A Sweater for Mayor

Designing baby garments can be equal parts delightful and challenging.  Making something that is both whimsical and practical is often a tricky balance to preserve.  My more recent baby projects have increasingly emphasized the practical, using washable wools, snaps instead of buttons and knit-in facings like this classic cabled raglan.

But the Sweater for Mayor was knit to impress a fashion-loving friend and so several of my cardinal rules were broken.  That’s right, I gave a new mother a hand-wash-only, white merino wool baby sweater.  I promise I wasn’t trying to be cruel, I was simply trying to make something that her trained eye would appreciate as being both sophisticated and lovely.

So although a white baby sweater is perhaps best suited to state occasions only, it has a certain insouciant charm, as if no one had given a thought to the myriad stains it might be vulnerable to or the dratted nuisance of hand-washing a sweater when your adorable daughter hasn’t let you sleep for the last year.

Worth it!