Fibre in your diet

Socktober is still a thing over here. I had a brief dalliance with the beginnings of a shawl at Knit City, but it didn’t quite take hold, though it might have stood a chance but for Megan. My mum loved clothes shopping and did heaps of it for all of us, so I was trying to be a good grandmother, and asked her what Elliot needed. She answered that he could use a sleeper or two, and that she likes the ones with feet. I went shopping, and had trouble finding footed ones that would fit him. (Being of average weight for his age but of a rather diminutive stature, our wee lad is a bit of a square.) I bought the one footed one I could find, and two that didn’t have feet, and forked them over to Meg. When I did, she mentioned that the reason she likes the footed ones is because his little feet get so cold at night and then she said maybe he needed more booties or socks or something like that and I felt a feeling that must be exactly like the way sharks feel when they pour the buckets of chum in the water.

I went the knitter equivalent of bananas. It was all I could think of. Babies are enough to set me off, but the thought of a cold baby who could only be saved by knitting? Lunatic. I was a lunatic with wool. My grandson had cold feet and I was unstoppable. Hours later:

littleblueonestoo 2017-10-17 greenalldone 2017-10-17

One pair with ribbed cuffs and a stockinette foot, and another pair where I kept the ribbing going on the top of the sock, and gave way to stockinette on only the bottom. (No pattern, though you can find lots on Ravelry if you look – wait, I did it for you. These ones by Kate Atherley look perfect.) The good news is that not only are his feet warm, they fit just fine:

greensockson 2017-10-17

Maybe a little big, but he’s growing fast, and they are apparently delicious.

greenoneisgoodtoo 2017-10-17 delicioussocks 2017-10-17

The green ones especially.

107 thoughts on “Fibre in your diet

  1. As many socks as you knit, having cold baby feet mentioned should generate more than two pairs!!!

    The best thing about baby things is that they knit up so fast, they become addictive!

  2. I knitted a Pepita for a very special baby, and had a couple for my own. They’re fabulous. Keep feet warm, can’t be pulled off and can be worn instead of a blanket in car seats and carriers. I’d have one myself if I could face the knitting in fingering weight. They are a lovely knit, fairly quick and have short rows for fitting cloth bottoms into. Also, it uses 200g of sock yarn, so you can use fabulous colours.

    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pepita-2

  3. Yes, I feel like Megan knew exactly what she was doing here. Clever girl. *Thank you* for sharing the photos. I am having A Day and a baby eating his socks is pretty much the best thing I’ve seen all day.

    • Agreed. Gee mom, know anyone who could help with this baby’s cold feet problem? Just wish there was something someone could do to help..

  4. I used sleep bags for my kids for exactly this reason – could never find a sleeper that fit well enough and I worried about them being cold. A mini duvet-as-a-wearable-bag was perfect.

  5. I am so glad that I am not alone in having a compulsion to knit madly to keep babies from freezing to death (even though I live somewhere the avg annual temp is ~63F/17C). I also knit madly to keep friends moving to colder climates from freezing to death. Knitting=weather armor. 🙂

  6. Hahahahaha! The baby sock madness hit me last year and I ended up knitting 14 pairs of sock for a two year old. His mom is due with a girl in February and I’m thinking she’s going to get booties out of all the leftovers. And maybe hats?

  7. 40-(ahem) some years ago, I remember knitting a sleeper for my first son and being astounded at how quick and easy it was, even though it had details like feet, buttons, and ribbing with a tie at the waist. It fit the little guy perfectly. It was an old, very old, pattern from one of my Mum’s wartime knitting books. Just saying maybe you’re more like me and would rather spend time knitting a sleeper than shopping for one!

  8. Oh my, he is adorable (the socks, too). My daughter used to put her own socks on her baby to prevent my granddaughter from pulling them off. That means handknits with longer cuffs!

  9. Such a sweet little man! I’m glad he has warmer feet now, and that his socks are delicious! What more could a baby want? Maybe he’ll need some longies to keep his chubby legs warm? I knit some from tinyowl for one of my grandsons (years ago) and they were great in the carriage and car seat this time of year. 🙂 I love knitting baby things! 🙂

  10. Thanks for sharing. That is the cutest thing I’ve seen in some time. I’m surprised the internet isn’t broken from all the people clicking to see!

  11. And you can keep knitting socks for him forever! I’m forty (mumble) and my mom is the knitter in the family, so I have piles of knitted socks made for my tiny feet. 🙂 (Commercial socks that say they fit from US sizes 6-9 or sometimes even 5-9 LIE LIE MEAN LYING SOCKS)

    He’s absolutely precious, and I’m glad he likes his grandma’s knitting so much!

  12. I can’t see why you’d ever get sick of knitting adorable baby socks, but just in case……

    When my kids were babies I would use wrist sweatbands over their jammies at the ankles to hold them up if they were too long. It worked like a charm. They are soft and easy to wash.

