Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Bohemian Mama: Baby knits


      Yarrow’s been collecting compliments this winter. I’m always asked if I knit, because she wears more sweaters and socks than any baby around. I don’t, but I don’t have too. We have family and good friends knitting up a storm, and on cold days we layer her up in coziness. My favorite right now are her ‘uggs’. They’re Angora booties a friend of ours made from her own rabbits. I put Yarrow in her uggs everyday. They’re warmer than any booties have a right to be, and they make any outfit look funky, because baby-uggs are adorable.

      I’m a fiber snob. I’ve requested nothing unnatural, and our knitters have risen to the request. Yarrow has homespun wool and angora, lamb’s wool, cotton, bamboo, and blends of soy and silk, bamboo and silk, and wool and alpaca. One of the reasons I’m such a snob is that natural fibers are warmer - angora is actually so warm, that it’s often blended-down to make sweaters that don’t become uncomfortably hot. For baby booties, I think pure angora is ideal. Wool has natural wicking properties, so if Yarrow gets a bit damp, the wool doesn’t hold it cold against her skin. The blends of soy, bamboo, and silk combined the smooth warmth of silk with a light, soft, but less expensive natural fiber. Surprisingly, all of this fibers are safe to wash. Not to machine-dry, but we don’t generally do that anyway.

Yarrow’s new blue hat is one of my favorites. Her Aunt Katja knit it for her as a Christmas gift. I think it brings out the bright blue of her eyes, and pair with her blue knit skirt, striped sweater, brown tights, and uggs, it makes Yarrow into quite the adorable yurt-baby.

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