Finished Object, in the Nick of Time: A Blankie for Hayden

  

Sunday around 5 pm, my brother- and sister-in-law welcomed our nephew, baby Hayden, into the world. I was up until after midnight on Saturday knitting furiously, and finally finished the blanket around 10:30 am on Sunday morning - just in time to give it a quick bath and a tumble through the dryer before heading to the hospital.

 We knew that he was arriving a little sooner than expect, so as I worked on the blankie this weekend, I settled into a happy rhythm, thinking of this tiny little person with every stitch: how he is in this tender liminal space of being; how our world is made a little more new and hopeful by his entry into it; how that joy changes our hearts in the strangest and most sudden of ways.

So I knitted, and I slept, and I woke Sunday morning thinking, baby. And I knitted, and I knitted, and my arm cramped up, and then I bound off all my stitches and soaked the blanket in warm water and woolwash, and still I thought baby. And then I waited for the call and nervous-cleaned - scrubbed my bathroom sink and loaded the dishwasher and vacuumed under the oven - and thought, baby.

And then it happened. We got the call, and we drove to the hospital, and we waited - not very long - and then we were meeting him for the first time, and it just struck me over and over like so many waves. I have no idea what color his eyes will be, or what he looks like when he laughs, or if he likes green beans, and yet I'm standing here awkwardly clutching a knitted blanket that I made for him while I imagined all the feelings I didn't yet feel for him, and he's whuffling softly in his sleep, and I am absolutely dumb - struck and adrift and in awe.

Here are his mother and father suddenly ageless in their limbs, this new weight of love in their eyes. Here are my parents-in-law, holding the baby of their baby and seeing each future fall into place ahead of us. Here is my husband standing quietly holding my hand, both of our hearts silently overfilling with the thought of someday.

But most of all, here is baby Hayden, who gnaws the knuckles of his right hand and creases his eyes a little deeper in sleep. And it is perfectly, wonderfully, enough.

Happy Monday, friends.

Love,

Cory

WIP: A Blankie for Hayden

  

I mentioned a bit ago that our family is expecting a new baby - Lumberjack and I are going to be Uncle and Auntie to a little boy!  So, of course, I'm designing and knitting a baby blankie for him.  I finally got cracking on knitting it a few days ago, after realizing how quickly his arrival date is approaching.  (Mid-March is doable from now, right?  Right!)

I'm knitting it out of Berroco Comfort DK, and really enjoying the experience.  I've knit about a ball and a half up so far, and did a Russian join for the first time in my knitting career.  Since the finished blanket will probably be thrown in the washer and dryer, I figured it would be best to have as few ends to weave in as possible.  I'm absurdly happy about how I got the diamonds to line up with the edging, and I love the delicate look of the 3x3 basketweave stitch.  I hope that little Hayden likes it too!

Design Brainstorm: Baby Blanket

 

We found out a few days after the wedding that there's a baby due in the family early this spring, so of course I immediately started scheming a baby blanket design for them.  It's been a new challenge for me, since I'm not very baby-focused, thinking about the functionality as well as the look of a pattern.  I want it to be the perfect blankie for dragging around, snuggling, and throwing in the wash, so I've had to nix a few ideas right off the bat: although I love lace, little fingers might get caught in the holes, and since it's meant to be transported and used every which-way, I want it to be somewhat reversible.

With these ideas in mind, I did a bit of swatching a few weeks ago with some Berroco Comfort DK.  This yarn has the proud honor of being the only mostly-acrylic yarn I've ever enjoyed working with, so it has the convenience of acrylic yarn while still satisfying the texture snob in me.  We haven't yet heard the sex of the baby, and I hesitate to give gender-normative colors to children so early in life anyhow, so I settled on this lovely clear aqua blue.

I think I've worked out a pattern I like, so now I just need to crunch some numbers and cast on!

In other news - for the last month or so, Mr. Mackie has been trying for the world record in vet visits per week.  He's currently doing okay, but still angling to squeeze in one or two more.  He had a broken tooth 3 weeks ago, an abscess a week after that, and so much inflammation near the abscess site yesterday that we took him to an urgent care vet.  Poor little dude!  We'll be taking him to his normal vet again tomorrow, and hopefully he'll be back to his bouncy self soon.