A friend of mine told me they were expecting a baby and, naturally, I was very excited for them.
But secretly, I was also very excited for me.
Because this meant I got to make baby things!!
When I tell you it was hard to decide what to make, I mean it. There were so many cute little things I could have made that I probably could have spent the entire pregnancy making tiny clothes and still not run out of ideas.
Because they were waiting until the birth to find out the gender, I decided on a simple, gender-neutral cardigan. My goal was to make it big enough for around six months old, so it would hopefully fit during a good season for wearing it.
I found a pattern I really liked, bought the yarn and got crocheting.
I started it just before a trip to Queenstown, and I had this little idea in my head that it would be so lovely to finish it while I was there. My friend and I had talked about Queenstown a few times, so there was something quite special about taking this little project along with me.
And so, everywhere I went, the cardigan came too.
I crocheted in the car.
I crocheted at our accommodation.
I crocheted up several mountains, surrounded by animals, in the gondola, out at dinner.
Anywhere and everywhere.
I took little photos and videos along the way, documenting where I was and what stage of the cardigan I was at. Looking back, I really love that I did this, because the cardigan ended up becoming a tiny little record of that trip.
There was just one problem.
I was becoming increasingly convinced that it was going to be too small.
I kept telling myself, it'll be bigger after blocking.
But I wasn't convinced.
And then there were the mistakes.
I swear I redid some sections at least twice. I would get halfway through, realise I'd done something wrong, undo it all, start again... and then somehow make a completely different mistake.
Still, I carried on.
On our last day in Queenstown, I finally finished it.
And it felt quite special.
This tiny little cardigan had travelled around Queenstown with me and was finally finished surrounded by mountains, animals and one very happy crocheter. We were visiting a little animal park that day, and because my friend and I both love farm life, that somehow felt like the perfect place to finish it.
I loved the cardigan.
I loved the story behind it.
I just still wasn't convinced it was going to fit.
So, naturally, I decided to make another one.
I had enough yarn left, so I sat down and did some very questionable calculations to work out how I could make the same cardigan a little bigger.
This one took considerably more brain power, but somehow... I actually managed it.
And I have to say, I was pretty proud of myself.
The second cardigan doesn't have quite the same story behind it. It didn't travel to Queenstown. It wasn't crocheted surrounded by mountains and animals. It didn't have quite as many dramatic moments of “oh no, I've done that wrong again.”
But I love it nonetheless.
Then came the best part, actually getting to give it to them.
After all the second guessing, mistakes, undoing, redoing and wondering whether I had somehow managed to make a cardigan for a baby that was going to be far too small, it felt really special to finally hand it over.
I loved knowing that something I had made with so much thought and care would become a little part of their baby's life. It was only a tiny cardigan, but after everything that went into making it, it felt like it carried a lot of love with it.
It made all the frogging worth it.
