First Person
Dana’s Edit: Keepsakes
A few months ago I was in Boston for an academic conference and I had to stop at a yarn shop or two.
As I was leaving Gather Here, I saw a woman walking a little fluffy dog wearing a sweater. Of course I stopped to ask her if she knit her dog’s sweater because it felt like it was hand knit. It was a little longer on the dog and looked like it was worn frequently and loved.
She told me it was actually a family heirloom. Her mother knit it for their family dog, a dachshund, more than 50 years ago. I’m pretty sure I squealed in delight.
That dog sweater had been kept in their family all that time and passed on to family dogs because her mother made it with love.
As someone who knits a lot and often gives knits as gifts, I hope that some of my knits will live beyond my years and be loved by family and friends.
I started thinking about some of my favorite things I’ve knit and given away—and one of my most recent requests.
Like many of you, I’ve knit a million baby blankets over the years but after a while they get time consuming. So I switched over to a go-to bulky weight blanket, the Purl Soho Chevron Blanket. I tend to knit them in yarns that can go in the washer and dryer because poop happens!
Plus, not all my friends are knitting friends and don’t know how to (or want to) manage a wool blanket.
With as many baby blankets I’ve made and seen the babies swaddled in, my favorite thing is to be handed a baby to snuggle in a blanket that I knit. It’s the best feeling in the world.
Most recently, I’ve gotten more into knitting toys. I love seeing them in the background of photos and being played with all the time.
My most recent request came from four-year old Serena, who initially asked her mom if she could knit. She was happy to find out Auntie Dana actually knits.
She drew me a picture of a dinosaur she wanted and told me that what mattered the most was that it was yellow. I found the Knit Tyrannosaurus pattern and went to work.
I got the best picture of her hugging her dinosaur with the biggest smile on her face. Making a four-year old’s wish come true is the best.
And because some people have fur babies, I’ve found that knitting a dog sweater and coordinating hat for the pet parent is another favorite gift to give.
One of my closest friends, Steven, has a beautiful King Charles Spaniel named Sophie. So I made Sophie the Max sweater in black and a speckled yarn that reminded me of graffiti—and then used the same yarns to make her Dad a coordinating hat. Getting to see that cute combo out on a walk is definitely a bright spot.
I hope some of my favorite things are passed on and that they’re told they were knit with a lot of love. Perhaps they’ll be cherished and used for decades, just like that sweater I saw in Boston.
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i too love knitting for new babies (family, friends and neighbours) and have knitted more than 30 of the Log Cabin Blankets as featured in Ann & Kay’s first book.
a few years ago my eldest daughter sent me a photo from a friend of hers. there was her 5 year old daughter asleep on the sofa tired out after her first day at school under the blanket i had knitted for her as a new baby!
giving a knitted gift to someone is high risk but when it is as appreciated as Dana has recounted it really is the best feeling ever!
What satisfaction!
My 4 year old granddaughter requested the same bright pink lovenote top I had knitted myself. Then wanted one for her doll. I ended up knitting the same top for my 8 week old granddaughter – which will be passed on for the doll. My favourite picture is of all of us wearing the tops together
A brand new baby girl joined our family in March, when she was 16 minutes old, as she was handed to her new moms. I went from knitting chemo hats for a friend to knitting baby hats for her.
Since then I’ve knitted her a blanket (acrylic yarn so it’s easy care), quite a few hats, a dress, a sweater, and a romper. All the clothes, so far, are made with cotton for summer and fall wear. Some knitted toys will be in her future, too.
She’s a beautiful baby. Her moms will give her a truly wonderful life.
P. S. Is that is Sophie in the black sweater? She looks like a Cocker Spaniel, not a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. My two Cockers, Doc & Happy, are in my photo.
I came here thinking the same thing! (I grew up with a Cocker Spaniel.) Whatever the breed, though, Sophie is beautiful, and I love the hat & sweater combo!
Doc & Happy are my sixth and seventh Cockers. A couple years ago I knitted a sweater for Doc. It was the first garment I ever knitted to fit someone. I wrestled him into exactly once. And, yes, Sophie is a very pretty girl!
I also want to thank Dana for giving me a new perspective. I’ve always hated the idea that “stuff” outlives people I care about, but I had never considered the idea much in relation to things like heirloom handknits. (For reference, we ‘re in the process of emptying a house full of “heirlooms” right now, and a lot of them are things you can hardly give away. Literally no one wants the family silver! OTOH, the embroidered piece hanging on the wall has sentimental value to me, even though I never met the maker.)
My eldest granddaughter, at 3 years old, was home sick from nursery school and lying on the sofa. She asked for a blanket and my daughter brought her one, at which point she looked up and said “I want a NANA blanket – it will make me feel better”!
Love this comment! NANA blankets rule.
