Like farm animals... making cute baby farm animals...

When one of my best friends and college roommate told me she was pregnant, I was super excited for her. When she told me how far along she was, I realized that her due date would line up with approximately five other friends who were expecting babies this year. All of them were due in the springtime or early summer of May and June. Shortly after I shared this, there was a thoughtful pause in our conversation. "We're like farm animals" she said, "all having babies at the same time." 

And here we are in early May, with all of my friends either at term or nearly so, and my list of things to knit keeps growing. You see, when I first started knitting things for babies I made tiny things: socks, hats, booties, etc. As the years went on I got faster and faster and more interested in knitting challenging things and creative things. This generally meant sweaters instead of hats and booties and when I was in graduate school this wasn't a big deal. The babies were fairly spaced out then (except for one year when there were ten) and I had lots of lecture time in which to occupy my hands. Fast-forward to residency, a time during which I have knit the lowest volume of items since learning the craft, and I'm struggling. The only saving grace is that everyone loves a six-month-size sweater even more than the newborn one. 

A sampling of the most recent garments: