baby sewing
Dec. 21st, 2009 10:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizabeth_mnA couple weeks ago I got some new yarn and started the yoke of a new sweater for F. A top-down raglan cardigan. I knitted a few inches over the past couple weeks, but I went to pick it up last night, looked at it, and thought, "I just do not want to do this any more." So I ripped it out.
I've been thinking about the logic of making baby clothes. I know there's some kind of formula involved, something about the pleasure derived from the process + uniqueness of finished item + cost of materials - cost of store-boughten equivalent - period of time item will be worn.
I made a couple more sleep sacks for her yesterday. She is growing out of the other ones. A yard of flannel each, simple, straightforward sewing. It took me an just over an hour to make two. She'll probably be able to wear them for months. Totally worth making.
But sweaters? About $20 worth of yarn, weeks of knitting, dull stockinette stitch (I could always use a fancier stitch pattern to make this less dull, but then it would take even longer to knit). She would probably wear it for the remainder of the winter, which is about 4 months. Maybe a little longer. And while I really don't mind handwashing my own wool and delicate clothes, there are two important differences: 1.) It's somehow, actually easier to wash a larger garment than a teeny one, and 2.) I don't barf on myself with nearly the frequency she does.
I really like the knitted sweater and vest I made her while I was pregnant, and she wears them all the time. But I think I am just going to try to crush that little DIY urge this time (you know, the one that says "Hmm, shoddy workmanship, too expensive, I could totally make this myself!" when confronted with, well, most any item in any store) and buy sweaters for her until she's old enough to make them more worth knitting.
The thing that convinced me was reminding myself that this is my hobby, and I do it for my pleasure. I'm not Caroline Ingalls out on the frontier; I don't need to knit for my family to keep them from freezing to death.
So last night I instead picked up my orange lace scarf and put a few more rows into it. Totally selfish, and totally worth it.
I've been thinking about the logic of making baby clothes. I know there's some kind of formula involved, something about the pleasure derived from the process + uniqueness of finished item + cost of materials - cost of store-boughten equivalent - period of time item will be worn.
I made a couple more sleep sacks for her yesterday. She is growing out of the other ones. A yard of flannel each, simple, straightforward sewing. It took me an just over an hour to make two. She'll probably be able to wear them for months. Totally worth making.
But sweaters? About $20 worth of yarn, weeks of knitting, dull stockinette stitch (I could always use a fancier stitch pattern to make this less dull, but then it would take even longer to knit). She would probably wear it for the remainder of the winter, which is about 4 months. Maybe a little longer. And while I really don't mind handwashing my own wool and delicate clothes, there are two important differences: 1.) It's somehow, actually easier to wash a larger garment than a teeny one, and 2.) I don't barf on myself with nearly the frequency she does.
I really like the knitted sweater and vest I made her while I was pregnant, and she wears them all the time. But I think I am just going to try to crush that little DIY urge this time (you know, the one that says "Hmm, shoddy workmanship, too expensive, I could totally make this myself!" when confronted with, well, most any item in any store) and buy sweaters for her until she's old enough to make them more worth knitting.
The thing that convinced me was reminding myself that this is my hobby, and I do it for my pleasure. I'm not Caroline Ingalls out on the frontier; I don't need to knit for my family to keep them from freezing to death.
So last night I instead picked up my orange lace scarf and put a few more rows into it. Totally selfish, and totally worth it.
