knitting for a little bum

I just finished a wool diaper cover for the little-bum-in-residence. The pattern is called "Vanilla", and it's available through Ravelry.

I adore it, even though it's too big. (I knit a large, and next time I'll stick to the medium.) I've been wanting to switch to wool covers for quite a while now, but I've only recently found myself motivated to pick up my sticks. It's like that with me and knitting - I knit like a maniac for a while, then I need a break. Now that I'm firmly ensconced in my knitting mania, I have plans for many more diaper covers. Just cast on for another one last night, in fact.

My friend Grace wrote an excellent post about cloth diapering and wool covers a while back - it's a goldmine of useful information if you're curious.

So, why wool covers, especially for an EC baby? Well, as I mentioned before, Finn is currently much more interested in walking (and making banana something-rathers in his wooden kitchen) than in signaling his need to use the potty. We're very cool with it. He's actually begun to sign "potty" right after he goes, which is somewhat helpful. Although he still sits on the potty to do his thing several times a day, we're also spending more time out and about this summer, and we don't EC when we're out of the house yet. We also made the decision a long time ago to not EC at night. Pottying was too much of a disruption of my sleep in a way that breastfeeding while co-sleeping never was. As an added perk, once we stopped EC-ing at night, Finn started sleeping quite well. We use Mother-Ease Sandy's diapers with their stay-dry liners at night. I never loved the PUL covers, though - even though we don't get many leaks, they don't breathe very well, which I makes for an ammonia smell first thing in the morning. Eew.

Plus, did I mention that the PUL covers have four snaps? Not very easy-on, easy-off while getting dressed. My hope is that these wool covers will be easier for Finn to maneuver once he starts showing interest in dressing himself.

Oh. And they're cute. Reason enough to switch, right?