random threads

I finished a total of 15 preemie hats in January that are being donated to two projects, the k3tog collection for the Children’s Hospital of St. Paul (Minnesota, doncha know?) and The Preemie Project which supports the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.  My mom knit two caps as well.

Here are the last few I knit, using mostly Red Heart Soft Baby Steps yarn. I liked this yarn the best of the three or four acrylics I have knit with in the past few weeks.  Very soft, worsted weight, which means a quick-knit, and how can you beat the names of Kitty Print for the pink/lilac/white combo and Puppy Print for the blue/green/white combo? The Preemie Project in particular said that parents request pink and blue for the babies.  I guess we still haven’t overcome the traditional stereotypical colors.

I do like the i-cord bow tie top on the hat on the right…that yarn was Bernat Baby Jacquards in the color Easter Basket. Only down side was it was a sport/DK weight yarn so did not knit up quite as fast as the Baby Steps yarn did.

I’m onto my February charity knitting now (yes, I know it is still January). For the Baskets of Yarn retreat in March we are asked to bring hats to donate to the college students at Appalachian State University (where the retreat is held). I have two in progress, pics’ to come on those.  My, college- student-sized heads are soooo much bigger than little preemie babies’ are. Mom is helping out on this project too, and has her two hats done. She even knit a third for a local charity in Michigan. You go, Mom!

It seems like the entire week has been one of posting finished objects, doesn’t it?  Well, I have not run out yet, but today’s post is the last of what I have finished to-date. First some background: Several years ago, I met (online), Jeanne of St. Paul Minnesota through Chris of Stumbling Over Chaos.  Chris directed me to Jeanne, as she also had a kitty with Cushing’s Syndrome, Bugsy.  This is one of the diseases that Emma had, and it is a quite rare for kitties.  Bugsy and Emma had much in common, so Jeanne and I struck up conversations via email to compare notes.  Sadly, Bugsy and Emma are both gone now, but I know having someone who knew first-hand what the illness was about was a comfort to me (thanks Jeanne!)

Jeanne had been part of a multi-person blog known at k3tog (which is no longer), and had started collecting preemie hats to donate to the hospital where Chelle (another member of the blog) had her daughter prematurely early (now 6 years ago).  They collected over 500 caps last January.  They also count donated caps to your own local charity/hospital if you’d prefer to do that.  I knit a couple of hats last year and my mom who is always knitting preemie hats and booties sent in some too.  Mom even won some yarn in the random drawing!

The collection is only during the month of January, so I got knitting last week, and have finished five caps so far.

If you are interested in participating in the donation effort, Chelle has a great pattern on Ravelry at Chelle’s Basic Preemie Hat, and they have a group on Ravelry as well, the k3tog PHK (preemie hat knitters) group.

In an effect to recover from the Ravelympics and my megathon of many projects, I have started some quick baby gift items to have on hand.  Two items were finished so far this week, and I found two somewhat-willing models to show off the completed garments:

Petal Bib from Leigh Radford’s One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit or Crochet.  Knit in Filatura di Crosa’s Zarella Baby, which while 48% acrylic and 52% wool, felt very ‘plasticky.’ I wouldn’t knit with it again. Miss Emma is demonstrating the usual bib position.  She’s willing to pose in this position in hopes of getting something to eat.  Don’t worry, she doesn’t go hungry around here.

Second item is based on Elizabeth Zimmerman’s work, but is from Maria Grace’s I am, Therefore I Knit’s blog, and is called the Mitered Square Baby Bonnet. I ran out of the Zarella Baby yarn but finished off the crocheted ruffle using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK (much nicer feeling than the Zarella Baby–and still considered machine washable. ) This time, Miss Cleo is modeling, demonstrating her best Southern belle attitude.

In what now appears to be a trend, I have knit another ‘unusual’ shaped baby hat. You may recall, the Ginormous baby hat, which was donated to Hats for Alex at the recent Stitch ‘n’ Pitch (and generously received, I will add, as they said they handle kids as well as babies). Well, during the Stitch ‘n’ Pitch itself, my knitting project was this charity hat, based on the pattern here. And honest, I only changed the yarn from worsted to sport weight, still getting 6 stitches per inch, which the pattern said would be fine.

