Sooooo adorable - almost makes me want to have another baby of my own. Almost...

You are so wise when it comes to babies! Keeps me laughing!

we have one daughter and one son... people, even now that they are 4 and 2, incorrectly assign gender! and you are 100% correct - nothing happens - DD doesn't even correct them when they incorrectly address her as son!

I still laugh at how many times, no matter how I dressed my son as a baby, people would always ask "What's her name?" I just loved answering "John". Love the hat.

I'm currently using both pink and blue for my upcoming (gender unknown) child. I'm tempted to tell all the nosy relatives who'd give me all pink (or blue) clothes that they can do that, but they'll get used for the next kid too, regardless of gender... (I honestly see nothing wrong with infant boys in pink dresses. They're too small to notice)

Dang that's a cute hat!

Well, Petal, thats a fine example of flower power! may the baby wear it happily and all who see it coo! X

Ovarian cramp...good one!

I would argue that no one will really know this baby's gender until this baby tells us. Thanks for sticking up for the wee'uns.

AGREE!!! LIKE!!!
OUCH!!! (damn ovarian cramp!)

All your baby knits make my ovaries cramp with longing. Poor Jen. I am sending her some GTFO babby! mojo.

Awwwww, that is one of the cutest baby hats I have ever seen!

Here in the US it's all the rage to induce so kids arrive conveniently within the mom's schedule. But now they say kids born early don't do as well developmentally. So although I can't even imagine being that pregnant for that long, it will be better for the kidlin. If Jen can stand it. If that cute knitted wardrobe you're making can't distract her, nothing can. Good luck Jen!

One of my favorite pictures is of my son at about age two wearing -- at his insistence -- one of my daughter's toy tiaras. And his favorite pair of summer PJs was her outgrown pale pink ballet slipper-themed pair. My daughter, on the other hand, has a life-size Darth Vader on her wall (right next to her My Little Pony dollhouse) and her favorite color has always -- when it's not "rainbow" -- been blue. One of the few cardinal sins in our house is saying that something is "for boys" or "for girls".

All your gifts are gorgeous! If the baby is a boy, you can pretend the stem is a (ahem) stamen.

I don't know if it gives me an ovarian cramp, but it most definately makes my womb itch.

I love to knit pink hats for boy babies- it's hilariously cute, plus who cares if it's gender appropriate? I've been accused of being pushy about this. I'm so glad you know what I mean!

How absolutely cute. And as long as it is well made who cares? The sweater, blankie all that is ment to show love and affection. Knit on with pride and gifty fervour. Hope Jen has that baby soon. I know how that feels. He was two and a half weeks late and 9lbs 10 oz. He is 21 in a week.

That's one adorable hat!

Adorable! I think my daughter my needs one!

I'm sure someone has said this already, but it keeps running through my head that Jen is probably crossing her legs really hard, because you'll stop knitting baby knits for her when she finally gives birth.

oh this is one of my absolute FAVE baby patterns to make! your photo has probably inspired me to go whip another one!

Ok, I wrote my commments to yesterday's post not realizing you had an entry for today - et voila! the cutest beanie this side of Jack and his stalk appears on my screen. Tres adorable.

And, of course, it was boys who wore more pinks and reds and girls who wore the blue back in the day ... some day far removed from us. Go figure.

One of my daughters will be turning 14 tomorrow...that's just a tad past the obvious "labor day." I was a VERY frustrated woman 14 years ago! But it doesn't seem as important now when I look at her almost grown-up sweet little face. :)

"and do you know what happens if someone can't tell your baby is a boy?

Nothing."

So true. My daughter was in her stroller in a navy polo dress, and everyone thought she was a boy. Did I care? Not one bit.

I wonder where the whole pink is for girls/blue is for boys thing started (but I don't have time right now to look it up). Good for you for not following that silly arbitrary color scheme. I was a big baby (girl) and my mom says that unless I was wearing something really girly, people used to say stuff like "your son is so strapping, he's going to be a football star!" and you know what, it didn't hurt my baby self esteem one bit!

