Dotty Shoes

These booties, from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones, were a nightmare to sew. If you are a visual learner, beware Ms. Butler's long paragraphs of explanation and wordy remarks on pattern pieces. There was only one picture in the three pages of directions for this project! The first shoe took me about a month, since I did each step wrong at least twice, thus causing me to seriously consider the possibility that motherhood has damaged my brain. Happily, the second shoe took a small part of one morning. They are very cute and easy to put on, a rarity for baby shoes, but Butler could use a clever sidekick to rewrite her directions. Mine are made from leftover polka dotted denim and lined with Kaffe Fassett shot cotton.

Jack Flash

This is another sweater in which I attempted to use up my endless supply of Debbie Bliss cashmerino in ultrapale pink. I love this pattern, which is one of my oldest failproof baby patterns: Jack Flash jacket from Tiddlers and Tadpoles. The buttons are wooden hearts. Combined with the pink and brown colorway, I'd like to think they complete the gender neutrality and baby perfection of this cardigan!

The baby makes the sweater

And here's proof! Eytan Z. and Jonah wearing some things I knit over the past year. Eytan's in a rainbow tomten. Jonah's wearing a Jack Flash sweater that I started knitting the day I went into labor; and a teal and purple tomten. Note how fetching baby boy looks in both pink *and* purple. Proof of our biological link, no?