Etta in her Swetta

It's fun to look at the finished product, all perfectly blocked and photographed in the best light I have at my disposal in the Great Lakes, just slightly enhanced with the "saturation" feature on Picasa. 

 

But there is nothing as satisfying...

...like seeing it on the baby herself.

I had a difficult time saving and resizing these photos when they came into my inbox because I kept passing out cold from cuteness, hitting my head on the keyboard, waking up and then forgetting what had caused me to lose consciousness in the first place.

Etta, as the Faithful 163 know, is the second baby of Teacher Emily, Olive's first teacher at Autism Academy.  Emily sports the original blonde ponytail, and was the keeper of the Sacred Notebook

She is the good experience that led to ready acceptance of this good experience...

...and this one.

When I look at Etta in her sweater, I wonder what it must be like to cut one's mothering teeth on teaching special needs children, and then, give birth to a neurotypical child.  It must be like learning to drive on a stick shift with manual steering, windows that need to be rolled up and down with a crank handle, and no turn signals so that you actually have to hang your arm out the window in the manner most people only use once: during the driver's test.  

Then, suddenly, you're driving a late-model Lexus with power everything and a built in GPS and keyless start.  Or maybe you're sitting in the backseat of a town car while someone else drives -- it's that easy. 

Or maybe you're a little extra concerned about your child's development since you know stuff that the average first-time mom doesn't.  That one morning when you're baby's just in a cross mood and doesn't give you the level of eye contact you expect, maybe you panic for a moment and need to be reminded that even 'nother kids have their "off" days.

I'm currently at work on a baby blanket for a baby-boy-on-the-way.  He will be the first child of one of the aides in Olive's classroom.  This aide has spent much of the past year in the ladies' room with Olive, which is a hard enough task when one isn't in the midst of a pregnancy that involves morning sickness.

The front of the blanket is all Kidsilk Haze, done in a slip-stitch pattern and limited to colors that feel boy-appropriate.

I made a similar blanket for baby Baley two years ago, but as you can see, on that one I went crazy with the pink and purple and ruffles.

The backing of the boy blanket is Swans Island merino, just a simple combination of stockinette and garter stitch. 

Here you can see the tacked down mitered edge border, which will continue all the way around the blanket. 

After blocking, I'll probably sew a big X in the middle of the blanket (using tiny stitches that are hidden by the slipstitch haze), going from corner to corner, to hold the two layers together.

Comments

[Amelia]

Good grief - that you knit double sided blankets does my head in. But I love that you d o it!

[Tamara]

Wow!

[CrazyMomTats!]

Oh! Such cuteness!

[Barbara]

I'm always disappointed when there's nothing new on the Knitters-Knitters feed, but when you make things THIS beautiful, well, I see why you can't be writing all the time.

[Dixie]

That gorgeous sweater is perfect for that exquisite baby. I wish she wouldn't outgrow it for a very long time.

[kmkat]

Sweater is, of course, simply a knockout, the most gorgeous baby sweater of all time. And a double-sided baby blanket of KSH and merino? OMG. But the new mom deserves it, as you say. Way to go, Jen!

[Em]

Until Etta received her sweater, I didn't even know yarn could be so soft. I can't imagine how cuddly that blanket must be! It's beyond beautiful.

Teaching and parenting are such different worlds. I often find myself wishing my mothering self was more like my teacher self- concerned only with spending time with the child in the moment, wishing each day would go by more slowly, never losing patience. I'm just grateful to have had years of practice, because even with that experience, I have lots of room for improvement- in those same areas- as a mother.