Cold Weather Crafting

Here in the delightful Midwest, our cold weather season extends from October all the way to May.  Of course we have some nice days sprinkled here and there, but for the most part we huddle inside, venturing out to build the occasional snowman or make a few snow angels before quickly rushing back in to the world of snuggly warm quilts and steaming mugs of hot cocoa.  The upside of such long winters is the opportunity to stay inside and knit, knit, knit, and know that your creations will be in use for months at a time.  For me, there is no one more rewarding to knit for than my children.  Not only are they incredibly enthusiastic and excited to have custom made mittens, socks, hats and scarves, but the projects themselves fly by and feed my need for instant gratification.

My most recent project was a zip up the back hoodie for my smallest guy.  We actually already have this sweater, knit for one of my brothers by a relative.  The appeal of this particular sweater is the vintage styling of the hood and the zip up back which allows for putting the baby in a pull over style sweater without the struggle of pulling it over baby's head.  After over 20 years of use by countless babies, this darling little sweater has definitely seen better days.  It was also knit on acrylic yarn of some sort, making it itchy and ball-y.  I had searched high and low for the pattern, even to the point of asking my elderly Grandma to find it (I wanted it that badly!), but to no avail.  One day I spotted the sweater on Ravelry, knit by a few ladies over there.  I messaged one and, to my delight, she shared her pattern with me.


This little sweater took me about 3 evenings worth of steady knitting for a size 18 months.  I knit it on superwash wool for the quality of wool with the wash-ability that we need so much in items for our little ones.  I wanted something he could get dirty in without me being too upset!  Instead of putting in a zipper matching the wool, I opted for a orange-red zipper to break up the army green monotony with a little bit of interest.  I'm pretty happy with it, but of course the best part is snuggling my little when he's wearing something his mama made.  I am so in love with the hood aspect that I am planning on making a few on their own...maybe with a little button closure under the chin.  Stay tuned!