Lickety Split Crocheted Newborn Hats

Here's a super fast and fun crochet project for charity. I've made ten of these little hats in the last few days. This pic if of the first two.

Materials:
Worsted weight yarn, less than 1 oz.
Size H crochet hook

Gauge:
3 dc stitches per inch
2 rows of double crochet per inch
(However, gauge really isn’t terribly important for this project, as babies come in all sizes and grow very quickly.)

Ch 4, join with slip stitch to first ch to form a ring.
Row 1: Ch 3 (counts as first dc throughout), dc 11 in the ring, ss in top of beginning ch 3.
Row 2: Ch 3, dc in same st, 2 dc in each st around, ss in top of beginning ch 3.
Row 3: Ch 3, dc in next st, 2 dc in next st, *dc in next 2 sts, 2dc in next st; repeat from * to end of round, ss in top of beginning ch 3.
Rows 4–9: Ch 3, dc in next st and in each st around.
Fasten off and weave in ends.

© 2008. Please don't sell these instructions or post them on the Internet. You may link to this blog post.

Next I plan to work up a version of this hat that uses baby yarn. Stay tuned!

EDIT 1/30/2010: Here's a version that will give you a slightly larger hat, better suited to a typical-size newborn (the original is more of a preemie size):

Ch 4, join with slip stitch to first ch to form a ring.

Row 1: Ch 3 (counts as first dc throughout), dc 11 in the ring, ss in top of beginning ch 3.

Row 2: Ch 3, dc in same st, 2 dc in each st around, ss in top of beginning ch 3. 

Row 3: Ch 3, dc in next st, 2 dc in next st, *dc in next 2 sts, 2dc in next st; repeat from * to end of round, ss in top of beginning ch 3. 

Row 4: Ch 3, dc in next 2 st, 2 dc in next st, *dc in next 3 sts, 2dc in next st; repeat from * to end of round, ss in top of beginning ch 3. 

Rows 5–10: Ch 3, dc in next st and in each st around. Fasten off and weave in ends.

(To make the hat fit an even larger range of sizes, you can add more rows before fastening off. Any excess length can be folded up as needed.)

© 2010. Please don't sell these instructions or post them on the Internet. You may link to this blog post.

Here is a comparison picture. The new larger version is on the left.

Lickety Split Loom-Knit Newborn Hats

I've been doing some charity crafting again lately, and I thought I'd share my patterns for what I've been making. This almost doesn't qualify as a pattern it's so simple, but I do have a very specific way I like to make these little rolled-brim hats, so perhaps someone else would like to make them this way too. Enjoy!



Materials:
Small amount of worsted weight yarn
Small amount of sport weight or fingering weight yarn
24 peg Knifty Knitter round loom, or similar large gauge loom

This hat is worked using one strand of worsted weight and one strand of sport or fingering weight yarn held together.

Cast on using the crochet cast-on method (this creates a firm but stretchy edge that isn’t too loopy). I also really like the double e-wrap cast on for these hats.

E-wrap and knit off 19 rows.

To decrease for the top, move the loop on every other peg to the peg to the left. You should now have 12 pegs containing 2 loops alternating with 12 empty pegs.

E-wrap only the 12 pegs containing loops. Knit off (knit 2 over 1 so you end up with 1 loop on each of the 12 pegs).

Gather off and weave in loose ends.

© 2008. Please don't sell these instructions or post them on the Internet. You may link to this blog post.

Up next: crocheted newborn hats!

Forward Motion!

I finished the black merino mittens! Unfortunately, I forgot to snap a picture of them before I gave them to my mom to give to her friend. Ah, well. Not much to see anyway. Just plain vanilla black mittens. That's one WIP checked off my list!

Here's what I'm currently working on:


A Baby Surprise Jacket (from EZ's Knitting Workshop). I'm just trying out the pattern, so I'm using some baby acrylic I have on hand for charity stuff. It'll probably go to the local hospital if it turns out cute. (So far so good.) I'm loving this pattern. It's really easy, and it's intriguing trying to figure out how the shaping will get you to a sweater in the end. EZ is just the most brilliant, clever knitter ever!


Crochet sampler baby afghan for friends who are expecting their second child. I have 4 squares to go, and then I have to decide on an edging.

On deck:

Refined Raglan from the Winter '06 IK. I think I'm going to try it in some Pistacchio Cotton Ease I have lying around(for me!)

A scarf for me from 100Purewool (stitch pattern yet to be decided)

Stocking cap and gaiter for DH for Christmas (probably EZ's Watch Cap, with the gaiter in the same stitch)

Play food and market bag for DS and niece and nephew for Christmas

I better get busy!

Red Scarf 2008

For the Red Scarf Project 2008.

Pattern: mistake rib over 35 stitches
Needles: US size 9
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft, autumn red (they wanted soft and washable, so there you go!)
Finished size: 5" x 60" (Actually, it's more like 59" long, since I developed a tangle--darn slippery yarn wouldn't stay skeined--and had to cut my working yarn. I measured, found that I was only an inch short of the requirement, and decided they probably wouldn't quibble over an inch. *grin*)

I do love the mistake rib. I think I need to make one of these for myself this fall. I have some 100Purewool merino coming. Wonder what that would look like in mistake rib . . .

My Sweater Dilemma, and Other Knitting Tidbits

Several months ago I bought eight skeins of Cotton Ease in the pistachio colorway, thinking I'd make myself a sweater out of it this fall. (I found an insanely good deal on this yarn online--pistachio normally isn't my thing.) I've been searching for appealing sweater patterns, and I keep coming back to the Dollar and a Half Cardigan in the Spring 2007 IK. I really, really like it. But I also really, really like how it looks in the dark brown (I think grey, navy, or any other dark color would be nice too). So would this sweater look totally wrong in pistachio (light pastelly green) cotton yarn?

