Dressing Babies in Merino Wool ::

It's probably no secret that I love wool. I use it a lot in my work and also my personal knitting and crochet. But probably my favourite wool both to work with and wear is merino. It's just so soft and warm and wears beautifully. It also has a host of other qualities that make it perfect for babies.

• Merino is one of the softest wool types available due to it's short, thin staples, making it less tickly than other yarns and meaning it can happily be worn next to the skin.

• Because of these smaller fibres it's warm even when you're using finer weight yarn. Which makes it great for babies who don't really want to be in big bulky sweaters.

• It's great at regulating body temperature. Perfect for babies as it keeps you warm without overheating.

• It draws water away from the body, so if your little one was to get sweaty, the yarn would pull it away, meaning they can avoid being damp and getting cold as a result of that.

• Merino wool also holds a lot of water and can do so whilst still keeping your baby warm. This would also make its great yarn for making nappy soakers.

• In my experience it also washes well, especially the superwash varieties. Though I would rather handwash handknits (partly I think I just enjoy the process) so I don't have much experience with knits in the machine I have occasionally thrown a handknit merino sweater in the wash and they've come out unscathed.

My favourite cardi I knit for Effie using merino.

I could go on about the wonders of merino all day (but don't worry I won't) I really feel that dressing babies in natural  fibres is the way to go. Their little bodies are so precious they should be bundled up in the finest temperature regulating fabrics. If you're knitting for babies then you are in luck because you can buy all manner of gorgeous merino yarns (a cashmere, merino blend is probably my favourite) in all yarn weights and gorgeous colours imaginable and across a wide range of price points. However you need so little yarn for a baby project you might as well splash out!

If you're not a knitter or crocheter, then you can find a wonderful variety of gorgeous baby clothes made from merino wool. Delicate Dream, do a range of simple, unisex baby essentials made from merino. We were sent this lovely snuggly cardi and trouser outfit from them to review and we love it. We've been using it as Effie's outside clothing, perfect for popping on over her existing outfit to keep her warm and snug in the pushchair without getting too hot if we're in and out of shops or if she's bundled up next to me in the sling. I love babies dressed in all the colours but there's also something especially darling about a perfect little baby dressed all in white.

You can shop the Delicate Dream unisex merino collection here.

**we were kindly sent these items to review but all thoughts are our own.