My Latest Obsession: Wool Soakers

FYI: A wool soaker is a type of cover for a cloth diaper.

A few months ago, when I first found out I was pregnant, Sara (aka Fletchersmama) asked me if I was interested in knitting patterns for wool soakers. I wasn't. I've never been too fond of repeating the same pattern--once I've made it I like to move and try something else. I told her that I would probably use plastic pants, but either way I would rather just buy stuff and save my knitting time for other things.

And then.

And then my husband and I registered and there are oh-so-many wonderful cloth diaper options out there! And I got all jazzed up about diapers and pins and plastic pants (which you can hardly find anywhere anymore!!) and wool soakers and discovered that a wool soaker costs $22.00! And, yes, I spend a lot of money on wool, but even I know that I could make wonderful wool soakers for a lot less. So I started looking online at patterns and found, in very short order, a wonderful pattern for knitting wool soakers in the round. And I fell in love. I'm currently on my third pair.

Here are pictures of the first two pairs:

Size Small, Knit Picks Wool of the Andes less than an entire skein. Optional ribbed leg cuffs added and, since I'm lazy and avoid i-cords whenever possible, I crocheted the tie. I also tried, and found myself successful, albeit slow, at stranded knitting while holding one color in my left hand (where I normally hold my yarn) and one in my right (which seems totally foreign and uncomfortable and just wrong). And I am just thrilled with the result. Seriously, all modesty aside folks, I love this little thing:

I loved it so much, in fact, that I started another not long after finishing the first...
As you can see from the progress shots, the soaker is knit in the round from the top down to the top of the leg holes. Then the soaker is worked back and forth with decreases to create first the butt & back of the leg holes and then the front of the leg holes.

This pair I've yet to make a tie for and didn't add leg cuffs this time...It's actually between a newborn and small size (as far as the number of cast-on stitches) but, as I made it from some left over Araucania Nature's Wool Chunky, it is almost exactly the same size as the first one I made.

The third pair is still on the needles and, as I'm contemplating making this pair part of a layette set, I'm not posting pictures yet.

So, that makes my as yet-unborn baby the owner of the following handknit items

• two pullover sweaters
• two hats
• one pair of booties
• one one-third complete blanket
• two and nearly-a-half pairs of wool soakers

And I still have 16 weeks of knitting time left to go....

Comments

[Madalyn]

I love the color of the second one (made out of Araucania)!