I also like the look of the Green Tea Raglan from that same issue, but the thought of all that seed stitch doesn't really turn me on. I have some other yarn that I'm planning to use for an EZ raglan or yoke sweater, so I don't want to knit one of those with this pistachio yarn. Any other ideas?

I have been knitting (and crocheting) quite a bit recently, but I don't seem to be making much progress. Well, at least I'm not cranking out too many FOs. Here's what I've been working on:


plain vanilla mittens in black merino


lamb softie for my little T man (I plan to add facial features and a ribbon bow), acrylic scraps


mistake rib scarf for the Red Scarf Project, Caron Simply Soft autumn red

I'm still plugging along on my denim stripe socks (working on them quite infrequently, a few rows here and a few rows there)

I recently made some crocheted play food and sent it to a mama I know on Diaper Sewing Divas as a little surprise for her little guys. My pics are awful, so I won't bore you with them, but I made the food from the Dandelion Dreamers patterns. Very, very fun! I plan to make T and the like-aged nieces and nephews sets for Christmas. I hope to have some better pics to share once I finish the Christmas gifts.

Hey, Look! I Finished Something!

Pattern: Susan B's Easy Ripple Afghan
Yarn: random scraps of ack-crylic
Hook: US size I
Finished size: 36" square

This is a large "snuggle" (blanket for a homeless animal) for the Snuggles Project. I plan to drop it off at a local no-kill animal rescue organization.

Aaaah . . . it feels good to actually finish something.

Little Angel

I just finished my first project for PAKM. It's a wee burial wrap. I've heard that some people find it too difficult to make burial items for preemies, but for whatever reason, this is something I can do. I did get to me a little when I saw just how tiny the finished wrap is (see the bottom picture with my hand for scale). Once it's folded up it's about eight inches from top to bottom. I can't imagine a baby that tiny.

It's my first attempt, and it's far from perfect, but I hope it will be a blessing to someone who needs it.







Pattern: combo of knit and crochet angel wraps by Aunt B
Yarn: baby acrylic (sport weight) from my charity stash
Needles: US size 8 and crochet hook size G
Mods: knit the wrap and crocheted the head and wings

Ripple Mania

UPDATE: Photo of actual progress as of 5-19-07 (color is more accurate in the photo below)



I've officially jumped on the crochet bandwagon. I'm a joiner, what can I say? (There is some absolutely gorgeous crochet going on out there! Have you seen this and this and this?) Actually, I'm more experienced with crochet than with knitting, so it's kind of fun to get back into it (though I am most certainly a knitting addict now and would definitely call myself a knitter rather than a crocheter).

A while ago, someone gave me a stash of rather hideous acrylic to use for my charity crafting. I've decided to make it into a ripple blanket and donate it to The Snuggles Project. It will be 36" square when it's done--just right for the largest size snuggle (large doggy size, I think). I'm having fun with it, even if the colors are a little funky and some of the yarn is downright gross (man, acrylic was even worse a few decades than it is now--scratchy and plasticky and probably radioactive LOL).

It's gotten quite a bit bigger since I took this picture, but I'm too lazy right now to take a new one. Soon . . .

A Group FO

The wool stitch sampler afghan I assembled for my favorite online charity knitting group is washed, blocked, and almost dry. I'm so happy with how it turned out. It should be ready to ship to Afghans for Afghans for their Mother's Day campaign by Monday. (Pardon the messy floor of my craft room.)



And another pic, just because I like the angle on this shot:



More details can be found here.

A Group WIP

I've been working on assembling a wool baby afghan for an online charity group I belong to. Each month the group focuses on a different charity or project. Our March project was afghan squares for various charities (Warm Up America, Project Linus, and Afghans for Afghans). I volunteered to assemble a blanket for Afghans for Afghans, and members from all over the U.S. and Canada knitted 9x9 squares and sent them to me.

I was planning on just mattress stitching the squares together, but I received such a wide variety of sizes, that I ended up needing to add a crochet border to equalize things a bit. I crocheted just one row of single crochet around the largest squares and up to four around the smallest squares. Actually, I'm really liking how the crochet borders look. Having borders of the same color on each square will help tie the squares together and give a nice consistent look. Now I just need to wait for the last two squares to arrive, attach the squares together, and add a border around the whole blanket. This should be ready to ship off to Afghans for Afghans just in time to be included in their Mother's Day Campaign shipment. I didn't know about their new campaign when we started this blanket, but it works out perfectly! I just love these kinds of projects. Call me sentimental, but it makes me so happy to think of all the different hands that put love into this blanket that will warm a baby half a world away.

Girl Power!

This little blankie will be donated to my local hospital. I hope it will make some little girl happy. It was so quick to make! I started it Friday afternoon and finished it late last night. It just needs a quick wash and bit of blocking. Gotta love crochet!--especially with worsted weight yarn and a large hook (size I). I may have to make this little blankie a companion to accompany it to the hospital. I really like the idea of graduated shades of the same color, and I'd like to see how it looks with a slightly different pattern and a different color.

UPDATE 3/16/07:

I've had so many people ask me what pattern I used for this little blanket that I decided I'd better post the information here. Thanks, everyone, for the compliments! I never expected such attention for this humble blankie.

It's from the Leisure Arts booklet "Blankets and Buddies" (LA2610). I bought that leaflet years ago, so I don't know if it's widely available anymore. If you can't find it in your local craft store, try here. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure it's in "Our Best Baby Afghans," which is still available (it's on amazon.com). The blanket appears on the cover. I changed the color sequences quite a bit for my blanket, but the original color arrangement is cute too.