Knitting for the NICU

Valentine's Day 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!

These little lovelies are what our happy knitters having been stitching up for our NICU Velentine babies this year.  We have red Scoobys, the popular Angry Birds, Mickey & Minnie, and hand-made Velentine's cards made by a 6-year-old NICU graduate.

 These adorable 5" holographic heart Valentine's card with ribbons to hang them, were made by Jude, a NICU graduate from Fayetteville, Arkansas.  They have messages like "I love Mommy", "My Daddy rocks",  "I love my siblings", etc.  Huge hugs and Thank yous to Jude for sharing his heart and his talent with us, as well as hugs and thanks to Jude's Mom and Dad for sharing theirs as well with our NICU babies and their parents.

The hit of the NICU, everyone was thrilled by the popular Angry Birds and Scoobys with their heart button beaks and mouths--such clever designing from Kathy, one of our PFT therapists.  Mucho thanks, Kathy!

 

Pretty Princess Hat knitted from yarn donated to the NICU by a NICU family a few weeks ago and worked up into this beautiful girly girl hat.  For the pattern, please click:   Pretty Princess Hat.

The famous mice, Mickey and Minnie. I made two sets of these and although I can't take pictures in the NICU, I can tell you that they were all mega cute on the little Littles who received them.  For patterns clicke here:   Minnie   or    Mickey.

From our knitting stashes to all of you, we wish you a chocolate and flower-filled

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Mickey, the Famous Mouse

 

 Finding Valentine's hats for our little Little boys can be daunting.  Red is great but pink? Not so much.  This fun Mickey Mouse hat is great for both Valentine's Day and Halloween in the NICU or any little guy. 

Mickey Mouse Hat

Pattern by Glenna Anderson Muse

Pattern copyrighted 2013 by Glenna Anderson Muse. Please do not place pattern on the web or make any use of pattern other than for personal use or knitting for charity.

Materials:

Approx 1/2 oz red #4 Worsted Weight Yarn

Approx 1 oz black #4 Worsted Weight Yarn

#8 Double pointed needles

Yarn needle

2   1/2-3/4"  diameter buttons in white, yellow, or light tan

Directions:

Sizes:  Micro Preemie (up to 2.5 lbs), Med Preemie (2.5-4lbs), Large Preemie (4.5-5.6lbs), Newborn (6-8lbs)

With red yarn, CO  (32,40, 44, 52) stitches

1)  Knit around, joining into a round, and place marker between last stitch of row and first stitch of next row.

2)  Purl around

3)  Repeat 3 more times.

Change to black yarn.

Knit all until total length measures (2", 3", 3.5", 4")

Decrease:

Knit (6, 8, 9, 11) sts, K2tog. Repeat 3 more times to end of round. (28, 36, 40, 48) sts remain.

Knit (5, 7, 8, 10) sts. K2tog. Repeat 3 more times to end of round. (24, 32, 36, 44) sts remain.

Knit (4, 6, 7, 9) sts. K2tog. Repeat 3 more times to end of round.  (20, 28, 32, 40) sts remain.

Knit (3, 5, 6, 8) sts. K2tog. Repeat 3 more times to end of round.  (16, 24, 28, 36) sts remain.

Knit (2, 4, 5, 7) sts. K2tog. Repeat 3 more times to end of round.  (12, 20, 24, 32) sts remain.

Knit (1, 3, 4, 6) sts. K2tog. Repeat 3 more times to end of round.  (8, 16, 20, 28) sts remain.

(Micro preemie only: skip to Finishing.)

K2tog around row.  (-, 8, 10, 14) sts remain.

(Medium and Large Preemie skip to Finishing.)

Newborn only:  K2tog around row.  7 sts remain.

Finishing:

Cut 10" tail.  Draw tail through remining stitches with yarn needle. Pull tight, and weave yarn securely onto underneath side.  Weave all loose yarn ends into under side of hat.

To make large pom-poms without commercial pom-pom maker:

Wrap yarn around 3 (Micro Preemie) or 4 (rest of the sizes) fingers 50-60 times.  Carefully remove from hand and tie a double strand of yarn around middle of loops.  (I also use a small finger diameter rubber band to secure prior to tying with the strands of yarn.)  Tie as tightly as possible and triple knot.

Cut through all of the loops.

 

To trim, gather all of the loose ends up in your hand and trim the ones that stand up significantly higher than the rest of the ends.  It doesn't have to be perfect.

To make the pom-pom fuller and  fuzzier, place a fork through the center of pom-pom and steam over boiling water, a couple of inches above water,  for approximately 45 seconds on each side.  You'll be able to see yarn ends starting to separate and appear fuller.

 Two identically made pom-poms.  The tope one has been steamed, the second has not.

To finish hat, using yarn needle, draw long yarn ends through to underneath side, approximately 1/3 of the way down from the center top.  Secure underneath by securely weaving ends into hat underside.  Sew buttons securely to front band as shown. 

Send pictures of your little Mickey--I'd love to blog them!--to Marie9949 (at ssymbol) sbcglobal (dot) net.

