Knitting for Baby K

Lots of my friends are having babies this year. One of Buster's buddies had a beautiful little baby girl in May. Some friends of mine from my days in Seattle are expecting a little one in September. And KK and MK are expecting a baby boy in August. While I'm overjoyed for all the mommies and daddies, I'm especially excited about KK and MK.


KK grew up next door to me and our families remain the closest of friends. I remember playing "statues" with KK and his sister in their back yard, and building little villages in the sandbox and playing war with KK's army men. When I was a high school freshman KK was a senior and he drove me to school everyday in his super cool '48 Chevy. He was always nice to me and never once made me feel like I was imposing. I was a dorky little freshman -- I had to be cramping his style, but he never let on. Our families have Christmas dinner together every year. My brother and I don't have any first cousins. KK and his sister are the closest thing we've got. We don't share a family tree, but we are family nonetheless.

KK and MK got married a little over a year ago. I've met several of the girls KK has dated over the years. Not one of them can hold a candle to MK. First, she's gorgeous. I mean, look at her! Drop. Dead. Gorgeous. And she's fun, and silly, and bold, and genuine, and super sweet. She's exactly what a great guy like KK deserves.

Around Christmas time we learned that Baby K was on the way!

When I learned how to knit (early this spring) I immediately decided that I wanted to knit something for Baby K. I wasn't very confident in my knitting skills and I didn't want to take on anything that might be too complicated or that I wouldn't be able to finish in time. So I settled on a hat and booties.

I picked up Simple Knits for Cherished Babies from my local yarn shop, along with 6 balls of yarn in 3 different colors -- one color for each of the three babies that were on the way.


I saved the one for MK and KK for last so I would get lots of practice first (also because their baby will be the last of the 3 to be born and babies don't need hats and booties before they're born). The beanie and booties I chose are fairly quick to make and I knocked out the first two sets in a few weeks. I've been working on Baby K's set a few rows at a time for a month or so. I set it aside to work on my sweater and the socks, and I finally finished it up yesterday.

If you're looking for simple, elegant things to knit for babies, this book is excellent. It's full of lovely softly lit photos and well written instructions. The beanie pattern called for worsted weight yarn but I wanted it to match the booties so I used the same dk weight yarn for both, used appropriate needles, and worked the large size. Looks like it came out pretty close to the measurements for the newborn size.

If you want to see another sample from this book, head over to Shazam in the Kitchen and check out the cardigan Mary made.

After seeing Travel Bear model Mary's baby knits, Gray Bear got jealous and asked if he, too could model knitted baby clothes. Gray Bear, I think you have a thing or two to learn about modeling...

"Hey, are you sure these are supposed to be booties? They make much better gloves!"

I know MK occasionally reads this blog so I've spoiled her surprise. But there's a whole month before the baby shower. And if this lace project I've taken on (coming soon to a blog near you) doesn't take over my whole world I might find enough time to make something else for Baby K.