For Juniper

My brother-in-law’s sister had a baby this summer. They named her Juniper. This kid – I’ve only met her once, but she has a special place in my heart. Maybe because I’ve connected with her momma on Facebook, maybe because she is Keeley’s niece, maybe because she’s just special. I don’t know. I do know that even though I made her a blanket, I wanted to do something else. I thought about knitting a hat, but then I thought about how I’ve always wanted to knit a sweater and a baby-sized sweater seemed like a good first-attempt. I figured something small would be easier and less likely to get hidden in the bottom of a project-bin, due to boredom or frustration.

I feel a little like a broken record here, but – this sweater was enough to convince me that I will never knit an adult sized one. When I finished the first sleeve, it was big enough to fit MY arm. Not exactly 6-9 month appropriate circumference there. And it was wide. REALLY wide. So I shortened the sleeves, blocked it, and put it away, not knowing if I would ever give it to her. After showing it to Beth, my mom, and Keeley – who all said I should definitely give it to her – I finally agreed. But I couldn’t just send something that MIGHT fit her some day. So I made a pair of legwarmers that would most definitely fit her now. And that would have been it, but I had so much fabric left over from the bear hats that I thought she needed one of those too.

By this time it was a week before Christmas, so instead of the intended summer gift of a sweater, Juniper got an entire package of presents. Her mom sent me a picture of her wearing all three at once and I about died over the cuteness. Seriously.

That’s the kind of thing that makes any swearing over knitting patterns worth it.

(Detailed pictures on flickr)

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