My Husband Crocheted These Outfits For Our Baby?!

My husband Colin crochets. Swoon! In the months leading up to the birth of our second child, Colin crocheted for hours on end, day upon day, spinning a wee wardrobe in perfect stitches, and letting the thread’s pull ease our growing nervousness about becoming DOUBLE parents.

Our sweet and chunky baby is now four months old, and we finally have our feet under us enough to do the fashion photo shoot of all Colin’s crocheted creations: Two hats, one dress, a blanket, a pair of booties, and my guy’s magnum opus, a huge purple star-shaped bunting that took FIVE skeins of yarn and roughly four billion hours to complete.

For those of you out there wishing to crochet away your stresses, too, here are Colin’s top tips for success. (I crochet, too, so these suggestions are from me as well!)

First, choose an ombre yarn: a yarn that changes color every few inches, as shown in every item here. Ombres automatically add pizzaz to your project without the stresses of changing skeins. Also, select machine-washable yarn if you have any desire to use the finished item with the spit-up-factories we call “babies.” (Affiliate link: Click here to see an example of washable ombre yarn on Amazon.)

Second, you don’t need to spend money on a crochet pattern (though the affiliate link to this animal hat pattern book makes me grin) since the internet is jolly with instructions on how to craft most anything.

I have a hazy memory from the first few hours of going into labor with Joya: Colin showing me pictures of different hat styles on his computer and asking which I preferred. I believe I answered, “I’M IN LABOR! PICK IT YOURSELF!!!” Here’s a photo of the hat my beloved ended up creating. Wow!

Third, opt for ergonomic, padded crochet hooks. Crocheting can be tiring on the “fingies” (as our toddler calls them), and heaven knows you’ll need to conserve finger strength for endless diaper changes!

In all seriousness, though, these special hooks are worth it and will make your crochet journey happier. (Use this affiliate link to see nice deals on ergonomic hooks. I wish we’d bought our hooks there because we paid a whole lot more than that!)

Fourth, let’s be real: You may crochet the best dress or booties (or in this case, star bunting) in the world, and it’s possible it will never get worn. In fact, the more beautiful and time-intensive a crafted item is, the less likely a harried parent usually is to put his or her baby into it!

But that’s fine. Just embrace the truth that it’s the creation of the item and the presenting of it that holds the magic.

Our baby may have spent exactly three minutes in the star bunting before she outgrew it, but the hours it took for Colin to loop it all together were blessings of peace. Plus, the guffaws we’ll continue to have, looking at that photo of star bunting Joya will buoy us through many years to come!

So what about you? Do you enjoy crocheting or another craft? What’s your take on creating items for babies and toddlers to wear? Do share!

See my 20 other baby articles here.

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