Backstory: Picking Pebbles

In January 2014, Hubby, Z-man and I were pretty excited. We unexpectedly found a house that suited us in location, layout, size, budget etc. and we were finally expecting a second child.

One day after we paid the deposit for this house, I found myself sitting in a neurosurgeon's office with Hubby. The doctor told us that Hubby would need surgery.

There were uncertainties, confusion, fear, but also reassurance through scripture, and happy moments as I watched Hubby and Z-man play together when I couldn't move around as easily as before (I had respiratory issues with this pregnancy). One day as I watched them playing in the park near our new house, a month before the operation, I saw them picking up acorns around the trees, and Z wanted to keep them all, but they didn't have anything to carry them home with (phew!).

A huge pang of sadness and waves of thoughts came - "What if my hubby didn't make it out of surgery? How would I live without my amazing, adoring partner in crime, and bring up two littlies by myself?" "Little bubby will never know daddy!!" "Will I be able to afford to stay in this house?" "How could I go on? How would Z cope with the loss?" "If only we could collect these happy moments...because Z may need those memories..."

To stop my flow of negative thoughts, I doodled in my notebook a little jumper with a kangaroo pocket so Z could collect his acorns, something with a wide neck because Z was complaining that he got itchy easily :p I wanted something fairly minimalistic-looking, something that made you feel relaxed just looking at it. I wanted something Z could wear with my hubby when they went to pick acorns again after hubby recovered. I wanted large buttons because they look happy. Oh and I wanted elbow patches because hey they look cute, and I might get second-sleevitis (teehee) and something exciting would move me along. This design was the result.

Not long before that, I had received two skeins of (Vi)laines' "Picking Pebbles on the Beach" on her Ecologistes DK base. How serendipitous, it was the perfect colour and even had the perfect name :) This jumper HAD to be called "Picking Pebbles".

I had designed and knit samples for two other kiddy tops before this, but didn't publish them (and still haven't). I just had no confidence at all. However, I was determined to publish this one, so I contacted Georgie (Tikki Knits), whom I had met at the first Craft Sessions weekend, to help me with some of the maths and she was just absolutely incredible. She is SO generous with her knowledge and patient too.

I finished my first Picking Pebbles jumper two days before Hubby's surgery. My courageous hubby was so calm throughout it all, and we are so thankful to God, that the procedure went smoothly and his recovery was surprisingly fast too. A month later, the pattern was written and my lovely testers click-clacked away while our little Cub was born, and yes, he knows his daddy's love for him too, just like his brother Z does.

Thank you for visiting my newly done-up blog. If you would like to purchase the Picking Pebbles pattern via Ravelry, please use the coupon-code "ppbackstory" when you check out here.