Voie de Vie~ I always heard that too. Red was for men, not women and pink (light red) was for boys. Blue was the color of the Virgin Mary and considered chaste and was for girls. It's amazing how times change!

I think any baby can wear any color and still look wonderful, and if it's handknit with Love? Even Better!

Good on you. I really think our gender reactions to color are a waste of energy (and hey, I don't like pink, but would happily put a baby boy or girl in it).

In Belgium it's still pink for a boy. COME ON JEN!!

preach!

Ovarian Cramp! Ha! Good one!

Just to make Jen feel better (or not), my daughter was born *two weeks* late. I totally understand any frustration she may be feeling -- but the kid's gonna come when the kid's gonna come. She's been as stubborn about everything else since her birth, too. :) Love the hat -- you make such adorable baby things!

I found my son wearing pink shoes when he was 4, a pair from his older sister. all he said was "They fit!"

"Do you know what happens...? NOTHING!"
LOVE this statement! I often make it in regards to parents who INSIST on rescuing their kids for inconsequential stuff, like lunch. NOTHING happens if they miss lunch except they learn how to beg off their friends or they end up hungry! It's a LIFE LESSON!

I think that Jen's kiddo is doing it on purpose to accumulate as much adorable knitwear as possible. And with booties and hats like that, I'm not sure I can blame him/her!

I was bald till I was two, while my brother was born with a full head of hair. We were twins the hard way, and everyone knew my mother had one of each, so they always cooed "what a cute little girl" at my brother and "what a handsome big boy" at me. Mother got tired of explaining so just let it go till people starting figuring it out on their own.
We both turned out without any gender confusion or other trauma and drama.

YES. Clothing for babies is aboslutely for parental amusement.

That hat is adorable and will look adorable on a baby of either gender. I want to make one now!

I've seen the Itty Bitty Hat book and it is adorable, too! Cuteness overload. I'm done having kids, though. Someday it will be my kids turn to have the kids.

I had two boys, and mostly dressed in boys clothes, but they always commented on how pretty my "girls" were. My youngest I could see, he has eyelashes to envy. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter.

Love the blog, love the baby knits.

That is just adorable, whatever gender the baby turns out to be how could anyone resist putting that hat on the nearest tiny head?!

I have nothing short of an addiction to those Itty Bittys. Ready to knit for unknown baby humans. Yes, if someone misses the sex of the baby... oh, well. It's just an opening for a delightful story.

Hoping the baby arrives soon for Jen's sake, but know baby will arrive when baby is quite ready.

I finally knit something before you did! I guess you can say you copied me instead of the other way around. lol!

I have seven (SEVEN!) friends who are pregnant right now. I definitely see one or more of these cute hats in my future. Any other tips on books for good baby clothes patterns, or fave patterns (other than your fabulous blanket, which is way beyond my ability/attention span)?

Sweet!

WTG for not assigning color to gender. It stinks when the due date estimates are wrong (which in my experience, is always lol!).

I'd like to say, in the US it's all the rage for OB's to induce to suit their own schedules, not usually the moms. I love my midwives, they always make the best decisions for baby, not their vacation. :)

Oh the cuteness factor!!!! Adorable.

And who said pink was just for girls? I'm sure you're aware of this, but historically that was not the case. There's a great article about it here:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/When-Did-Girls-Start-Wearing-Pink.html

And how I would love to pretend that I regularly read The Smithsonian website, but I found the link via Wikipedia!

I have the book, Itty Bitty Hats, and have knitted many of the little hats for gifts. Each one is adorable but my favorite two are the pumpkin hat and the little hat with the flower--like the one you have finished for Jen's baby. Each time the mother just ooh and aahs over them.

