Saturday, January 20, 2007

Out with the needles for a change

Well I've been busy with a needle or two over the past couple of days but not sewing needles this time.

Baby Matthew is progressing as hoped at this stage (details are sketchy as Nigel's family aren't good communicators and we don't really want to ring direct and bother them so are leaving it to his parents to be the main line of communication - chinese whispers and all that!) so I decided to put my mind and hands to something a little more practical.

Yesterday I had to go to the post office to send off Nancy's string blocks and it is also a little general purpose shop which just happens to sell a small range of wools including 4ply baby wool. So armed with a ball of white and one of lemon (they'd run out of blue!) I set to and made 3 hats of varying sizes in each colour. The smallest were so tiny that Lou asked me if they were baby mittens as I was wrapping them up - I stupidly forgot to take a picture first - duhh!

The smallest one had only 36 stitches and 24 rows of 2 x 2 rib so as you can imagine they didnt take that long to complete. The patterns were taken from the internet and said they were for babies of his size but it's hard to imagine without seeing him hence the small variety of sizes made. However I don't suppose he'll be wearing a full size panama for a while yet, bless him.

I very carefully picked a birth congratulations card while I was at the shop - deliberately avoiding the ones with 'bonny bouncing boy' etc - and popped the hats in the post with it this morning once we'd checked the situation. I struggled to know what to do for the best on this one as the situation is obviously quite precarious but on the other hand he has arrived, was much wanted and with God's love and the care of the NICU professionals will hopefully continue to thrive. Therefore it felt right to send a card and acknowledge his arrival while sending our support and good wishes for the best possible outcome for him. It will be a difficult time for the immediate family and they may be quite hurt if noone sends cards for fear of putting their feet in it.

I have the doubtful priviledge of having a mother in law who seldom gives her son or I any credit for even an iota of common sense and after Nigel had talked with his dad about the situation she made him call back in a flap to ensure we hadn't sent a tactless card (you know just the sort I'd so carefully avoided in the shop)

Never mind - she really should credit us with a bit more common sense than she does - mothers in law! who'd 'ave 'em?

Anyway once I returned from the post office I was still on a bit of a roll and with lots of yarn left I made a little white cardigan. Sarah was in town for work this afternoon so brought home a ball of blue and the little blue cardi with the yellow stripe was run up this evening. You can see from the tape measure just how tiny they are.

Sewing hasn't been totally neglected though - all six stars c/w sashings on my to-be nephew or niece's baby quilt are done and joined together - this only leaves the outer border to complete the top.

As you can imagine it's a bit of a baby preparation zone here today - something our house hasn't seen en masse for some time I can tell you.

9 comments:

ForestJane said...

Wow, so teeny! You must be knitting them with toothpick size needles... :)

quiltpixie said...

those are sooo small... its hard to imagine someone so tiny

Doodlebug Gail said...

Wow, those are tiny! I too would have been in a quandry about sending a card .... glad you got that all sorted out. It's a difficult situation and I'm sure that they'll all appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Please do all of us in Blogland updated when you get the chance.

Lois R. said...

So tiny, and so sweet!

No doubt the positive energy you put into making the little things and picking the perfect card are duly noted by the Big Guy Upstairs. (or whoever you happen to believe in) I'm sending out some positive thoughts about the little baby too!

Keep us posted.

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

Precious, so small, they look like doll sweaters. You are wonderful to be so kind, generous and sensitive.

Judy said...

They are very beautiful Bebbs and I think she will appreciate them. I know she will appreciate the card too. I wasn't able to have kids, but I did have many miscarriages before stopping trying and after a couple it seriously hurt my feeling to have my own mother tell me not to "tell anyone about being pregnant, just in case". I agree that their feelings will get hurt if everyone completely ignores that they had the baby, no matter if the outcome isn't a happy one in the end.

I'll keep them in our prayers.

Libby said...

How incredibly teeny -- and greatly appreciated by the parents, for sure *s* Prayers continue for the little one. Keep us updated.

Lily Mulholland said...

Oh Anne - they are tiny and wonderful. As are little premmies. They can do amazing things.

And pffft to your mother in law!

The Calico Cat said...

Your MIL & my MIL need to get together... Except mine has a bit of reason, without me prodding, my DH would never send a thank you card at all...