Friday, October 01, 2004
Something for the Boys
I got a real letter (in the mail! with a stamp! USPS) today from the wonderful folks that run the WIC (Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children) at the Cheyenne River (Sioux) Reservation in South Dakota.
They enclosed a wish list for the babies. I wasn't too surprised to see boy things at the top of the list. Girl things are so much fun to make. Even I can stand to make tiny little ruffly things (even though I wouldn't be caught dead in ruffles myself). Boy stuff, on the other hand, is just so, well, dull. Mostly.
Most moms have no problem putting a baby girl in blue. Even without lace and ruffles. But most moms would be hard pressed to dress a baby boy in pinque, even if it was the very plainest of style and the very most subtle of pinque. And don't even touch most dads' reactions to boys-in-pink!
So, boy stuff is what they need. And boy stuff is what I will produce!
Tonight, I dragged out the pattern books, booklets, magazines, and single sheets, looking for just the right challenge, because, after all, it's to be plain, and dull, and, well, boyish.
Discarded many, many patterns as too frilly, too unstylish (on a baby?? Well, sure!), just too damned dull. Finally got it down to a small few: Wonderful Wallaby, a couple of Bernat leaflets I got "free with purchase" from Smiley's, and the Rambling Rows Jacket for the family.
And the winner is: Rambling Rows. A very simple modular jacket in 3 colors (berry red, aqua, and, um, well, uh, maybe a shopping trip is in order??). But wait! There's an infant variation that uses 2 colors! I think my problem is solved!
Oh, and Elann will be having that wonderful Gjestal Naturgarn again. I am drooling over the new batch of colors: maybe some Walnut Heather, a bit of teal, some oatmeal, maybe the spruce. . .
They enclosed a wish list for the babies. I wasn't too surprised to see boy things at the top of the list. Girl things are so much fun to make. Even I can stand to make tiny little ruffly things (even though I wouldn't be caught dead in ruffles myself). Boy stuff, on the other hand, is just so, well, dull. Mostly.
Most moms have no problem putting a baby girl in blue. Even without lace and ruffles. But most moms would be hard pressed to dress a baby boy in pinque, even if it was the very plainest of style and the very most subtle of pinque. And don't even touch most dads' reactions to boys-in-pink!
So, boy stuff is what they need. And boy stuff is what I will produce!
Tonight, I dragged out the pattern books, booklets, magazines, and single sheets, looking for just the right challenge, because, after all, it's to be plain, and dull, and, well, boyish.
Discarded many, many patterns as too frilly, too unstylish (on a baby?? Well, sure!), just too damned dull. Finally got it down to a small few: Wonderful Wallaby, a couple of Bernat leaflets I got "free with purchase" from Smiley's, and the Rambling Rows Jacket for the family.
And the winner is: Rambling Rows. A very simple modular jacket in 3 colors (berry red, aqua, and, um, well, uh, maybe a shopping trip is in order??). But wait! There's an infant variation that uses 2 colors! I think my problem is solved!
Oh, and Elann will be having that wonderful Gjestal Naturgarn again. I am drooling over the new batch of colors: maybe some Walnut Heather, a bit of teal, some oatmeal, maybe the spruce. . .