As much as I love all those wonderful little Littles in the NICU, I also enjoy knitting for the family, I hope, as much as they love me knitting for them. I have so many yarns stashed back for projects I thought of and hadn't started yet but it's official: Christmad knitting for the family has begun!
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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.
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"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:
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
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I love to give home-made gifts for Christmas as much as I love to receive home-made gifts. There's something very intimate about it, that Me to You thoughtfulness and knowing that someone loves me enough to think I'm worth their time, talent, and skills. And vice versa. When I make gifts, not only do I really try to give that person something they will enjoy and use. I love thinking about that person and how much they mean to me while I knit and hope that they think of me when they use my gift.
When I'm not knitting for the NICU, I'm usually knitting Christmas gifts. My nieces love house slippers, my sister wants legwarmers (still working on that one!), my brothers and nephew want camo hats, my niece Jordan likes toeless flip flop socks, etc. My friend, Lynn, loves the colors blue and white together and I can see why. Blue and white create, to me, a very clean, fresh, timelessly elegant look with a comforting homey feeling. Her bedroom, in particular, is a gorgeous retreat from the world with crisp white linens and beautifully hand-made blue and white quilts on her bed and hanging on the wall. My gift to her last year was this set of blue knitted edged pillowcases for her bed, something pretty and practical.
To make this, I bought the pillowcases that I wanted and then measured the circumference of the opening. I knitted each piece of lace 1 inch longer so there would be a small overlap when I sewed them on. Then I chose a ribbon wide enough to fit the holes at the top of the edging where it was seamed onto the pillowcase and weaved it through, tying it into a double bow so it wouldn't come undone in the wash. I can't find the exact pattern I used for this edging but I've found plenty more on the 'net that are just as pretty and that I'll be figuring out new projects for their use:
http://knitting-and.com/wiki/Apple_Leaf_Lace
http://knitting-and.com/wiki/Belmina_Lace
http://www.craftown.com/knit/knit18.htm
http://tiajudy.com/scallopedge.htm
So many cute edgings--makes me want to start knitting lace again!
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I know it's only mid-May but Christmas is only 6 1/2 months away! Must. Start. Knitting. NOW. Every year I make each of my three nieces a pair of girly house-shoes based on this slipper pattern from the 40's called Aunt Maggie's Slippers. Bev Qualheim, owner of Bev's Country Cottage web site has updated the pattern and Knitting Paradise has turned it into a sweet little pdf that prints off in a nice format.
On Sydney's this year, I added a knitted bow by casting on 12 stitches of 1 strand of worsted weight pink (the shoes were knitted with a double strand of pink and brown) and knitting in the round for 3". Then I sewed on an aqua button and gathered the middle of the bow as I sewed it onto the slippers. I also sewed the ends shut.
I have two reasons for making these each Christmas:
1) Because the girls love them, ask for them, and let me know what colors they want each year, and
2) I first knitted this slipper pattern in the 4th grade during my 4-H knitting class that my Mom taught. She also made these for me and my sister (Jordan and Sydney's Mom) each year. Mom passed away in the late 80's but I like to imagine how excited for my work in the NICU she would be (and how much knitting help!) and what a wonderful Grandmother she would have been to "our" kids. I know she would have made these slippers for Kaylee, Jordan, and Sydney every year. I may only be an Auntie but I like to think that I'm a decent surrogate Granny too to make up a little bit for the Grandmotherly Karen love our kids will unfortunately never get to experience.
Someday they'll understand how much their requests and excitement over these simple Christmas gifts means to me, and Mom who is watching down over us all.
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Here's another great Teddy Bear knitting pattern in three sizes from Miracle Babies Foundation in Australia. In this case the pattern has notes about including these in memory boxes but they would also be great to give to siblings of preemies in the NICU, as a go home gift to NICU babies, or as a comfort to pediatric patients on the floor or in the ER or urgent care.
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