Knitting for Kids

So, no kids or grandkids but the desire to knit for kids. Thank you to my niece and her husband for having a beautiful family to satisfy this need! Okay, this is not why they have this family, but I’m delighted to be a Grauntie (my friend’s term for Great Aunt). I think the kids are going to call me “Chuch”, though. That’s a colloquial version of “Aunt” in Ukrainian. So excited.

Three years ago, when I started knitting, I wanted to make something for Great Nephew #1. Since the family is dedicated to the Saskatchewan Roughriders football team, I found a knitting chart for the logo and knit my first kid’s hat (I adapted it from this Penguin Hat pattern which I made for to other kids in Knitting Year 1) :

Last Christmas, there were two Great Nephews. And two new knitting projects. I stayed with the Roughriders theme and knit my first sweaters ever. Another success. This is the kids wearing them during the Grey Cup game in November 2013 (and yes, Saskatchewan won). I adapted a cute kid’s Frog Sweater for this. Love these boys:

What I knit

And THIS Christmas, there’s a third Great, a Great Niece. Wow, what a beautiful family. And a great opportunity to knit baby things, baby GIRL things! I was able to finish hats for the boys (they’re footballs in case you didn’t recognize them; I adapted this great Hat Pattern) and my Great Niece’s first hand-made Roughrider’s hat (using the best Newborn Hat pattern). Adorable threesome (and Mom in this picture):

Needless to say, there’s more in the works (can’t help myself).

It’s been fun looking through my Mom’s patterns for ideas. The books are for things she knit my brother and me AND for my niece and nephew. I feel very connected to my Mom when I knit for these kids.

What I read

I finished a wonderful book, especially for a knitter (recommended by http://bookpage.com/; check this out if you don’t already know this site for book reviews): Ann Hood’s “The Knitting Circle”. Hood writes about death and grieving, and you might think her books are too sad. But they’re also about loving and learning and sharing. This one concerns a woman who, after her child dies, joins a knitting circle and meets women (and a few men) who knit, tell their own stories, and help each other recover from great loss. It was beautifully written and compelling. I actually finished it very quickly, despite my own knitting.