Red Heart will be fine, IF it's really soft. Remember, these are premies and their sensory intake is already on overload. If you can rub it on your face and it feels the least bit rough or scratchy, leave it be. And the hospitals prefer machine washable synthetics, just to avoid any allergy issues that wool, etc. might have. The commercial yarns I have found to be the softest are TLC, Caron SuperSoft, and just about anything labels "baby"; but watch out for the ones that have that little ply of shiny stuff, sometimes that single ply can be a little stiff. I still have a pretty good supply of baby yarn to give away, so leave me a comment (with an email address!) and we'll get fixed up.
My standard premie hat recipe? I use dpns but you could probably use circs or a loom, cast on about 40 stitches, then work k2p2 ribbing for awhile, change to stockinette for about 5 inches, then decrease down to about 10 and tie off. But, you could do stripes, ribbing all the way to the top, intarsia, lace patterns, etc.
I've made 20 hats so far, and no two are exactly alike. Just no roll brims (they don't stay on very well) and no pompoms (too much fuzz factor); other than that, let your designing creativity come out! I've used this opportunity to try stitches on a small scale that I wouldn't do on a larger project. Want a real challenge for a premie hat pattern? Try this one. If you really want patterns, then Bev's Country Cottage has a whole page full here.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteSorry, I forgot I wasn't signed in! I think the red heart is OK (I tried the face test) But I'd like to have at least a few other colors to break the monotony. Here's my e-mail-- let me know where I can pick up more yarn.
anasophia at bigfoot.com.
What wonderful work you've done for so many small ones. Where I come from, that's called "tikkunknitting". Congratulations!
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