Baby Love

Have you seen booties? Booties are tiny little shoesies for tiny little feetsies and they're about the sweetest thing ever. It's a shame that you can't just knit them without some reason - your own child, or the guise of charity.

My boyfriend's sister's expecting, and I am tremendously excited. Not about baby snuggles or a new faux-family member (niece-ish? Niece-to-be? Niecefriend?), but about the knitting.

"Booties!" said an acquaintance. "Oh are you - "
"Knitting them for my boyfriend's sister, yes," I said placidly. I barely know her, but she is a perfect foil to accusing fertility questions.

I knit some little booties in this pattern. They're the easiest baby bootie pattern ever - all garter stitch (that's just knit stitches, no purling), and minimal shaping. And aren't they cute?

I liked the garter stitch, so I knit a hat too. No pattern - I just made it up.

I got a little bit carried away with the booties.

When my sister was expecting, I thought very carefully about what I'd knit my niece. I thought I'd knit the Perfect Sweater. I researched yarns, and locally sourced a washable blend of the softest fibres. I read patterns and consulted books so it would fit her when during her first winter, when she'd have outgrown all her new-baby things and actually needed a jumper. I swatched, for goodness sake.

My sister was dubious. "It'll fit her sometime, I guess." Months later, I got an email: "The jumper fits!!" I checked my calendar - it was right on schedule.

This time, I wasn't using patterns so much. Not-my sister means no pressure for perfection. So I asked a friend at craft brunch, "How big are babies? Are they this big? What if I knit five more rows? Are they that big?" My friend explained that babies come in different sizes, and tend to grow. I said that I wanted something bigger than newborn, but also this baby might be a small newborn so - "bread," she said. "Babies are about the size of a loaf of bread."

When people say they're knitting for baby, they're lying. The thing baby needs - security, food, love - can't be knit. They're knitting partially for the parent-to-be, and partially for themselves. Booties say, This is a big change. Things won't be the same. They say,  There's more things to say than there are words to say them. They say, Look at these tiny little shoesies for tiny little feetsies