knitted pants for wee one

 

baby drawstring pants from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
and baby bell bottoms (my own pattern)
both in Knitpicks Shine Sport

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I was just thinking that the baby needed something blue. Thanks to my friends and family, wee one won't be stuck wearing only boy truck/soccer ball/train hand-me-downs; she's pretty set now with pink onesies and sleepers. And I made her a pink sweater and a white sweater and a purple sweater. But she should have something lovely and blue and girly too.

All I kept thinking about was baby pants, baby pants, baby pants, I gotta knit baby pants. It seemed like a good way to use up a small amount of yarn and when I saw the cool pants that B knit for her daughter and posted here at the baby bumpers blog, I knew I had to try making some. I ordered some blue jean blue Knitpicks Shine Sport (since Elinor gave it such a good review here) and pulled out Last-Minute Knitted Gifts to make the awesome little drawstring pants for wee one. (Check out the ones Mames made here!)

I've already got one leg done. I'm doing a little picot edge instead of the seed stitch to girl it up just a bit and I love how they're coming out! The Shine is sooooo soft it's unbelievable and I think the whole pair may only take two balls (um, that's $5 for a pair of pants, people - that's lower than babyGap prices!).

And then, as I started knitting my something blue for baby, I received a wonderful surprise package in the mail.

This beautiful little sweater was knit by Karen at wooly-minded. It is so sweet! And it's in a beautiful blue-purple shade of Rowan wool cotton. I just love the little squiggles along the edges. I remember seeing them for a while in some of the Rowan patterns and thinking they're cool, but there's no way I'd actually make all those! Thanks so much Karen for such a lovely, special gift.

And now baby will have some blue things. Blue girl things. Blue is good.

Lots of panting here. No contractions, just pants knitting.

The Last-Minute Knitted Gifts pattern calls for rather long legs for the newborn size, even when following the special instructions to knit to schematic measurements and not instruction measurements when substituting a non-shrinking yarn for the denim. (I've never seen Joelle Hoverson, but I'm guessing she's very tall.) With the extra length in the legs, I had to dip into a third ball of the Shine, so now the pants have cost $7.50 to make. Still a bargain though for a fabulous yarn and a cute pair of pants!

I'll be adding some elastic to the waistband before I close the top hem and do the drawstring, since I agree with Elinor that it does help pants stay up better. And I can't help thinking it'll be more comfortable for the baby than really tying the pants snug. Ouch!

A second pair of baby pants is already in the planning stages too. I'm hooked!

Shannon here -- and if I'm here, you know what that means!

Alison's contractions started yesterday, and she and hubby headed to the hospital at around seven this morning. They've promised to keep me posted, and I promise to update here as soon as I know more. In the meantime, keep those knitting fingers crossed for wee one's safe and happy arrival!

Update (10:47 a.m.): Just got a text message from Alison with this picture attached:

"Doing some baby knitting while i labor."

Here's hoping the next picture will be of something else small and pink!

Update (1:50 p.m.): The latest text message from Alison reports good progress! She seems upbeat, comfortable (at least comfortable enough to send text messages!), and excited to meet wee one. It should be pretty soon now!

Update: Baby L is here!

She's a hair over eight pounds, and both she and Alison are doing great. Congrats to Alison!

Another thing I finished on the way to having a baby...

The drawstring pants from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts! I just love the color of the Knitpicks Shine - just like jeans, but oh so much softer. They were quick to knit up and someday I think I would like to make them with the denim, but for now I wanted soft, soft, soft for wee one. They're still way too big and long to try on her (and more importantly, wee one is still way too little to tolerate a try-on and photo session), but for now they look super cute sitting there waiting for her.

So just what was I knitting while I was in labor? More baby pants, of course! After finishing the drawstring pants from LMKG, I decided this time to just eyeball some babyGap pants and make up a little pattern for pretty pants for wee one. This is how far I got.

These still need their waistband, but all in all, they'll only take two balls of Knitpicks Shine and are going to be so freaking sweet I can hardly stand it!

"Look at my new pants!"

With baby L in the sling, I managed to finish the waistband on the baby bell bottoms. She gave me just enough time to sew things up and weave in the ends.

I am so pleased with how these came out. The garter stitch bell bottoms are girly without being too frilly or twee. The pink is sweet without giving you tooth decay. And the Knitpicks Shine Sport was a delight to work with (I still can't believe that the yarn for the entire project was only $5!).

And check it out, they totally fit wee one!

I've posted the pattern on my free patterns page and am now completely obsessed with the idea of cooking up some more baby pants patterns for this yarn. So stay tuned...

Hubby's been away for a few days, so it's been nothing but kids -- mooooooommmm, can you play a game with me --, pizza -- moooooooommmm, can you get me some more juice --, and legos -- moooooommmm, I can't find a piece -- for me and no knitting and no computer.

Wee one was a trooper, waiting while I made the boys' dinner or kept her at the playground for hours with them. Still a little voice in my head kept hearing, mooooooommm, when are you going to make me some larger baby bell bottoms? Okay, okay, the pattern with larger sizes is now ready! And I've got more Knitpicks Shine on the way for another baby bottoms pattern. Now I just need hubby home again so I can knit it!

I've got some new baby pants underway! These are in a super yummy buttery color of Knitpicks Shine. They're different from the bell bottoms (I spy ruffles!) and you'll be able to get the pattern at magknits this summer!

Do you remember that line from Kevin Meaney? I love that line. Say it all the time for no reason. Too funny.

There is a reason this time though, wee one needs bigger pants.

So some new baby bell bottoms are underway for her in cherry red Knit Picks Shine Sport from my stash. She needed some red pants and I couldn't really find any in this kind of style (my gal is just not a leggings sort of gal). When I come to think of it, I wrote the bell bottoms pattern last year because I didn't see any pants in the stores exactly like the ones I wanted for her. So here we are again. I guess we're just bell bottom pants people.

I hope you're wearing red today because it's Red Sox Pride Day! All of Boston is celebrating the home opener today by wearing their Red Sox gear (or red) and donating money to the the Jimmy Fund's Rally Against Cancer. The boys' school participates every year, collecting donations in honor of two students with cancer. The kids all wear red and bring in a dollar each. (If you would like to contribute, you can donate to the kids' team here or directly to the Jimmy Fund here.) The boys went today in Ramirez and Ellsbury shirts and wee one is wearing not only her little pink Red Sox shirt but also her new red pants that I finished up just in time.

 
baby bell bottoms in Knitpicks Shine Sport

Go Sox!