Knitting for the NICU

Free Patterns: Ballet Leg Warmers for Girls

 

  How cute is this Sweet Pea?!  Yup, THAT cute!  This is Lauren, sister to Chef Samuel I featured on the food blog for his Taco Dogs lunch at the R Family Cafe.  Lauren provided the entertainment that day for her family by showing off her ballet skills.  A dancer this cute and talented needs the perfect hand-knitted leg warmers to keep her pink tootsies pink, warm, and cozy, and this was one set I created for her. 

 This pattern is also available as a free Ravelry download.

Lauren's Ballet Princess Pink Leg Warmers

Copyright 2015 by Glenna Anderson Muse

 

Easy care, hard-working ballet pink leg warmers for girls, sized 4-8, knitted in worsted weight Berroco Comfort "Ballet Pink" yarn that can be machine washed and dried.  One stretchy size for girls' sized 4-8. Pattern worked from the bottom to top.

 

Size:

One stretchy size fits most girls sized 4-8

 

Abbreviations:

BO = bind off

CO = cast on

K = knit

KFB = knit both in the front and back of the stitch to increase.

 

 

Materials:

 1 skein Berroco Comfort #9710 "Ballet Pink"

Size 8 double pointed needles or needles needed to accomplish gauge

Optional: Size 10 double pointed needles or  two sizes larger than needles used to work the piece

Yarn Needle

Optional embellishment:  18" of  coordinating 1/4" coordinating fabric ribbon

1 sewing needle

Sewing thread matching the ribbon for bows (sewn to leg warmers)           

           

Gauge:

18 stitches x 24 rows = 4 inches

 

Pattern notes:

Using the larger set of needles to CO  and BO creates stretchier, more comfortable openings for the leg warmers.

                       

Directions:

 

With larger needles, CO 28 stitches. Place marker between last stitch of first row and first stitch of second row.  Join to knit in the round.

Change to smaller needles.

Row A:  *K1, P1*.  Repeat from * to * around row.

Repeat row 1 until piece measures 2 inches from CO edge.

Change to stockinette (knitting every stitch) and knit until total length is 4 inches.

Increase:

Row 1:  KFB, K13, KFB, K13 (30) stitches .

Rows 2-6:  Knit all stitches

Row 7:  KFB, K14, KFB, K14  (32) stitches

Rows 8-12:  Knit all stitches

Row 13:  KFB, K15, KFB, K15  (34) stitches

Knit all stitches until length measures 9 inches.

Row A:  *K1, P1*.  Repeat from * to * around row.

Repeat row A until piece measures11 inches from CO edge. (Two inches of ribbing.)

BO in stitch (knitting the "v"'s and purling the "bars" as you BO).  Cut tail.  With yarn needle, draw tail through last stitch. Secure tightly and weave in all loose ends.

 

To accent.  Tie two equal sized bows (double knotted).  Sew one to top of each leg warmer as shown in photo above.

 

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Family Knitting: Summer Romper & Headband for Hat Baby

"Hat Baby", as in that's her name... no, really, that's what we call her, has been our constant living room companion for the almost seven years I've been knitting for the NICU, is my model for Medium-sized Preemies. Although her legs and arms are much chunkier than our skinnier little Littles, her head measures exactly 12" and her length just under 14", making her the perfect dressmaker doll to sub in for Preemie fashions.  For years now, she's either worn the latest in Preemie wear, or the plain Jane little sleeper she came in.  Hat Baby deserves designer outfit love too, so this summer I knitted her  a sunsuit and headband of her very own to dress up in. 

While technically both the headband and sunsuit would fit a 3-5 lb preemie, it probably wouldn't be something to actually dress a real baby in since they need multiple layers to hold in their body heat, but it's fun to think about for photos and definitely cute for other dolls of the same size.

"Preemie" Summer Romper  and Floral Headband for 12" Height Doll

Doll: 12-14" tall;  10 1/2" chest; 12" head circumference

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.

Summer Romper

Materials:

2 oz Baby weight yarn in any color

Size 5 dpns

Size 8 dpns

yarn needle

1 foot of 1/4-1/2" silk ribbon

Directions:

CO:  60, loosely, over 3-4 needles and join in the round, placing marker between last stitch of cast on row and first stitch of new row.

Work in 2x2 ribbing (K2, P2...repeat) until  total length measures 2 1/2"

Change to size 8 needles.

Knit one row

Purl one row.

K+1, K3 around row. (Don't worry about exact counts on stitches, the important part is to keep increasing every few rows to create the flared skirt--it's for a doll. For a real baby, we might need to be more particular about counts and such.)

Knit x 4 rows.

Repeat increase and knitted rows until skirt measures 5"

Purl one row

Knit one row.

BO all stitches.  Cut tail and pull through last stitch. Secure.  Weave in all loose threads.