When my first grandchild was born I knit a small teddy bear.
He slept with it everyday. He is 12 but this keep sake never leaves his room. His baby sister has always been a bear person since she was tiny. I have knit her 4 bears ranging in size from 8 inch to 24” fur yarn. She adores them and she is now 8. It brings so much comfort and joy all around.
love the dog sweaters!
wonderful idea for matching hat
what yarn do you recommend?
I, too, have knitted numerous baby blankets. Eleven years ago, I made Purl Soho’s Chevron Baby Blanket for my best friend’s grandson. Then when his baby brother came along four years later, I made a different one for him. That one was returned to me to repair some unraveled seams. Meanwhile, little brother confiscated big brother’s blanket and has never let go. He takes it everywhere and has asked if I would make him one that will be big enough to cover his bed. Now, what could be better than a child requesting a hand knit blanket? The yarn arrived yesterday and I will gladly knit this blanket with love and know it will be loved!
JOY. Just joy when reading your pieces. LOVE those photos, LOVE your coordinating dog sweater and owner cap, and LOVE reading your work. JOY!!!
I love your knitting as well as your writing. So wonderful.
I hope every single one of your knitted items is cherished forever. All the love that goes into each stitch. Ahh!
Babies and pups are so lucky to receive one of your beautiful knitted gifts!
This is such an uplifting and encouraging message! Thank you for the words and the pictures!
I agree that blankets are the best knit gift. We even still have my hubby’s chevron knit blanket from his grandmother about 70 years ago. I have also given up knitting in anything other than acrylic for beloved grandchildren, after seeing wool and cotton items go through the wash and be ruined faster than the time it took me to cast on.
I love knitting gifts–especially for babies. A few years back Kay knocked out a baby blanket in two weeks that became the inspiration for Blanket of Joy (search Summerlite on this site and you’ll find it there). That sweet little cotton blankie has been on the hit parade at my house since then. It’s often paired with a striped EZ Baby Surprise sweater. There’s always plenty of yarn left over and if you’ve made as many of those blankets as I have, you’ll have plenty of colors leftover for the sweater. I’m knitting one now that I’ll post in The Lounge.
My other go-to baby blanket is the Quadrature for Korrigan by Solenn Couix-Loarer. I saw it on a blog years ago and fell in love with it. It’s elegant and much easier than it looks. The cables are perfect for a beginner. This one often gets paired with a matching sweater (there’s a whole layette!) I could never remember where I saw it until recently. Turns out, there was Kay again, leading the charge on great baby blankets.
As for what I make them with, I use cotton and/or superwash wool to make it easy on the moms. I stay away from any sort of acrylic. I have strong feelings on it but I don’t judge other peoples choices and I don’t proselytize (unless I’m actually handing someone someone some natural fibers to try out) but in the case of babies, I worry about the flammability of acrylics. And yes, I know that superwash has its issues but we’re all doing the best we can here. And there’s some good work being done to make it safer (thank you Karida Collins.)
Would you also share the hat pattern and yarn please? Such a striking combo!
How lovely. I really hope that some of the things I’ve made friends will be kept and passed on. Who knows… I still have a bunch of knit and crochet blankets made by my grandmother and aunt Blanche, most of them date back to before I was born in 1962, and I love them to bits. They’re all pretty simple and made of squares, either garter or granny, out of loads of different colours. They still get used too…
Just lovely. And so clever to make a hat to match a pet sweater. Kudos!
What an uplifting article. I love it!
I love knitting baby sweaters and baby booties—I think I have knit a couple hundred pairs of baby booties by now…and it is such a pleasure to see the baby wearing them. I also knit hats & cowls to give away …most of my friends and all my family now have hats I knit. A friend knit my (now grown) daughter a beautiful intricate patterned baby sweater years ago and when she had a baby herself—I passed the sweater back to her for her baby—now grown. She recently sent me a photo of her granddaughter wearing that sweater…I always hope my knits become treasured heirlooms.
When my daughter was, I believe in high school, I made her a sweater. She is 56 now and can still wear it. Also, I made blankets for my three children, my oldest daughter, being 57 now, still has hers. Whenever she is sick she grabs that blanket and cuddles with it. I love knitting for my family and friends.
I love the dinosaur! I am finishing up an elephant in bright pink, color chosen by the three year old. We took the three year old to a yarn shop so she could pick out the yarn. She saw a big girl, maybe 10, getting a knitting lesson. The three year old now has that on her to do list.
What a great way to wake up this morning!!! Your message is a beautiful one and has helped me rethink my personal ban on knitting baby gifts (soon outgrown, laundering problems,etc.). You’ve inspired me to get over the obstacles
and realize that knitted gifts are all
about LMs — love and memories!