  13. Everyone should HAVE to look at pictures like this every day. If they did, the world would be BURSTING with love. Crazy cute. Crazy, CRAZY cute. ❤️

  14. In the late 70s I bought footed-sleepers from Sears for my daughter. They were 2-pieced with two rows of snaps. Two pieced sleepers make diaper changing a lot easier. On really cold nights I would put socks on her and then her sleepers. Here’s a link to the Sears page for sleepers; might be easier than searching stores.
    http://www.sears.com/search=footed%20sleeper%20pajama

    Always nice to see a happy baby doing what babies do best, trying out their world for texture and taste. ;>)

  15. This post made my whole day. Elliot is a square? You felt like a shark? You went bananas with wool for Elliot’s cold feet? I love every bit of it!!!!! Especially the bit about Elliot being a square. My whole being just squealed with delight.

  16. I just need to say SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!!! for Elliot. (And thank you to Megan for letting us coo over him.)

    Also I know exactly that shark-chum feeling. That wide-eyed manic YES THIS IS ME THIS IS ME ALL OVER THIS SHOULD HAVE MY FACE ON IT IT’S SO MINE!!!!

  17. My babies all just sleep in their diaper. Cold feet is normal for babies due to poor circulation. It’s healthiest to sleep cool at night instead of warm, it’ll help him better to adjust to the winter climate and socks just fall off anyway, or get pulled off.

  18. He is so adorable! And the tiny socks only make it better. You sound like an awesome grandmother. Besides, what’s better than filling a need that only you can fill with something you love to do?

  19. Hahaha! That shark smelling chum comment made me laugh out loud. Which then meant I had to read it aloud to my daughter who was sitting nearby and then show her the entire post. You crack me up. Babies and their little feet and tiny socks, so precious! Also, I can’t believe your morning glories are still blooming.

  20. Raise your hand if baby-finds-feet-and-sticks-them-in-mouth is one of your favorite stages of watching babies grow up!

    Okay, fine, raise your hand if every stage is pretty darned amazing…

    (You’re knitting socks, I’m knitting mittens. Pairs and pairs of mittens, because they always end up lost.)

  21. Ah! The age of soggy socks! It’s such a short window – but so adorable. Look – I can play with these too – and I can put them in my mouth!
    Not long from now he’ll be too much on the move to get his socks soggy – but for the moment……

  22. Just picturing the look on your face when you realized that there was “a cold baby who could only be saved by knitting” absolutely made my day

  23. OMG. This made me LOL. “When I did, she mentioned that the reason she likes the footed ones is because his little feet get so cold at night and then she said maybe he needed more booties or socks or something like that and I felt a feeling that must be exactly like the way sharks feel when they pour the buckets of chum in the water.”

  24. One Christmas I asked my aunt what my uncle wanted for Christmas. She said that he was going hunting in Montana in January, and he needed a new knit hat. And then she went on to tell me where I could BUY a KNIT HAT for my uncle. I looked at her like she was crazy and said “I’ve got it. Thanks.” And found some yarn in a color I can only describe as New Highlighter Neon Yellow and whipped out a Boy Hat in no time.

    He loved it, and the next morning I got a pic of him wearing it in the house because it was cold and my hat was nice and warm.

    Buy a knit hat. What was she thinking?!

  25. I have to say, your post and these pictures are adorable beyond belief, and just what the world needs right now! Please, please keep them coming as often as you feel able!

  26. Precious, beautiful boy! How is it that he is growing so fast? Wasn’t he just born a few weeks ago? He makes one want to find an infant and just hold and cuddle for always.

    Definitely a knit-worthy lad. Too cute by far.

    • I would be committing suicide if I even tried to grab my foot while laying down like that. Just the thought of trying makes me laugh and cry at the same time…

  27. I know this may sound nuts given that you lost your mom so recently – but wanted to send my USA condolences on your country’s loss of Gord Downie. I remember the blog you wrote about his last concert – and up until that blog post I’d never heard of him. I’ve come to learn, appreciate and love so much about Canada over the years of being a loyal reader of your blog and pay much more attention to events in Canada as a result. I was moved by your Prime Minister’s speech this morning.

    You may have heard that we here in the USA are undergoing a national nightmare and having a collective nervous breakdown? Yep. That is us right now. It gives me comfort that our neighbors up north are so lovely.

    Anyway – I’m sure it’s a sad day for all Canadians. Condolences from New York.

  28. so cute!!!!!!!!!! and so typical.
    I find that as a grandmother, I sometimes use my mother as an example of what to do (and what not to do)

  29. First, the obvious: Elliot is stinkin’ CUTE!
    Second, I’m sure in some alternate universe, eating green booties counts as a veggie.

  30. My baby is 11 months and seems to have a hatred for all knits. I hope that as the weather gets cooler she will change her tune, but right now I’m trying desperately to find a yank proof hat. Even the aviatrix hat and classic tie on bonnets are no match for her. Socks would just end in heartbreak.

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