Six Camo Preemie Hats

Not everyone feels comfortable with the idea of camo preemie hats, but the NICU nurses who write to thank me for my donations always specifically mention these hats, telling me they're popular with military families.  In particular, the fathers with preemie boys prefer them to pastel hats.  Because of that I always make sure to include a few.

And These Make Thirty!

I posted that I'd knit 30 preemie hats for my goal of 100 preemie hats this summer, but I'd only posted photos of 24.  Here is the photo of the last six I knit.

Distracted for a Bit and Now Back on Track!

In the last few weeks I've been working more than usual, took a much needed vacation at the Oregon Coast with my husband, and finished two sweaters for my almost two-year old granddaughter,Violet. Her cousin, five-month old Isabella, is also going to need more sweaters this winter. Violet is going to have a sibling in March so that means I'll get to knit even more sweet little newborn hats, sweaters, and mittens.

Here are photos of Violet's two sweaters.   Details can be found on my Ravelry account where I'm MoniqueL.

I'm on preemie hat #31 which means I have a ways to go to get to my 100 hat total.  I've given myself a break, however.  Fall term at the  university where I work doesn't start until September 29th  so I'm declaring it summer until that date.  The Maine Mitten Project, however, wants their donations for this year by September 26th so I'll have to mail them earlier that week.  I need to print out and attach tags to each one and I still have two hats and one pair of mittens on the needles and they'll need  to be finished and tagged too.

Oh, and I almost forgot!  I've figured out how to use all the tiny little scraps of yarn I've been collecting. Finger puppets! I've knit quite a few of them but haven't sewn them together or embroidered faces on them yet.  I've found several websites with free patterns (people, bunnies, bears, kitties, monsters are a few) and I'll post links to those soon along with photos.  So, what are these for?  Phlebotomists in children's hospitals give them to children for finger pricks and blood collection.  Awesome!

Teal Mittens with Orange Stripes

Gray Mittens with Red Stripes

A pair of mittens out of wool for The Maine Mitten Project

Infant Mitts III

More infant mitts knit from leftover sock yarns.   This is a good pattern to use very small amounts of yarn although I have too much of it I'll probably need to figure out how to use several balls in one item.   Perhaps mittens with stripes  for a small child?   I'll take a look at project pages in Ravelry for different mitten patterns for other ideas of variations and color combinations.

Another Twelve Preemie Hats

Mistletoe Mittens

These mittens are made of left-over sock yarn.

Twelve Preemie Hats Done

 Here are the first twelve preemie hats done. It takes me one to two hours to complete each one.

Peppermint Stick Hat

Variegated Teal Mittens

I used the very last of my Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted yarn in the Tormented Teal colorway for these mittens.  I'd earlier made a hat of this yarn for the Mitten Project as well.

Turquoise Mittens

I've knit a number of hats for The Maine Mitten Project and I'll continue doing that but I want to send mittens too.   Here's one pair.

Preemie Hats for Doernbecher Children's Hospital

Making all of those little preemie hats for Albany General Hospital has started me making them again. The ones I'm knitting now will go to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland.  I'm going to make some relatively simple, one-color ones, but as I begin to run out of yarn I'll start making some which are stranded  or striped or which use simple fair-isle bands.

Red and White Mittens

I love the classic combination of red and white, especially for mittens, but I'm starting to run out of red yarn so this may be one of the last projects with that color.   This mitten pattern is based on Mushroom Mittens (pattern information here).  I added a few random stripes to  make it more interesting.

Baby Mittens

A few years ago I knit these mittens out of sock yarn and donated them to an auction for a Food Drive sponsored by the university library where I work.  Mary, the acquisitions editor for the university press, bought them because she loved them and kept them on her desk to admire.   Not long ago an author she was working saw them and commented on how much she loved them.  It turns out she was having a baby and so Mary gave them to her.  The author lives in Colorado so they will fit her baby just about when the snow begins to fall.   Mary believes she was meant to hold on to those mittens until they found the perfect home.  I think so too.

Preemie Hats XI

The last of the preemie hats.  I'll be mailing all of them later this week.

Preemie Hats X

Wild Mushroom Cap

Inspired by some hats in the project section for the Mushroom Cap, I knit this hat and what better name for it than Wild Mushroom?  This is another good way to use up scraps and I'll certainly knit it again perhaps using DK wool for a baby hat.

Preemie Hats IX

Preemie Hats VIII