ghosts of tiny sweaters past

I’ve been clearing things out. And now that Sophie is five, I’m having to face that she is no longer my little baby. Sob! So, imagine my nostalgia when I ran across a box of the tiny sweaters I knitted when I was pregnant with her! I mean, when I was REALLY pregnant, so pregnant that I could do nothing but lie around like a bug on it’s back. It was February, and cold, and all I could think about was that I was about to have a baby, and while I waited for that to kick in, I knitted tiny sweaters with the hormonal ferocity of a woman flooded with 1000 times the estrogen of a non-preggo person (no kidding! If you don’t believe me, look it up). It was intense. My fingers were a freaking blur on those needles.

I started with this simple pattern from Knitting Pure and Simple (#211), a lovely design that is knitted all in one piece.

I soon found I had memorized the pattern and started adjusting it. Smaller? Larger? Hood? No hood? No problem! I could crank out one of these puppies in a couple of days. It’s a great pattern. I highly recommend it.

Now for some action shots! Here is two week old Sophie in a pinkish version of The Sweater.

Isn’t she tiny? I remember knitting on this particular sweater while I was in the early stages of labor. Can you believe that? I can’t believe that. And look, she’s sleeping on another of my craft projects, a quilt I made. That’s right, I sewed quilts. Man, I used to have a lot of free time.

(My good friend, Priscilla, once helped me revamp my resume, back when I actually did such things. I remember her asking me, “So, what are some of your hobbies?” I shrugged and mumbled, “I dunno. Knitting?” And she smartly wrote down, ‘Fiber Arts.’ Priscilla is a resume genius.)

I love this shot of Paul and very tiny Sophie in a creamy, hoodless version of The Sweater. What is she saying with that expression?

Here is a hooded version in a tweedy orange wool.

And here is a glimpse of Luc in a varigated, fall colored iteration. Little brothers always get the hand-me-downs.

But here is one I knitted just for him, brilliant blue to match his eyes.

Now, they won’t wear wool. They say it is too itchy, and that’s fine because I’m not really into knitting anymore. Ah, how these things pass! Right now they are outside playing diamond store, buying and trading different gems and crystals (rocks and colored chalk). Next week, they’ll be in college.

Maybe I’ll hold onto these tiny sweaters a little longer….