What are little boys made of?

Do you knit and crochet for the little ones in your family? We both do, and for the not so little ones too.

We've noticed that lots of mums and grannies really enjoy making special gifts for newborns. The most popular yarns are in neutral colours or in pale pink or blue if the baby's sex is already known.  

Once babies are getting a bit older we've noticed that pink is still popular but blue sticks on our shelves like toffee. As boys become toddlers it is even more noticeable that knitters and crocheters pass them by. Once beyond primary school they are not being knitted for at all.  Is this just our perception or do our customers only make garments for boys in secret?

There are lots of lovely patterns out there for little boys -- the one Jenny has just knitted for her nephew (pictured below left) is just right for a six year old. Ruth knitted the one on the right a couple of years ago for her then eight year old son. On our projects page, you will also see garments made by Jenny for both her grown up sons and her husband.

As mothers to both boys and girls, we've made a real effort in our pattern selection to have practical and appealing garments for both sexes. We can understand not wanting to knit or crochet for the adult men in our lives as they're just too big but it doesn't take any longer to knit for a small boy than for a small girl.

So why are boys disadvantaged in the knitting stakes?

Is it possible that we are influenced by gender stereotyping which suggests that handmade knitwear is fine for little girls (because they won't spoil it) but little boys play rough and tumble a bit too much?  

Maybe knitting trends reflect the fashion world where little boys are dressed as little men?

Or perhaps there are just more little girls than boys in our local demographic?

What do you all thinK?