I agree with Johanna. Baby is born with a certain sex (anatomy) but chooses to identify with a certain gender later on (society).

Really? Nothing happens? Wow. I bet you don't believe in the stork theory of human reproduction, either.

My son was incorrectly identified as a girl about 95% of the time by strangers until he was around 2. And this was despite the fact that I dressed him in blue jeans, overalls, and tees that had trucks and such on them and said "I'm a boy." At 23, he's a handsome young man and nobody mistakes his gender. ;-) When my brother and SIL had a baby girl, I gave them some of my son's outgrown "boy wear." Everyone thought she was a boy. At 13, she is a capable and beautiful young lady, and nobody mistakes her gender. It all works out eventually.

LOL so true - everyone gets hung up on if it's a boy or a girl - me, I just want to know it's human, has everything it's supposed to have, and is healthy!

this knitting thing could be a jinx - what if the kid is waiting trying to stockpile hand knits??? maybe you should knit some older size clothing for the kid? would that encourage the kid to come out into the world and grow big?

You can dress your little girl in a pink dress and people will still not know if she is a boy or girl. I know this from experience. Now my girl is all girls and I dress her in whatever hand-me-downs I managed to get, which means she does get dressed in "boy" clothes. Now that she is almost 3, people don't seem to care as much if she is a boy or girl.

I'm now expecting number 2. People keep asking me if I know what I'm having. My answer: "a baby".

Adorable. Also, "ovarian cramp" - hee!

I am starting to feel sort of responsible for Jen's current state of extreme pregnancy. Like a watched pot, I think it always seems difficult to go into labor under too much scrutiny. The pressure of so many knitters expectantly checking the blog for news of the arrival of a baby most of us only know through Steph's words must be slowing the process enormously! I'm so sorry, Jen, and I hope you and the baby soon ignore the collective interest in your state of being and get the show on the road. Best wishes!

Ah, the memories come trickling back. I'd forgotten that I'd once had an exchange of opinions with a complete stranger over the sex of my baby. Could I help it that he had thick dark curly hair down to his eyes when he was born? Ms Stranger was convinced that he was a girl but I changed the nappies so I really was in the best position to know which way his cardigans would fasten in later life.

(Actually I'm still not sure about the button thing, I have to look it up each and every time)

Jen is VERY lucky to have you for a friend. Her baby is lucky, too!

I'm convinced that this very, very clever baby continues its residence in Jen's womb in order to extract lovely knits from you.

Also, thank you for remarking on how society's gender policing (particularly of wee ones) is, well, weird.

Oh my gosh, "ovarian cramp" was hilarious. Adorable hat!

Hear, hear! Everything in this post smacks of cuteness and the truth.

Haven't you worked it out yet? That baby is hanging on for you to provide a complete wardrobe full of clothes before it decides to grace the world with its presence!

I totally agree! First of all, I had two boys so pretty that everyone thought they were girls, no matter how I had them dressed. Second, I love that book to pieces! I knit the bunny hat for a friend's baby with removable bows on the ears in case they have another baby and want to use it again. Finally, I must admit that I caved a little bit to traditional gender roles when I saw the flower hat...really wanted to knit it...and didn't just in case it was a boy. Next time I'll muster up a little more courage :)

My husband cared considerablly more than I did about whether or not people could tell that our daughter was a girl. He would always put her in the pinkest outfit with the biggest bow and the most flowers whenever he would take her anywhere (which wasn't all that much...I kept her clothes pretty neutral), and would be furious if people missed his cues! Daddies and their little girls....

HOW cute. My younger son was often mistaken for a girl even though he wore boy clothes. It was probably his hair... I left it longish because I couldn't bear to cut it because it was SO beautiful.

Also... Was there supposed to be a link underneath the booties from yesterday? I would absolutely love to see your solution because, yes, those booties are too cute!

Amen!

ok, thats cute.

