knitting for babies

I mentioned a while back that everyone I knew was having babies. Well, they're all here now: Alden, Ellery, Alex and Siri. We met the youngest of them, Siri, yesterday.

It's funny. I am familiar with babies, but I'd become used to hanging out with our friends' pre-schoolers. The past two months has involved meeting these 4 newborns, and I was reminded of how wiggly and small they are. I know I shouldn't be surprised by this, but I can see why parents of babies are so excited when their baby smiles for the first time or is able to pick up her head.

Anyway, since the gifting is more or less done, I thought I'd give a run down of the baby knitting, part two. (Part one is here.)

Alex, the baby who lives in Maine, received a baby vest. The pattern is based very loosely on the Cobblestone sweater, and is therefore called Pebble. It was a quick and fun knit, and I enjoyed finding contrasting buttons at M & J Trim.

The major drawback for this pattern is that it's written for one size, and the designer says that it will fit a baby 0-12 months, which I find ridiculous. I found some standard measurements and sized this sweater for a 3-6 month old.
Unfortunately I was a bad blogger and forgot to take a photo of the entire finished thing before I gave it away, so you only get to see snippets of it.

Pattern: Pebble by The Thrifty Knitter
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash
Needles: US6

Siri, who was born on August 11, received a pair of knitted pants for the fall and winter (depending how fast her legs grow). You may remember that I made another pair of baby pants in April, Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Leggings. They would have been too big for Siri to wear this fall, so I found the Kanoko pants pattern and made them for her. I think they are adorable, but again I have issues with the construction. First of all, Elizabeth Zimmerman's graft under the crotch is ingenious and really perfect for a baby in diapers. The Kanoko pants don't allow for that diaper crotch. Second, as written there would have only been a 4" height from the waist to the crotch in the Kanoko pants, a height which is significantly shorter than what anyone else recommends. I added about 2 inches to it, and I think they'll be fine, though I still am nervous about how they'll squeeze over a diaper. The fabric is pretty stretchy, so hopefully it will be fine.Pattern: Kanoko Baby Pants by Yumiko Sakurai
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Ruby River (loved it!!), less than a skein
Needles: US7

Baby knitting is fun. I love how quick it is, and everything is just so cute! What I'm not crazy about are these patterns that aren't so well researched...