Hope

Sometimes when entering your projects onto Ravelry, a name seems wholly appropriate. Most of the time I just load them up and am more concerned about the notes to be helpful for other knitters. However, knits that have stories usually get named pretty quickly. This little knit was one of them. 

A few weeks ago I began to go into labour... early. Far more early than I would have ideally liked. I was very ill and my body was irritated and so was the baby it would seem. I was very lucky that I had the comfort of a lovely friend who I've grown closer to over the last year or so that had a baby that was born earlier than expected. Both herself and this gorgeous little lady caused quite a panic but have since thrived and look the picture of health. The family are wonderful company whenever the giant and I see them and when I sent out an SOS text to explain my situation, my friend knew just what to say. 

In those hours and hours of uncertainty, there was the reassurance to be found that not only had a mother as wonderful as my friend managed this but also her baby had come out just peachy and despite being so tiny proved she was ready for life indeed. I was a week on from her arrival, I would be fine. I remembered the picnics in the park, the cuddles, the laughter and used that to remove anxiety from my mind and think about the wonderful things I had to look forward to if my baby really was set on coming early. I calmed myself down, labour signs died down, and the moment of intense urgency passed and instead has become a rumbling background noise to my days.

So when I remembered it was this inspiring little girl's first big birthday and I was sent home for bed rest and told to keep little one cooking as long as possible, I turned to a gift knit for this little ray of sunshine. The family are very funky and love retro things so I settled quickly on the Poppy hat, a great free pattern that is written for 3 weights of yarns and lots of sizes. Perfect stash busting as a result of the weight options so I grabbed a skein of special yarn I'd been gifted and sat knitting with a contented smile. 

The project name was simple: Hope.