I packed yellow clothing in my bag for the hospital. A lady I met in the parking lot got quite snippy with me because I didn't have Rachel color coded. She wore a lot of blue because neither side of the family could imagine the first grandbaby on both sides not being a boy and presented us with loads of blue clothing before she was born. Didn't mess her up one bit.

Steph!

THANK YOU ever so much for referring to Jen's baby as a person. That is not heard very much anymore and I appreciate your giving personhood to the person she carries!!

Well, here's a thought. Of course it's a girl, and she is waiting until her wardrobe is complete!
Knit on, Auntie Stephanie, knit on!
Seriously, very cute

When I was growing up & even as a young adult, everyone always dressed babies in pastels & lace. White lace sweater sets were de riguer for christenings - perhaps with a touch of pink or blue - often a tie or trim something that could be used for several babies & the touch of color changed & usually with booties & a matching shawl/blanket. I was very surprised when my daughter said that lace was out for boy babies (my first 2 grands are boys). She said that no one she knew would even think about anything lacy for a boy. Sigh.

You know, I keep trying to tell all my friends who are having babies that. They "have" to buy new clothes cuz their friends and relatives have boys when they had a girl, or vice versa. I'm like "seriously, the baby does not care" and really who cares if someone mistakes your infants gender. It happens all the time. No big whoop. Save yourself some money. But nope. Really its the parents who care apparently.

Awww! Too bad my hen house is closed...That's one fetching chapeau!

Come out baby! We got cookies and milk!

What an adorable hat! This is going to be the best dressed baby in town.
You might want to knit bigger sizes for her/him after this. When our second was born, he was 2 and a half weeks overdue and he didn't wear newborn size for long.

At age 2 my son had his own tights and skirt so he could dress the same as his big sister. The sister is now 10, will not even look at skirts and anything pink or frilly is completely unacceptable.

Oh my goodness. I finished knitting the exact same hat yesterday. This has become my go to quick baby gift project of late. Love it. So simple and such an awesome finished product.

I would argue that no one will really know this baby's gender until this baby tells us. Thanks for sticking up for the wee'uns.

Posted by: Johanna at September 6, 2011 3:07 PM

This. Exactly this. All we can know until the child decides for itself is the genetic and body-shape sex of the child, not its gender. This is why all of my baby knits are white, green, yellow or sometimes purple for the goth-parents.

So stinkin' cute!!!

I have a little one due in about a month (if our schedule is the same as his)and now I want to find this book so I can knit hats for the rest of September.

I love her books! And I'm expecting my own gender surprise in December, so thanks for backing me up against all the people who are appalled I haven't found out... mostly my parents.

Thumbs up on the gender thing. The only thing a baby cares about is food and sleep... well, maybe also that they get a clean diaper when needed. Gender style is so far down their list of important things it's not even on the list.

Really cute hat.

Someone on the beach once told me what a cute little girl my naked little baby boy was. His favorite color was pink from ages 2-6.

I want to have a baby someday just so I can cross dress it. There are other reasons too, but that's the biggie.

What an adorable hat!

How cute is that hat! I love it!

I love Itty Bitty Hats & that is my fave "go to" pattern to knit for the wee ones!

Adorable!

I'm so glad that I'm a breastfeeding counselor because I see all the gorgeous little people and avoid the desire to make any more of my own.

I LOVE that hat!!!!!!!!!! Adorable!

That hat looks sooooo tiny. Are you sure Jen's baby will still be able to wear it upon arrival? Maybe bib overalls in a size 6-X would be more appropriate.

And if that baby is a boy, any photos of him actually wearing that hat will gradually disappear as he gets older. The Y chromosome doesn't have a spot for the cutesiness gene, so he won't be able to tolerate the existence of those photos. Especially if he hears his mom or some other adult woman who knew him when say he looked just sooooo cuuuuuuuute in it.