But, what we have is a semi-stocking cap or a hat suitable for the child of Beldar and Prymaat Conehead:

Yarn used: 50 gm of Magic Garden Buttons in Cobalt (876)

Pattern used: Crash Test Knitting’s ‘A Hat for Alex’

Knit on: US Size 5 DPNs

Mods: Added the crocheted corkscrew twirly things on top. Those are super-easy to make. Ch anywhere from 12 to 24 ch. Dc in the second chain from the hook. Make one more dc in that loop. Make three dc in each of the remaing chain loops. When you reach the end of the chain, you are done! Use the yarn ends to sew to the top of the hat. (Note, US terminology for crochet stitches used. US Double crochet (dc) = Australian/UK/European Treble crochet (tr)).

While I didn’t actually have ‘peanuts and crackerjack’ (it was a hot dog and nachos instead), we did sing the traditional ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ during the 7th inning stretch at Saturday night’s Stitch ‘n’ Pitch organized by the Charlotte Knitting Guild and Charlotte Purls. I went along with about 60 other knitters and crocheters. Section 114 had plenty of sticks and hooks clicking, along with chattering, hooting and hollering for the door prizes. We each got a goodie bag with donations from The Needlecraft Center in Davidson, Universal Yarn (a skein of Classic Worsted), a canvas totebag and pen from Namaste.
In addition, there were lots of fabulous door prizes, including a Malibu bag, clutch and other accessories from Namaste, lots of yarn from Berroco kitted up with patterns, gift certificates, even cat toys made from Buffalo hair.

Two charities were designated for knitting during the game (of course, you could knit on your own project), Hats for Alex and washcloths for local domestic violence victims (being collected by the Charlotte Purls). A free pattern for the baby hats was provided, and that is what I knit on during the game, using some machine washable DK yarn (Magic Garden Buttons in Cobalt).

We were having so much fun, I paid little attention to the game, and the Richmond Braves scored two runs when I wasn’t watching, and the Knights ended up losing 4-1. After the game, it being Saturday night, there were fireworks set to music. Great fun, and I did get some good shots! More fireworks photos on my ????????Flickr page.

As a break from knitting socks, I decided to whip out a quick baby hat using a kit I bought at my local LYS, which included Velvet Touch by Peter Pan and Plymouth Dreambaby DK. I added a ruffle to the pattern by casting on four times the number of required stitches (320 sts), then k 1 row plain, k2tog across next row, k 1 row plan, k2tog across next row to arrive at the original number of stitches (80 sts). I used US size 5 needles, as the pattern called for. However, no gauge was given, and I am usually a loose knitter, maybe I should have used size 3 or 4s.

End result: the hat is huge. It will fit the 15 lb baby and then some. It stretchs a bit and fits my big head. Second issue, the Velvet Touch is worsted weight and the Dreambaby is DK, and you can see the difference in the stripes of the hat. Using equivalent weight yarns would be better. I still have yarn left from both skeins, so plan to make some more baby hats, hopefully normal-baby-sized, each in a single yarn.

I do like the ruffle effect however, and the little topknot on top!

I returned a week ago from my trip up north for my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary, but have been taking a bit of a vacation from the internet. Now for the update. The weekend was very nice, with all four of us kids showing up, at various times over the weekend, plus my step niece and her son. The weather was wonderful, in the mid 70s, which was a great relief to this Carolina gal. We had dinner out at a restaurant on Friday night, an ‘indoor’ picnic on Saturday night, a coffee hour reception after church on Sunday, and then Sunday dinner at home. I flew home on Monday afternoon.

I did get some knitting done while sitting around talking with relatives. More ballband dishcloths. I did gift some to my sisters, mom, step niece, cousin, etc., but I still have a healthy supply.

Mom showed me all the preemie caps she had knit recently. She knits them for several different charities, and sometimes does booties also. Most of these were knit with some acrylic boucle yarn I had gifted her. She’s pretty productive. During the weekend, at times, my mom, my sister and I were all knitting. Mom on a cap, my sister on furry scarfs for church craft sale and me on ball-band dishcloths.