Here Kitty Knitty Kitty

The kitty in progress (and my filigree scissors!)

It's official.  I'm hooked on making things for babies.  I had no idea how fun and satisfying these little projects could be.  It makes sense though.  They're cute and small.  They don't take that long to finish so you get to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.  They're usually soft and cuddly and make you say things like, "Isn't that adorable!" and "I've never seen anything so cute!"

Thanks to a pregnant co-worker I've discovered a whole new world of yarns and patterns to explore.  My problem now is I want to make everything that I see.  This is dangerous for me.  Especially lately as I seem to be excellent at starting, but not so good at finishing!!

The other potentially problematic issue is a shortage of babies.  I'm from a very small family, my baby days are long gone and my son is much too young to make me Nana (please, oh please, please, please don't make me a Nana yet!!).  At the library there are a few other age appropriate candidates for mommy-hood, but given the other necessary components I don't see it happening any time soon!  So once I've overloaded Goisa with gifts for her first baby I don't know what I'm going to do.

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If you knit, you should check out this book!

It doesn't look like much, but soon it'll be a penguin!

I'm sure that there are plenty of churches, day cares and charities that can use things for baby.  Or I can store them away for the grandchildren I hope to have someday - a long time from now!

Let me just say that I didn't set out to make a baby toy.  I already have her gift underway, and truth be told I should have been working on that!  What happened was I borrowed a copy of this new book Classic Knits, and was so excited by all the lovely projects that I had to make something.  The little kitty looked like he'd be easy to make and before you know it I was sewing his body together. I made him out of cotton and he's just a soft and sweet as can be (you can say, "awwwww!").

And then, Gosia and I were working together last week and a book called baby knits came into the library for her mother-in-law.  Turns out that baby knits is the  companion book to classic knits. Both are new this year from DK Publishing. There is an abundance of cuteness in the pages of this book!  As the two of us flipped through we came across the kitty I made.  As it happens that pattern and a few other baby items are in both books. I took Gosia's comment on the kitty as a good sign that she'll like the one I knit for her!

Now, back to Classic Knits.  Oh is it a beauty.  It's got lots and lots of outstanding pictures that really make you want to start knitting right away.  For me, the visual ascetics are spot on. You know how it is sometimes when you pick up a book and everything just works.  Well, that's how this one is for me.  The colors, the photos, the page layout, the large size and even the feel of the paper are right.  And then of course there are the patterns.  They really are "classics" - like cardigans, v-neck vests and crew neck sweaters.  The kind that are fashionable always. While baby knits has many of the same features it is much smaller and a paperback.  Don't get me wrong, it's still a very nice book, but not one I would purchase.   Actually, I very rarely buy books because the library makes them so easy to get.  Classic Knits however would be a welcome addition to my personal collection and I have been dropping some significant hints.  We'll see what happens!

Today, just for fun I started making a little penguin from the baby book.  He's more complicated than the kitty, but I feel confident that he'll be adorable when he's done.  So far the patterns that I've used have been accurate and easy to follow.  Now, if I can just get myself focused on her "real" present.  I have a tendency to keep starting new things before I finish the old ones.  While that's not usually a problem the baby is on his way, and I'd really like him to enjoy his gift before he heads off to college!

Thanks so much for stopping by and spending a bit of your day with me.  Don't forget about the giveaway!  You can enter once or once a day (check out the "tweet about it" option on the entry form). Good Luck!
Until next time friends,
Be blessed and stitch & read with love!