The Vagaries of Knitting for Toddlers

As I mentioned, I already started the hoodie for Malcolm on July 4, at my first meetup with the West LA Knitters. I never really bonded with the Emerald Isle color for Isaac, and after he declared greento be his favorite color, I decided to go back to my original idea, which was Key Lime. I ordered two more pairs of size 7 needles-- one got here Saturday, the other a couple days later. Of course I immediately cast on to see what the greens look like together.

˄˄˄ Emerald Isle ˅˅˅ Key Lime

And, predictably, my most capricious child declared that green was no longer his favorite color; he didn't like the first nine or so rows (the right cuff, as it happens); and no, he wouldn't wear it once it was finished. Well, what color did His Highness fancy today? "ALL the colors!" Sigh. Well, at least Sugar 'N Cream comes in several very colorful varieties of ombré.

I guess I shouldn't be so quick to label Isaac the most capricious. But whereas Malcolm seems to give too little thought to his glib initial answers when he later retroactively changes his mind and insists that not only does he now was that food, this T-shirt, those pajamas, he has always wanted them (good thing Alyx is my witness or I'd think I was going insane), Isaac is simply graced with a mercurial preference that changes over days or even hours. 

Pictured: Caprice

Any attempt at accommodation is further exacerbated by moodiness to rival any adolescent, a stubborn streak that would put any mule to shame, and a narrow (one might even term it, "picky") window of offerings considered acceptable. While this is annoying, for instance, at mealtimes when he obstinately refuses to eat what was literally his favorite food just the day before, at least his preference doesn't (usually) change between food preparation and consumption.

There are a very few constants.

But clothing is not knit so quickly.

My grandmother would advise me to pick colors that I like for him, and in fact would impatiently chide me for even bothering to consult him. "What did you expect from a young child? He's three; he doesn't know what he wants," she would respond if I were to try to convey my frustration with the situation. It's not that I don't see her point, but I do take a few issues with it.

First, he does know what he wants. As mentioned, he will cling to he preference du jour (or d'heure, as the case may be) tenaciously. The target may be always moving, but there definitely is a target. Not that that's much consolation when staring down over three hundred rows.

Second, I've let Malcolm and Alyx choose their colors, and perhaps a quarter of the way through Malcolm's, Malcolm is perfectly happy with his (he loves to "try it on", even though "trying it on" consists of me pinning where the seam will be on the sleeve and sliding it up to his shoulder). I don't see Alyx's fondness for pink and pastels changing for the foreseeable future. Isaac's taste will change a half-dozen or more times before I get ten rows in, but that won't lessen his outrage at the injustice at his brother and sister being solicited for approval on colors for their hoodies and not him.

ALL THE COLORS!

So my options are to forego the green and buy new yarn in "all the colors" or forge ahead with the green and hope for the best. Or just hope he outgrows this stage by the time I finish Malcolm's and Alyx's. Given my progress, that may be before he hits grade school.