Knitting for the NICU

Holli & Bently

Look who's rockin' that CoxHealth t-shirt? Meet little Mr. Bently, son of my cousin, Holli.  He's a big boy in great health for which we are very grateful!  What did I knit for him? Wellllllllll...since it's summer and he was a big boy, I'll be re-knitting his treats for cold weather!  Oops.  Oh well.  More knitting fun  will be had by all.

 

How Does a Fetus Breathe: Fetal Circulation Rap

Fetal Circulation Rap by iraislabonga on YouTube:

Paige and Iris created this as a project for their Biology class.  Love it!

 

 

 

 

"Washcloths for Babies...But I Like Them Too!"

"Washcloths for babies...but I like it too!" If you know that commercial reference (Irish Spring) then you've just shown your age, like I just did!

Michael's had all of their Lily Sugar n Cream cotton yarns on sale last week for about a buck a skein and since I wanted to make some cotton washcloths for myself, I stocked up.  These would be great for babies, for self, or for Christmas gifts.   I love them for my kitchen and for my bath. They're soft and sturdy, and feel very girlie spa-ish in the tub. A small luxury for myself I can knit easily in a couple of hours and it's a nice change of pace from more complex shaping in my NICU knitting patterns.

The ones I made were simply casting on 35 stitches onto size 8 straight needles and then using my imagination or keeping them simple.  On all I ran about 8 garter stitch rows (all knit) and then kept a 5 stitch garter (all knit) verticle border running up both sides, and then finished with an identical 8 row garter border at the top.  The middle of the square on two of them was simple stockinette (alternating knit and purl rows), one was a simple random purl knitting here and there to the front of the stockinette pattern, and the last, my favorite, included 5 stitch x 8 row boxes alternating knit and purl blocks (and then on the back side knitting the "V"s and purling the "Bars".

I was able to make 2 washcloths per skein of yarn with just a tiny bit leftover.

But if you'd like more complex designs, check out these free patterns:

Alex's Cloth

Andalutheean Washcloth  from Little House in the Suburbs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Angel Cloth from Frogiez Place

Lattice Hearts by Rachel van Schie

Baby Starfish Cloth  by Down Cloverlaine

Celtic Cables Cloth from Lily Sugar n Cream

Cowboy Hat Cloth by Vicki Designs

And many more free designs availabe at Knitting Pattern Central