That hat is adorable! By the way, strangers can, and do, mistake an infant's gender, even if the baby in question is dressed in the "appropriate" colors. When I was a baby, my mother took me for a walk. She dressed me head to toe in pink ruffles, and someone looked in the carriage and asked how old "he" was!

I love this hat. I made it for a dear friend whose daughter now likes to put it on her dolls all these years later.

As for the color, I like pointing out to people that in the past (Victorian era possibly) pink was for boys because it came from red, the color of blood (and I assume war). Blue was associated with the Virgin Mary so it was for girls. I just love how our associations have completely flopped.

You DID warn us about looking at those darling hats..... What a cute hat Upside-Down Daisy is.. Rooting for Jen and her baby...

I made this hat for my granddaughter when she was 1. She didn't appreciate hats at the time. She wore it as part of her halloween costume at 3. Love this hat

I laughed so hard at this post. It's totally true!!! Cuteness and warmth is all that matters. Love the hat.

I think that Jen's baby is just holding out for more cuteness knitted up by you! Smart baby!

Absolutely adorable!!! I'm crazy about that little hat. Jen's baby is so very fortunate!

My parents told me a number of times that I was an eleven-month baby. They should know -- that's how long they had the doctor "on fee" or whatever it was in the 1950s.

I hooted out loud at the ovarian-cramp-inducing cuteness factor. That hat is a great example.

Finished baby blanket #7, Two Debbie Bliss sweaters and now almost done with two hats. I too, am using that wonderful book. Only I am making the one with the tulle bows on top!! I am so glad this marathon is almost over. I have other things I want to knit. Winter is coming!!!!

LOL. That was great.

I have 3 boys, but my first was the "prettiest" and I got a lot of "what a beautiful girl!" comments. My response was always the same... "thanks". After all... it was a compliment, no?

Agreed. Was once told that I should pierce my daughter's ears because there was 'nothing worse than somebody mistaking your girl for a boy.'

I wish I could say I had a snappy comeback for that, but I was too stunned (and busy wondering what kind of easy life somebody had to think that was the WORST thing ever).

And if it is a girl and she wears this adorable hat and *gasp* a green jacket or a blue one, people will still ask "oh is it a boy?" Happened to us just Monday when E. was wearing a bright screaming pink jacket and a blue bonnet. M. was wearing a purple jacket and a pink bonnet. So obviously E. is a boy, since she has a blue bonnet....

My son arrived right on schedule and delighted all with his manliness (!!) until he was about 6 months old and I hadn't cut his hair, which cascaded in golden corkscrew curls down his back. The second time someone complimented me on the beautiful girl I had, off came the curls--but up until then he had worn plenty of smocked baby garments. Thye're just adorable, no matter how they're plumbed!

As a challenge to myself - I made each hat in the Itty Bitty book last winter. I went through a lot of leftover yarn. Then I donated them to the shelter and children's ward at the hospital. They are all so stinking cute that I would do it again. My three year old niece has also benefited from my hat craze and wouldn't you know she's a girl after my own heart - she loves pretty hats. I really love all the Itty Bitty books. Just the thought of a new one gets me extremely excited. Hint to Susan.

That is the cutest hat EVER!! I downloaded the pattern straight away, as the couple who live across the road from us are expecting their first baby in November (the day before my birthday, coincidentally!) and it will be the first girl born in our street in the 16 years I've lived here. All the others have been boys, and there have been quite a few!

I'm so glad I started following your blog, thanks a million!

When George Washington was a boy, he wore a gown until he was about 6 or 7. Later in the 18th C they breeched boys around 3...really, at an age where they had stopped having accidents! As 18th C reenactors, my boys wore gowns until they were 3 and almost 5. People refused to believe they were boys, despite the obvious, to the 18th C eye, anyway! Toy guns and swords, no hats, period hair styles....and the boys mostly got dirtier than the girls.... (the toys were available to all the reenactor kids, only the boys played with them. So much for my attempts at bringing my kids up neutrally! And, yeah, I kow many don't like this.....but my young daughter lit into her brother for leaving his clacker musket at full cock (two pieces of wood that clicked against each other)! So, at least they were learning safety rules!)

