I don't often blog about my baby brother. He's right smack-dab between Sweet Sister and I in age (seven years younger than me, ten years older than her), and actually sort of the typical middle odd-child-out, despite the big age gaps between all of us. Sweet Sister and I are both very artsy--although each in different ways--while Baby Brother is much more athletic.
Like brothers and sisters sometimes do, we could be very mean to each other growing-up. I gave him three black eyes by the time he was in kindergarten (in my defense, two were accidental and the third time he told me to hit him). He once pulled me across the kitchen floor by my hair (my scalp still hurts when I remember it).
We weren't always such violent little thugs, of course--I still have the book that I read to him before bed every night for six months once, complete with voices and sound effects. But suffice to say, although I always loved him--and would have defended him to the death to any one outside the family, and vise-versa--it took us both getting a bit older before we really grew to like each other.
But, now that we're all grown-up, I must admit that it's very nice to have a brother. He tends to just show-up in Lawrence at the most fun times, always with some story of adventure to tell. He taught me how to play beer pong. He introduced me to Dave Mathews, and always burns me a copy of his new CDs. He's fearless when lighting fireworks. He helps move my furniture....and he's really become a guy that I'm pretty proud of.
And since I have such a nice brother, and today is his birthday, I decided that he needed something Meryl-made. And since there are only so many knitted things a college-aged boy will wear, I thought, perhaps, a simple hat was in order.
The pattern is Stephanie Nicole's "A Hat Fit For a Boyfriend" and it's knitted in alpaca. (Full details.) I was a little worried that it looked floppy as I was knitting it, but was actually very pleased once I had Sweet Husband try it on for photographing.
Happy Birthday Baby Brother!