Optional:  To form "shorts" rather than skirt of romper, lay romper flat and find middle of front and back.  With same thread stitch a 1" seam, starting from hem, to form a simple seam between legs.  Secure and weave in loose threads.

Thread ribbon onto yarn needle and weave across front of romper to create halter ties.  Leave both ends dangling equal amounts on each side.  When dressing doll, bring ribbon around back of doll's neck and tie into a bow.  Trim ribbon as needed.

 

Baby Doll Headband with Flower

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:

1/4 oz Baby weight yarn

1/4 oz Baby weight in contrasting color (leaves)

Size 8 straight needles

yarn needle

1 1"-2" silk flower mounted on an alligator clip (easily found at hobby stores or women's accessory stores like Claire's)

Directions:

With main yarn, CO 40 stitches very loosely.

Work in 2x2 ribbing (K2, P2, repeat) across x 6 rows.

BO loosely in stitch. Cut tail and pull through last stitch to secure.  Sew headband ends together and secure. Weave in loose threads.

To make "leaves", with contrasting yarn, CO 20 sts.

BO all stitches, cut tail and pull through last stitch. Secure. Allow piece to curl around itself.

Sew ends together. Secure. Use remaining tails to sew onto headband approx 1" apart, at sewn place only. Allow rest of "leaf" to remain unattached from headband.

Make 2 and sew both onto headband.

Clip flower onto headband between the two open leaves

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Ryker: Undyed Alpaca Hoodie with Coordinating Cargo Pants

 

After patiently and expensively pulling out all the stops for a year trying to get pregnant, my friends Stephanie and Lance reluctantly put aside their hopes and faced the fact that they were probably  never  going to be biological parents.  Imagine how exacted we all were, not to mention how excited they were, when they found out a few months later they were pregnant!

I think we all held our breath through the first trimester with them and I know for a fact there were a multitude of prayers and hopes that all would go well for both Stephanie and little Mr. Ryker--and it did. We all grateful and so happy for Steph and Lance, and to have baby Ryker here.

Stephanie works in our NICU so she's seen all the wild hats I've made these past four years and the only thing she asked me out right for was a football hat.  I'll blog that later but for now, I'll share the other project with you.  How could I not mark such a miracle with something extra special?

The outfit is knitted in a super soft light weight undyed alpaca yarn imported from Peru.

Patterns:

Baby Hoodie:   Comfy Hoodie by Jean Guirguis at Coats and Clark (Red Heart Yarns)

I added a small coordinating pocket and button on the left chest.

Pants:   http://alison.knitsmiths.us/pattern_baby_bell_bottoms.html

The two changes I made were adding elastifc and elimating the drawstring and adding a coordinating pocket on right leg with button to match the hoodie.

Tube socks:  http://whimsyknits.lightshines.net/patterns/TinyTubeSocks.pdf

The John Deere Hat and a Contest

Special request made by one of my NICU RN buds, Ashley, for a baby whose daddy and/or granddaddy have worked many years for John Deere Co, a very popular company/logo for us here in the Midwest.  It's probably second only to hunter's camo as a theme request from our NICU Daddies.

Both harder and easier than it looks....I started with a basic green beanie.  The green was harder to find than you would think.  There are many yellowed greens, grayed greens, and blue greens by every yarn maker, but a true JD/dark kelly isn't to be had easily. I settled on Sugar & Cream brand "Mod Green" which is close and gives off a cheery feel.  I knitted that into a basic beanie, including 2 bright yellow strips, Caron brand "Sunshine" yellow that I had on hand. The stripes were placed 10 rows apart.  After completing the beanie, I went back and used a duplicate stitch technique to add the vertical lines for the logo edges.

What happened next took a little experimentation.  I tried to hand-"draw" the logo on three times using duplicate stitch but the John Deere stag is too well defined to stand up to the coarseness of the technique.  After a little cursing, a little foot-stomping, and a night's sleep, I had a brainstorm and sent the Hubby to Michael's for fabric paint while I made dinner.

That's the ticket!  With a little free-hand copy power leftover from my days as a cake decorator I managed to attain a reasonable fascimile that I could smile at.  The trick with fabric paint is to  really scout out your landmarks as to how the object should fit within the space and use a light hand before filling in heavier.  I used the bottle tip only to create an almost puffy design, but you could also use dressmaker's chalk to mark the landmarks and then use a paint brush to fill in the design for a flatter look.

And that's the story of the John Deere hat for Baby X.

Now for the contest....a special treat to be given/sent/mailed to the first commenter who can describe correctly the "OOPS... oh Craaaaaaaaaap!" spot where I accidentally dropped a drop of fabric paint on my ottoman that won't come off.  Thankfully, the yellow is the same color as the contrast color in the upholstery patterrn.