I’m at that age, apparently. The age when one’s beloved coevals start procreating. (If you’re curious, the age is thirty. Some dear friends and most all my relations already have children, but this feels like the real surge of the wave coming on.) Fortunately I am well equipped for this, as I can knit. I learned long ago that blankets are not this knitter’s cup of tea, but hardly anything is more satisfying that a cute, fast baby sweater. And booties? Wee hats? They’re like potato chips.

There’s more than one kind of baby knitting, of course. There are the precious heirloom knits that will be exclaimed over but worn only a few times, if at all. There are rustic drool-proof knits (some of them are ugly, though obviously made with love) that can be worn to rags without compunction. And there are are the holy-grail knits that will be admired and worn regularly until the baby grows out of them because they are cute enough to elicit compliments from non-knitters. As far as I know, I’ve only achieved a couple of the latter. One was River’s Spiral Yoke. Another was the Baby Surprise with the improvised hood that Aila outgrew almost immediately, but which was passed along to Lyric, who got compliments on it from strangers who really should have said something (his mother felt) about how adorable the baby was first. I don’t believe it’s any coincidence these are Meg Swansen’s and Elizabeth Zimmermann’s designs, and I’ll certainly be knitting both patterns again.

But a girl likes a bit of variety in her knitting, and there’s a wealth of old patterns out there that look just as stylish today. Kristen Rengren has tapped into this idea with her Vintage Baby Knits, which I’ve got on loan from the library. Of the 30+ vintage patterns she’s collected and updated, I’ve got my eye on Betty Lou and Rufus. And here’s the yarn to knit them:

Above: Black Trillium Fibre Studio Merilon Sock in “pomegranate”

Below: Imperial Stock Ranch Tracie in “quail”

I wish these sweaters were for twins so these yarns could be together all the time, the colors are so delicious. Imperial Stock Ranch is an Oregon grower and Black Trillium is a local dyer.

Another vintage bonanza fell into my lap this weekend, when Mr. G’s mother brought over a couple of pattern booklets that had belonged to her mother-in-law. I now have the Bucilla Baby Book, revised vol. 339 from 1950, and Fleisher’s Baby Book from 1957 (if I’m reading my roman numerals correctly). They’re both chock full of adorable sweaters, booties, bonnets, blankets, longies, and much more — for knitting and crocheting. Several of the designs appear in Rengren’s book. Both booklets give gauge for every pattern, which isn’t always the case, although I chuckle at the recommendation for “non-inflammable” needles. I don’t knit that fast!

I’m not only knitting baby things, though. My Pas de Valse has seen quite a bit of action lately and has almost one whole sleeve. I needed my second #6 circular to work that sleeve, so I first had to finish the hood of my long-neglected Tomten. It only needs sleeves, now, too. I really want to try garter stitch jacquard to embellish the sleeve caps if I can find some directions for it. (Franklin Habit taught a class on it here last fall that I’d have loved to take, but I had another commitment that weekend and couldn’t really afford it anyway.) Next week is Spring Break, so I hope I can get lots of knitting accomplished!