It all started with wet diapers

Jill and I never thought we'd design a collection of baby clothes.  We've knit blankets, hats, and other things for babies, but just because we can.  Surprisingly, our best selling pattern is the Sampler Afghan.  

Then, a couple of years ago I was visiting my grandson Ian and his parents in Bellingham, WA.  At that time, Ian was just 3 months old and he and his mom were going to a cloth diaper "party".  I had to ask what this was and learned that she would be presented with various styles of diapers and have the opportunity to purchase what she wanted.  She just wanted to meet other moms, but since she was using cloth diapers, she thought she could learn something.

I'd been exposed to wool soakers through shop customers, so I told Kelly to see if they recommended those and if so, I would make Ian some.  I couldn't attend this event as we dropped them off on the way to the airport for my return trip. 

A few days later, the request came through and I started knitting soakers.  Kelly would provide feedback and I'd tweak my design.  After a few pairs, Ian had his favorite and most useful pair, but in getting there, I had knit soakers of three lengths.  Because we design knitwear at Y2Knit, I kept notes and wrote up the pattern for the Rib Soaker. 

Jill saw them and her comment was that you almost wanted to have a baby to put in them they were so cute.  (We also described them as a hat, with legs.)  Her next step was to sketch some other baby fashion,  now the Natural Baby Collection, which we're releasing in March.