Thanks so much! CM
I am a teacher (music & performing arts). I’ve been in my current position for over 30 years. My classroom is filled with knit/crochet/needlework items. Of course, the kiddos love to see “all the things” and admire whatever handcrafted item I’m wearing each day.
Hurricane Ian swept through our community in SW FL and many of those kiddos lost nearly everything. After conferring with families, I offered to make a special blanket for each of them. Using their favorite colors, I was able to make over 50 blankets and give them with love. Making these gifts allowed me to grieve for my own losses from the storm – and to put love and positive energy into each stitch. My only request was to receive a photo of each child (ages ranged from 3-18) with their blanket.
The devastation from the hurricane is still being remedied several years later. Many families have not returned to their homes. But those children come to my room to tell me, “I cuddled with my blanket last night.”
My heart is full.
What an awesome gift from teacher to students! You are a treasure!
I recently saw my great-niece wearing a jumper/sweater that I had knitted for my son thirty years earlier. It was such a delight, and shows the value of a good yarn. She looked sweet in yellow, as he had a generation earlier
I understand how you feel: A friend who just became a grandmother sent me a picture of the baby blanket I made for her first born. She was passing it on to her daughter. It gave me such a thrill!
I knit the same blanket, also in an easy-care yarn for my new grand-niece this spring. I also knit her new big sister a gift, an Emotional Support Chicken in colorful yarns. However, I did not tell anyone in their family that it the chicken had a title. I just figured that while she’s loving being a big sister, there might be times when she would find the need for something to hug besides her sister or parents.
I knit personalized Christmas stockings as wedding gifts for family members and their spouses, and then knit stockings for their offspring when they come along. I love receiving pictures of the stockings hanging at Christmastime.
Oh Melanie, I love that! My grandmother knit all the grandchildren in the family personalized stockings and they are treasured!!! By them time I was born she was much older and couldn’t knit as well – my stocking is HUGE compared to everyone else’s – I always laugh and say it’s because she loved me the most and wanted me to get more goodies from Santa 😀
I’m fairly new to knitting and have one young adult friend who had a baby last October – had a blast knitting him a little pumpkin hat and plan to knit him one every year for his bday photo!!!
One of the best compliments I ever received was my friend telling me that the blanket that I had knit for her granddaughter four years before was so well-loved by that little girl. It was her blanket, cape, & companion.
Dana, I appreciate this article. I’ve put all my projects on hold to knit a baby blanket for the first grandchild of friends. It is time-consuming even though it is made with worsted weight yarn. I dedicate hours daily to completing it in a month. But, I think it will be worth it.
Thanks for your thoughts.
I love the look on your face as you’re holding that baby.
Great article!
One of my most interesting experiences has been to see baby blanket patterns that I have crocheted show up wrapped around babies on the TV show Call the Midwife. A little thrill as the patterns themselves are from the 60’s, around the same time frame as the early seasons of the program.
I love all your stories and sweaters, and matching dog sweaters that you make. I love this story of how a dog sweater got handed down over the decades and is so loved. I have made many baby blankets for mine and my sister’s grandkids and there is one in particular that is still very much loved and carried around and she is now almost 16 years old. She just sent me a picture of it and it is now full of holes after many washings but still so loved. Others I have made have been stored away and hopefully will be handed down. You are a true inspiration. I first found you on Knit Stars and have been a follower since!
I made the Tyrannosaurus Rex for my nephew when he was four years old (he just completed his freshman year in high school). This was my first softie and it was a bit of a learning experience. For some reason, when I put the weighted poly balls in a cheesecloth, I thought it would be sufficient to simply twist the package together like a dumpling. Over the years, those balls slowly worked their way out – my sister said she found them on the floor for “years” and the poor guy looks positively anemic. Nevertheless, he was/is well loved and still around more than a decade later.
Lesson learned: secure the cheesecloth tightly.
Best feeling ever! Walking into your nieces home and seeing the blanket that you knit in pride of place or picture of Dad and newborn wrapped in the blue and white baby blanket that “he just can’t stop snuggling”.
We are so blessed to be able to create and gift our creatons!
Love it!
I just went to Gather Here for the first time and loved the store.
My favorite baby blanket knits are ones that the “baby” won’t give up, no matter how tattered or outsized. My 16 year old grandson still uses his and I had to knit a mini version of her blanket for my 7 year old granddaughter because the original many times patched version was just string in the middle. I call them well-loved and it makes me very happy.
The matching hat for the dog owner is a brilliant idea!
Such a heartfelt post and lovely responses-thank you for reaffirming that our handmade gifts are welcome!
I love this post. I always hope what I make for others will have a good life. That sometimes might include being passed on to someone else. I also have made the Chevron Baby Blanket. It’s always perfect.
Best to you dear Dana.