Granny Sweater

You don't generally see a lot of acrylic blue and pink variegated baby sweaters on the knitting blogs. Most hipster knitters -- and I'll put myself in that category -- won't touch the stuff with a ten foot pole. But somehow, it seems like a right of passage for a little one to receive and cherish a sweater like this knitted by a loving grandmother.

Now, my mother doesn't knit (she crochets and made Ruby a couple of little baby things in the early days) and Aaron's mum tends to use the same kinds of natural fibres that I'm drawn to, so Ruby doesn't have a granny to knit these kinds of sweaters for her. She has three living great-grandmothers, but their fingers are all too arthritis-stricken to knit anymore. But incredibly, she's got two very generous great-great-aunts (that's right, Aaron's great-aunts) who have made her beautiful sweaters. Last year Auntie Kaye crafted Ruby a sweater for her birthday and Aaron's amazing great-aunt Betty sent in this little number for birthday #2.

I love it. It fits perfectly and reminds me that there are generations of women in our family who were crafting long before Lorna's Laces became all the rage. Betty sent the yarn band with the sweater (Aaron threw it out before I could get a picture) and the yarn is a brand from The Bay, who I don't think even make yarn anymore. Thank you Betty, for keeping my little one warm over the winter.