You can usually tell the genders of toddlers in period portraits, too. Boys didn't wear caps, bast fancy. Boys had hair parted on the side. Boys sometimes had double breasted buttons on their gowns, or military style trim. Boys wore wrapper gowns with sashes. Girls generally wore caps, and hair parted in the middle, and wore back closing gowns with pointy front waists. Girls had dolls and flowers with them, boys had toys on wheels, swords, guns, and kites.

My son has looooong hair. It wasn't until his nose started to really grow, that people started assuming he was male, even in modern clothing (all his life, the males he admired were reenactors, many with ponytails...).

Mittens, the babe will need mittens, start knitting them fast for Jen's sake. Maybe a babyscarf too. Because even with mittens on, a baby totally packed into a babybuggysack (picture that) will stick out hands and head. Does the Dutch rhyme: Little hands cold, little feet warm, keeps baby out of health alarm! count in Canada too?

I'm not sure why, but your blog update has taken to allowing me to see it a day late. The "Labour Day" post did show up Monday (yea!), but Tuesday's wasn't visible to me until Wednesday a.m. -- even though I saw your Twitter (linking from your blog) about the cute baby hat with the blog link Tuesday afternoon. The day-late thing seems to have been the norm for the past week or two. When I do see the update, it tells me it was posted at whatever time the day before. This is not an end-of-the-universe crisis -- just a delay -- but I thought I'd mention it in case others are having a similar problem or it's a technical glitch somewhere that is actually a bigger issue than I think. (I'm in the States, by the way.)

Meanwhile, thanks for your blog! It's a little bit of day-brightener, and I agree that the baby blossom hat is adorable. You make it look so easy!

admin@redherringclothing.net is the contact if fellow commenters want to spam Reuccekly right back... goddamn them.

The hat is the cutest thing on the block and yep, the obsession with colour coding babies is the least useful phenomen of the last coupla decades. Blue and pink were occasionally used for baby clothes when I was producing babies (ouch, there goes the ovaries), now it's omnipresent..yuck.

Here's a site worth visiting - http://www.pinkstinks.co.uk/

Stephanie, speaking of all this baby stuff, I just finished reading a book you might enjoy. (With all your spare time...). It's called The Birth House by Ami Mckay. Set in the backwoods of Nova Scotia around the time of the Halifax explosion. Protagonist is a midwife. There are knitters, babies being born, and an ongoing battle for women's rights in a patriarchal time. It was a lovely read. Cheers!

My two boys, both dressed almost exclusively in blue, were often mistaken for girls because of the enormous blue eyes, long eyelashes and golden curls. I was given pink baby clothes by a friend who had only girls, never used them, passed them on to someone else. I LOATHE pink in general and had I had a girl would have put her in white, yellow, apricot, coral, mauve, purple or cerise. I myself was born bald and didn't have hair for my first two years of life so Mom used to tie a pink ribbon around my head, which made me look like a bunny with floppy ears....which may account for a lot, come to think about it.

That is the cutest hat ever! Thanks for keeping us updated on Jen's "condition". I was wondering if Baby had arrived. :o)

I have 5 babies to knit for over the next few months. Thank goodness their arrival is not linked to my knitting mojo. And I love Jo in Boston's comment about her boy at the beach at 8:36pm. Anatomy lesson, anyone?

I have two beautiful boys and random folks always thought they were girls. I would smile and say thanks. Their clothing was warm and clean (mostly), so I didn't worry about cultural constructs surrounding clothing color and gender. Now they are six and two, and both boys love nail polish. I don't let the first grader wear nail polish to school, since I don't want the drama that will ensue. He got teased at the county fair for having "girl nails," though my husband tried to convince the other kids that they were "Captain America" nails. yeah.

