get my gift together; but the baby was born prematurely and a sudden baby shower fell out of the plain blue sky, and my plans went out the window! I intended to do my usual of a sweater, hat, mittens and car seat blanket for the cold months of fall and winter but had to come up with something quick; so much for intentions! A sweater, a few hats and a baby washcloth was all I had time for.

Of course, of all the clay buttons I had in my stash, nothing matched to my satisfaction; so that meant pulling out the clay and making new ones.

Here is the latest batch of buttons. Good thing these sweaters are for newborns, because my buttons look like tempting pieces of candy.

Here's a close-up:

Here are photos of the sweater, hats and washcloths:

A slightly better view of the hats

And last, but not least is a photo of the Little One being fed by his Mom:

The unexpected birth was from a young woman near my town who shovels snow off my roof in the winter. I called to make sure she would still be available for winter and discovered she had given birth to a baby girl. Out of the blue, I asked if she would like a sweater and hat for her child, and of course; she said Yes. So here is the sweater and hat. The hat is from a purchased pattern and called "Porcupine," and can be found here:

http://www.woollywormhead.com/wee-woolly-toppers/

Another view of the hat

I guess by now you must be wondering why I tend to use the same sweater pattern when there are countless others out there.

I have a fondness for this one because it is a densely knitted fabric (all garter stitch) and the batwing shaped sleeves are great for trapping and retaining body heat. In the cool and cold months you need all the warmth you can get.

The pattern isn't supposed to have a collar, but I added one for extra neck warmth. I just don't like the idea of a baby being cold or chilly. The pattern only calls for 4 buttons, but I added an extra one to make sure the sweater traps in the warmth.