Preemie Beanies

I've never knit a hat this small before! It would fit a doll ... but in this case, a very live one. A co-worker of my husband's became a grandma this week to a 3lb. 11 oz. little girl named 'Emma'. She was several weeks premature and her lungs haven't fully developed yet, so she's going to be in hospital for a little while yet. Thankfully, a knitting pal of mine had just given me a pattern for a "Preemie Beanie", which she found in her March 2007 issue of Creative Knitting Magazine, so I got right down to it. It came in three sizes: 27-31 weeks, 31-34 weeks and 34-36 weeks. I made one each of the first 2 sizes and will follow up with the third at a later date. Below is the smallest size -- it literally fit in the palm of my hand!

Here, you'll see it sitting on top of a bottle of Weldbond glue ...

And below, on top of the self healing mat grid on my work table, so you can see the actual scale ... less than 4" x 4"!
As Emma grows, she'll need another hat, so on the left side below is the medium size, joining the smaller on the right.

The one on the left used up about a 1/3 ball remnant I had in my stash of Cascade Fixation, and the one on the right used slightly less than that of the Elann Espirit (also from my stash). When Emma's ready for the largest size, I'll have enough of the remaining Espirit to knit a pair of socks to go along with another larger beanie.

Elann Esprit Baby Hat(s)

The pattern for this hat was provided free, by my LYS, and actually calls for Cascade Fixation Yarn, but the Elann Espirit works equally well, and I actually prefer their interesting colour ways.

This is the hat that I started in the waiting room last week, while waiting for my m-i-l to have her eyes assessed. It was completed yesterday, while I again waited with her ... however, this time it was in the Emergency ward at the hospital, where she was brought by ambulance, after falling and breaking her right hip on the weekend. Apparently it happened on Friday night, but she forbade her husband to call an ambulance, or let us know! She spent 2 days in bed (in what must have been horrendous pain) before finally giving in and letting the paramedics take her to emerg. She must have an amazing pain tolerance level.

Here is the second hat, also started yesterday, and almost ready for the crown decreases. Thank goodness I had my knitting with me, or I would have gone 'stir crazy'! We were in Emerg for almost 8 hours, before she was taken into surgery. My hubby bbq'd steak for dinner (bless him!) and I was in bed shortly thereafter. Called the hospital this a.m. and they said she had a good night. My hubby and his dad are up visiting as I write. I'm still in my housecoat, dragging my behind. I bumped into my cardiologist in emerg ... he looked a bit panicked to see me in there (for the 4th time this year!) but he soon realized that I wasn't the one lying in the bed!

Started the Bristow pattern from Knitty, in my all time favorite yarn ... anything 'cashmerino' from Debbie Bliss ... in this 'yummy' rich red. The back is finished ... I won't bore you with that picture as it was all stocking stitch, but I must say, the shaping at the waist is lovely (particularly nice for we 'curvy' gals). I've just started on the left front and am enjoying the cable pattern. I tried to do both the fronts at once, but confused myself with reversing the pattern (those darn meds!) so will do one at a time. BTW, L-O-V-E my Denise knitting needles. I'd be loathe to go back to straight needles and sore wrists ... these are wonderful ... I can knit pain-free for hours!

Seed Stitch Baby Hoodie

Well, I had a really big 'mad' at the blog last night! I spent over an hour working on it ... I had carefully selected a variety of photos, and written a lengthy, eloquent entry, and then hit 'publish'. Goodness only knows where it ended up, because it was never more to be seen! G-R-R-R!!! In future, I will save it as a draft before I hit publish ... hopefully that will elimate any future issues.
Knit this little cutie from the Vogue Knitting for Babies tiny book, using Debbie Bliss Denim Aran yarn (from my stash). It took almost 9 balls, surprisingly, but there really isn't much yardage on those balls ... 65m. The rolled edge is knitted on after all the sewing is done, with a smaller needle. The only change I made to the pattern was to make I-cord loops for the closure, instead of the called for I-cord bow ties. Now I need to hunt up some fabulous toggle buttons, and this will be done like dinner! I made the 12 month size, which is usually the smallest that I go (unless it's a very washable yarn) as babies are usually past the spit up stage by that point, and therefore the required frequency of washing usually diminishes. Although it looks as though there is a lighter band in the middle, it's only because of my poor photography skills.

I spent the majority of the day yesterday, in the waiting room at the eye specialist's with my mother-in-law, who suffers from macular degeneration. I don't do the idle/waiting thing very well, so ensured that I had lots to keep me occupied, including a good book, and a baby hat on my Addi circulars. I used to use only Cascade Fixation Yarn for these projects, but now have found that Elann also carries a similar product called Espirit. I'm really not one for variagated yarn, but they do have some fabulous earthy colourways. It's also terrific for little baby socks ... colourful, plus, because of the elasticity, they stay up/on! Photo to follow ...