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Pattern: Cradle Cardigan

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino

Needles: size 5

It's almost time to welcome a friend of mine into the grandmother club! It is possibly the best club that exists anywhere. Another friend who is just now a first-time grandmother posted recently on Facebook, "How can something so tiny take up such a big space in my heart?"

What better way to do that than to make something for the new baby. This little sweater and cap should fit just about the time we get cold weather. I love learning new things, so this was a great time to learn some new knitting skills. I've knitted enough now that I had done most of the techniques used in this sweater—just not in this particular order. Now I'll make one of these for Baby Girl. The second one should go much faster.

You non-knitters can just skip over this part. But if you are a knitter and have wondered what is the best way to block (that basically means to wash and dry) an item that isn't a flat piece, get creative. Last night I was trying to find some way to arrange these. I put the caps over a foam cup. But the flat bottom of the cup squared off the top of the caps. Then I had an inspiration. 

I keep an old dough tray filled with wooden apples on my table. Those apples were just the right size to fit into the top of the cap. This also let the rest of the cap hang free, so that air could circulate and it could dry quicker. The second cap was a little longer when the brim was unrolled, so I added a jar on top of the foam cup to make it taller. When I woke up this morning, both caps were dry and perfectly shaped. Sometimes the answer is right in front of you. Literally.

And I always include the care instructions when giving knitted items. This yarn is machine washable. I actually washed the sweater in my washer in cold water on the hand wash cycle to make sure it worked before I wrapped it up. With a small baby in our own family now, I know mommies do not have time for hand washing anything!