Knitting for other people's babies

I didn't get a chance to have babies of my own. Revision: I had many chances to become a single mother and decided not to go that route. Now that I'm finally married, I'm pretty sure conceiving a child is not something I'm capable of doing. And it's not likely we'll adopt. SO....  I get as much time with my nieces as possible, and I knit for other people's impending children. Right now, I'm knitting a little sweater for my pal Liz's baby. We don't know yet if it will be a boy or a girl. Revision: I know it's going to be a boy; they prefer not to know nor guess. Anyway, since I'm not supposed to have any idea of this baby's sex, I chose a nice light-green yarn and I've been knitting off and on for a few weeks.  I was four-fifths of the way through before I figured out the pattern had some serious mistakes, and I had to rip out half my work. I Googled the book's title, and found (bingo!) the author has posted multiple pattern corrections. I printed out the new sweater pattern, began work again, and am now nearly where I was when I had to rip back. Whew! A few days ago I met another friend, Shannon, who is also expecting a baby. She's a gorgeous pregnant lady (she's beautiful when she's not pregnant, too). She handed me some yarn a friend of hers had spun and asked me to make something--anything--from it. It's pretty chunky yarn. Too thick to make baby clothes out of. I'm going to haul it into my favorite yarn shop and ask their advice. Maybe it'll make a nice baby sling, or a nursing pillow. We shall see. It's a gorgeous purple color, and I can't wait to get something started with it. Meanwhile, some other friends, Lisa and Erich, have a brilliant toddler boy, Truman, who really needs a sweater for this coming fall. I'm thinking stripes, but I need to go ask him what his favorite colors are before I start work. Maybe something in green, blue and orange, with little donkey and elephant buttons, to celebrate the success of his daddy's book.