1. date: April 2006
2. size: 2-3 yr
3. made for: Ada
4. pattern: Erika Knight , Simple Knits for Little Cherub

1. date: April 2006
2. size: 2-3 yr
3. made for: Ada
4. pattern: Debbie Bliss Baby Style, Frankenstein'd

1. date: March 2006
2. size: 2-3 yr
3. made for: Ada
4. pattern: Knitting Pure & Simple

1. date: November-March 2006
2. size: 9-10 yr
3. made for: Tom
4. pattern: Rowan Rowan Junior

1. date: April-May 2005
2. size: 9-10 yr
3. made for: Henry
4. pattern: Rowan Rowan Junior

1. date: October-December 2003
2. size: 1-2 yr
3. made for: Lucy
4. pattern: Rowan Rowan Junior

Wind-up: Soft yet crisp texture, colours to weep for. I love this yarn, and the pattern is both wearable and flattering. Alas, I had taught myself to knit a little too tightly (thinking it was a good way to produce regular stitches), and working with the no-give Kidsilk yarn certainly didn't discourage the Klingon Knit Method. I managed to wear a groove into my left index finger with a yarn they call 4-Ply Soft. At the end of my project, I discovered to my utter horror that I'd only used 2 of the 4 balls. I still wonder if Lucy's parents machine-washed the sweater and discovered the terrible flaw. I relaxed the cranking as the project went on, so they could indeed have a monstrously lopsided micro-cardigan by this point.

1. date: September-October 2003
2. size: 4-6 yr
3. made for: Tom
4. pattern: Debbie Bliss Easy Knits

Like a lot of autistic children, Tom has an elfin quality that's oddly familiar to people who've spent any amount of time with wildlife. Normally I'm dead-set against kids wearing anything un-childish or overly modish. But I made Tom something different, because he is. And he did look smashing in black as I suspected. Note to self: Join ribs better at the side seams.

1. date: March 2003
2. size: 0-3 mo
3. made for: Lucy
4. pattern: Zoe Mellor 50 Baby Bootees

People who want kids know it. Such was the case with my friends Michael and Simon. Simon is an old friend of my Peter; they've been friends since their freshman year of college, and Simon is one of those rare pals who was completely unruffled by Peter's chosen course following graduation: to drop off the face of the planet, and dramatically (and temporarily) reappear at unpredictable intervals.

I met Simon in 2000 when we moved to the Bay Area, after several years of hearing stories about him. Within a year, he had met Michael, and it was pretty obvious he was The One. They are our best friends, and continue to be despite their move to Boston more than 2 years ago. Thanks to the Massachusetts Supreme Court's moment of clarity, they are now married. Thanks to the astounding generosity of Michael's sister Lora, they're also the fathers of 2 adorable little girls, Lucy and Ella.

When Lucy was born in fall of 2002, I was excited. And I mean excited the way I get over landmark conservation rulings, U.S. Presidential debates, a new Kubrick film or a world-changing applied scientific breakthrough. I am not a baby person, but Lucy wasn't just a baby. She was a triumph. She is a gift, and as melodramatic as it sounds, a proof that love tells its own truth.

I was also bummed that I wouldn't get to see her much. How do you show your love for a child with a continent between you?

More It all started with Lucy »