My parents were in their late thirties when they adopted me (and later my brother). My mom had a big thing for pink - I had pink everything! All the old ladies in our church made me gorgeous pink dresses, all lace and fancywork. Guess which color I grew up to hate? That's right, pink! I rarely buy or wear anything pink. In fact, too much pink in bed linens is enough to make me walk away from very pretty patterns. They're pretty - but they're PINK!

On a side note - most of the guys in my office flatly refuse to use pink Post-It Notes. Like if they send out something with a pink Post-It, the recipient will question their masculinity. Crazy.

Heck, when I was in college working at a ski resort I was addressed a few times as "Sir", despite being very feminine, with long blonde hair and a nametag that said KATRINA. Sometimes, people just don't pay attention anyway.

Hmm, now that I think of it, when I'm on the phone at work people sometimes think my name is Keith, not Kait. Hmmm. Oh well!!

I find myself checking every morning to see what new baby wonder you have produced for us to drool over and hoping that you have posted that the little one is here!

I love this hat (and the book) and have made it a few times - always in pink. Would you believe that the last recipient thought it was a strawberry though?!

Amen sista! I've not had a kid, so maybe I'd be all hormonal, but I've never seen what the big deal is saying, "HER name is..." or "Actually, she's a he."

Adorable. I got a cramp just looking at your hat. Best to keep the book away.

Old enough to remember when newborn clothes really only came in white and green and yellow because no one knew ahead of time, old enough to remember when ultrasounds were only done when they feared some serious problem with the fetus and still get worried when someone says they are having ultrasounds and still wonder if it is a really good idea to bombard a developing brain with ultrasounds anyhow.
At this rate, Jen's little stranger will be togged out for MONTHS.

Hmmm... if I had the Yarn Harlot knitting for my baby, I just might hold out a little longer :) I'm at six months and knitting like crazy!

The only reason that baby boys don't wear pink is because of Hitler anyways. It's true, look it up.

What a smart baby - it's clearly holding out for more handknits. Does that hat come in adult? I would totally wear it.

I have a friend whose daughter stayed bald well into her second year, and she would dress her in frills and pink and glue a bow on her head.

Some older woman stopped her in the grocery store once and said, Oh what a cute baby--is it a boy or a girl?

Denna looked her in the eye and said wryly, A boy.

!!! And you dress him like THAT!!! And the woman stomped off totally indignant.

Love the hat! I am knitting baby booties. Lucky us. :)

The baby, regardless of gender, will look adorable in the flower hat.

Actually, what can happen is said stranger gets mad at you for making her/him look stupid (in their own eyes). No, I never corrected anyone when they referred to my babies by the wrong gender but if they later asked the name (both of which are obviously female) it was kind of hard to avoid. I was always tempted to just answer "Bob" so as to avoid the tongue-lashing I got on more than one occasion about dressing babies in proper colors.

As a mother of two sons who both went three weeks past their "due date" I cracked up when my OBGYN said "some of us just have slow ovens. Deal with it" at my complaints. Now they are grown men of 35 and 27, so it must've been OK.

I just finished the same hat and it's very pretty. I also made the Rosebud one.

This! One of my big annoyances about the craft world is that whenever baby clothes come up, there is always a big ol' storm of people who act like the worst mistake a parent could inflict on their child is to not raise them to conform to gender norms.

I love your point about sex/gender. Just today I was shopping for clothes for my baby girl and said out loud in the store, "why does everything for girls have to be PINK?" Then I looked down at my daughter, who was wearing a flowered bodysuit with pink pants. ;-) That being said, she has worn many hand-me-downs from her older brother. If it didn't say "baby boy" on it, she was wearing it.

I like what my friend Diane said when she revealed she wasn't finding out the sex of her baby: "whatever it is, we'll take it home." We stole this from her and used it with people who asked when we also decided to be surprised.