What is it that’s so pleasing about handing down a beloved article of clothing?
There’s so much satisfaction about finding new life in something that otherwise might spend eternity pressed up against a moth-ball.
I spent years knitting sweater after sweater for Jake and I never expected, or even really hoped, to have another child of my own to hand them down to.
Still, most of them I kept.
Now that he’s eleven, this Mama finds tremendous pleasure in seeing his old sweaters on his two year old brother.
I’ve said it here before but it bears repeating. Ann Budd’s Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns may as well be the only knitting pattern book in my library. It, coupled with a good stitch dictionary, is all I ever use for knitting sweaters. This one is a basic raglan, knit in the round from the bottom up. I knit in random stripes of three or four different colors – one of which is variegated. The yarn is Supermerino from Artyarns and has worn and washed very well.
Thank you for all of your interest in the Moments project. The description and list of participants can be found here. It’s been wonderful to meet so many new people and to feel so supported in my efforts to showcase all the different moments that make up a life.
Please feel free to take the button from my sidebar and link back here.
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Look at that sweet face…a smile to break hearts. Someday, I’d like to introduce him to lil Eva. I think they’d make a great pair
Aww I’m glad that little sweater’s got a second owner
It’s in really great shape btw… doesn’t look like an old piece at all!
Very cute!
How wonderful you kept those beautiful sweaters and it is even more special to have your son wear them now!!
Thank you for the tip on a go to knitting book. It gets cumbersome trying to keep up with patterns, not to mention costly!
I love the button and I have added it to my blog~yay!
What a sensational sweater and although originally made for Jake…it looks like it was made for his little brother!
Since my kids are 5 years apart I always find treasures I’d all but forgotten. I love it when that happens…it’s like going shopping for free.
The sweater is really lovely, and the book recommendation is great. I always feel rather lost when I see a pattern I like and have no idea how to make it the size I want…or even how to be sure it’s the size I will want in the end! It sounds like this might be a good book for that?
I was just thinking about you and wondering how you are…how patchwo4k Folio is going, how you are adjusting to fall, what projects you’re up to. So sending you a positive vibe and hoping to see you soon!
p.s. I love the sweater!
Can I still join? I love your moments concept. It is my life!
I love this cute sweater. I have a similar box of hand-me-downs — socked away not really knowing or even hoping there would be one more baby. The difference — mine box is full of costumes! They were easy to store and had so many memories for me. Yes, nothing like a special hand-me-down, whatever it may be.
Lucky that he gets a second use out of such a treasure! He is so irresistibly cute.
I am thoroughly enjoying reading through your past posts thank you. I’ve decided some of us try and live our lives like adds sometimes. We see only neat houses, nicely dressed families etc instead of the reality like the family next door. Bring on the snot, the dirty clothes, piles of junk in every corner. Let’s enjoy life instead of looking good. I try and live my life this way but I admit, sometimes the mess really eats away at me.
Hello there – I’ve mozied over to you via Sarah at Red Gingham. Firstly, I love the jumper, and I agree about the pleasure of hand-me-downs. For a long time our younger son treated ‘clothes from Ben’ (an older friend) as other children would treat Gap or Next or whatever. He would go up to people and say: ‘Do you know where THIS T-shirt comes from? It comes from Ben P!’
Secondly, I like what you’ve said about ‘perfect’ blogs in your last posts. I really struggle with this. I have some bits of my house and garden which can look great at times, and not surprisingly they’re the ones I like to photograph – after all, they look great! But when people start commenting on how perfect my home is, or how they could never get their home looking like that, I really feel they’ve missed the point. Of course I didn’t photo the washing draped over the landing, the dog hair under the sofa or the dishes in the sink, but they were there too. Amost a permanent fixture, in fact. I never wanted people to think I’m perfect, but blogging can turn out that way. In addition I blog to cheer up my mum, who is seriously ill in another country, so I inevitably focus on the cheerful and positive. I like that – I want to be positive, but I cringe at the way some people seem to think it makes me super-human. It’ so far from the truth and I don’t quite know how to get the balance right. I will keep a careful eye on your blog now and see how you handle it!
Beautiful sweater, handsome boy!
Does Jake love seeing Quinn in his old sweaters? Calder has been wearing some of the sweaters their grandmother knit for Tessa, and she thinks it’s so special… we all do.
Can’t wait to grab the badge – it’s perfect.
Such a gorgeous sweater. And so right that it’s getting a whole new life
K
I’m still SUPER ENVIOUS that you can knit such beautiful things…. lucky boys!
oooh. so cuuuuute. beautiful job too, of course!
He does have a sweet little face! Oh how I adore little boys. And cute sweaters on them! Great combo!
I know I feel so much better about giving something I love that I’ve finished using (clothing or otherwise) to someone that I love and know will appreciate. There are certain things I just can’t bear to anonymously donate. I mean it’s just stuff, but I still want it to be loved and used!
Look at his cute smile! Love that sweater – so glad you hung on to your special treasures.
Great sweater, and great advice on a knitting pattern book. I’ve been mulling over the notion of knitting a sweater, but the stakes seem too high (a lot of time in and it might not fit). I’ll check out the book!
So cute! I love seeing Dave in things I made for Caleb before I ever had 2 kids, much less 4! That is until Dave told me that one of the little shirts I had made for Caleb was "Not cool, Mom." I must say I was a little crushed!
I know what you mean, there’re 7 years between my two youngest. I never thought I’d have the privilige of a fourth child so I saved for the grandkids. Number 4 being a boy has not reallly used all the dresses I’ve sewn over the years but some of we both loved to put on. On him, that is.
I have that book! I just need to figure out how to use it!
I think this is part of the joy of making your own – woven into the fabric of your creation is memory, emotion and love, and wearing and using these things becomes a window into the story of your life and your family. I have the Knitters Book of Handy Patterns which I have found invaluable for hats, mitten, etc – I think I will have to get the Sweater book, too!
Pomona x
Beautiful sweater!!! Looks brand new!!! How wonderful that your little one gets to wear it now. So glad you created a Moments button. I will definitely put in on my blog…assuming I can figure out how to copy it properly
)) Thank you. Have a great day!!
I just love hand me downs…especially knit ones. I have a whole box of knits made by my grandmother and great grandmother I hope to use some day. I need to get my hands on that knitting book you mentioned-it must be a winner!
I know just what you mean. I love to see photos of my niece (5) wearing my daughter’s (6) hand me downs that I originally knit for another niece (10). It just brings me indescribable pleasure.
Oh, what memories that brings to mind..I made my oldest son a little gray sweater when he was two and lent it to a "friend" who needed some warm clothes for her baby boy a year or so later….I never got it back, but I hope it has made others warm and toasty.
I enjoyed reading your blog, just finding it today.
The best compliment I ever got was when our Pastor said he liked coming to our house because he felt at home, as if he could put his feet up on the coffee table and go for a walk in the woods anytime he came over! (He never did put his feet up on the table, but it is okay with me if he does!).
Our kids are older and on their own now…that baby who I made the sweater for will be 27 years old in two weeks! He is in law enforcement and when he comes to visit, I want him to recoup and rest (and I feed him as much as possible!!), put his feet up, flop in the middle of the parlor floor or root through the fridge.
I KNOW I am richer then Martha and I am definetly more relaxed !
I thought I was the only one with my kids spaced so far apart
I have a 3 year old, and a 12 year old.