Minnie, the Famous Mouse

 Love this sweet Minnie Mouse. I was looking for something extra special to make for our little Littles for Valentine's, something that would be just as cute on boys and on girls.  No, we're not going to put the Minnie Mouse hats on boys, the Minnie design just came to me first and then the Mickey pattern will follow.  I've got a couple of sets made up right now. I'm keeping my fingers cross for a set of twins around Valentine's Day that we can outfit to match.

Wouldn't that be fun?

Minnie Mouse Hat

Pattern by Glenna Anderson Muse

Pattern copyrighted 2013 by Glenna Anderson Muse. Please do not place pattern on the web or make any use of pattern other than for personal use or knitting for charity.

Materials:

Approx 1/2 oz bright pink #4 Worsted Weight Yarn

Approx 1 oz black #4 Worsted Weight Yarn

#8 Double pointed needles

Yarn needle

Commercially made bow hair barette (The barrette shown is from Claire's) 

Directions:

Sizes:  Micro Preemie (up to 2.5 lbs), Med Preemie (2.5-4lbs), Large Preemie (4.5-5.6lbs), Newborn (6-8lbs)

With Pink, CO  (32,40, 44, 52) stitches

1)  Knit around, joining into a round, and place marker between last stitch of row and first stitch of next row.

2)  Purl around

3)  Repeat 3 more times.

Change to black yarn.

Knit all until total length measures (2", 3", 3.5", 4")

Decrease:

Knit (6, 8, 9, 11) sts, K2tog. Repeat 3 more times to end of round. (28, 36, 40, 48) sts remain.

Knit (5, 7, 8, 10) sts. K2tog. Repeat 3 more times to end of round.  (24, 32, 36, 44) sts remain.

Knit (4, 6, 7, 9) sts. K2tog. Repeat 3 more times to end of round.  (20, 28, 32, 40) sts remain.

Knit (3, 5, 6, 8) sts. K2tog. Repeat 3 more times to end of round.  (16, 24, 28, 36) sts remain.

Knit (2, 4, 5, 7) sts. K2tog. Repeat 3 more times to end of round.  (12, 20, 24, 32) sts remain.

Knit (1, 3, 4, 6) sts. K2tog. Repeat 3 more times to end of round.  (8, 16, 20, 28) sts remain.

(Micro preemie only: skip to Finishing.)

K2tog around row.  (-, 8, 10, 14) sts remain.

(Medium and Large Preemie skip to Finishing.)

Newborn only:  K2tog around row.  7 sts remain.

Finishing:

Cut 10" tail.  Draw tail through remining stitches with yarn needle. Pull tight, and weave yarn securely onto underneath side.  Weave all loose yarn ends into under side of hat.

To make large pom-poms without commercial pom-pom maker:

Wrap yarn around 3 (Micro Preemie) or 4 (rest of the sizes) fingers 50-60 times.  Carefully remove from hand and tie a double strand of yarn around middle of loops.  (I also use a small finger diameter rubber band to secure prior to tying with the strands of yarn.)  Tie as tightly as possible and triple knot.

Cut through all of the loops.

To trim, gather all of the loose ends up in your hand and trim the ones that stand up significantly higher than the rest of the ends.  It doesn't have to be perfect.

To make the pom-pom fuller and  fuzzier, place a fork through the center of pom-pom and steam over boiling water, a couple of inches above water,  for approximately 45 seconds on each side.  You'll be able to see yarn ends starting to separate and appear fuller.

 Two identically made pom-poms.  The tope one has been steamed, the second has not.

To finish hat, using yarn needle, draw long yarn ends through to underneath side, approximately 1/3 of the way down from the center top.  Secure underneath by securely weaving ends into hat underside.  Add bow on a clip. 

Bows on a clip are a great accessory for girls' hats since they can be removed easily for washing.

Send pictures of your little Minnie--I'd love to blog them!--to Marie9949 (at ssymbol) sbcglobal (dot) net. 

Thanksgiving in the NICU

As Thanksgiving comes tomorrow and we all enjoy the company of our family and friends while celebrating with thankfulness all the blessings in our lives, please remember to say a little prayer for the families with babies in the NICU.

Our little Littles have several choices for wardrobe this Thanksgiving, sort of like the cast of a Grammar School Thanksgiving play. The players:

Pilgrims

Indians

From the table:

Turkeys

This turkey pattern with its multi-colored feathers is from my book:

 

More Turkeys

Turkey Butts and Turkey Legs

Pumpkins

From the great outdoors:

Acorns

And camo.

 

NICU Halloween Costumes: CatDog and Muppets?

I think it was a happy, somewhat accident that Kathy I ended up with some muppets. Maybe a little more planned on her part. How coulc you not have that wonderful green and not make Kermit! Love him.  And Elmo? But of course.  And what was going to be a regular bear until I finished him and Gene said "Fozzie!"

We need to remember these for next year, Kathy!

 

I'm not sure exactly why but these adorable little creatures of Kathy's remind me of one of my niece, Sydney's, favorite cartoons when she was little: CatDog.  It's the story of two squabbling best friends who, you guessed it, are a cat and a dog hooked together in the middle.

Koala Bear All Ready For Halloween

Shamyia's all dressed up and ready to go Trick-or-Treating!  Made from bulky Lion Brand Homespun yarn, I think she's going to be snug as a bug in a rug, chilly as it may be Halloween night.

And then more for the NICU: