How can i knit a hat for “preemie” babies?
Does anyone know of a Free pattern on how to knit hats for preemie babies? I was thinking of doing community service and knit little hats for babies because my Mother works at a hospital.
Also; Does anyone know of a Free pattern on how to knit a hat for teenagers?
Thanks a bunch!
Knitting a basic hat is fairly easy. You will need to know how to work ribbing, which is a pattern of knitting and purling. Generally, it’s knit one, purl one, or knit two, purl two, or any pattern of like numbers of knit and purl stitches. When knitting a hat for a baby or child, it’s best to use cotton or acrylic yarn, rather than wool. Many people (including babies) are quite sensitive to wool. Acrylic is very easy to care for, and take color beautifully.
You can either knit back and forth on straight needles, or use a circular needle, or use a set of double pointed needles, or use a knitting loom. It’s probably easiest to use a loom of the appropriate size, next easiest is straight needles, then a circular needle, then double pointed needles.
For using straight needles (which is what most people think of when they hear “knitting needles”), first, make a test swatch to see what your gauge is. Gauge is how many stitches there are per square inch, you need to knit about four inches each way. EVERY PERSON’S GAUGE IS DIFFERENT, and you will have a different gauge with different yarns, sometimes even the same brand of yarn will have a different gauge in different colors. Then you figure out how wide the typical preemie’s head is. I don’t know this offhand. Knit, in a ribbed pattern, until the hat is long enough. Then bind off, sew up the side seam, and gather the top. Put a pompom on the top, if you like.
Here is a pattern that is a bit more formal than mine: http://www.craftbits.com/project/beanie-kids-quick-cute
There’s a very easy way to make baby blankets, too. Cast on four, turn, knit two, increase by knitting in front and back of stitch, knit to end, turn. Keep repeating this until the blanket’s sides are as large as you want it, then to decrease, knit two at the start of each row, knit two together, knit to the end, turn. Continue this until the blanket looks square, you will usually have about 8 stitches left, and then bind off. This will make a blanket that has the knitted rows going diagonally, so that it won’t curl, and it also has a very nice little border pattern where the increases and decreases are. If desired, you can crochet a border, but it’s not necessary. I like this pattern because you only have to count stitches for the first two stitches and then you increase or decrease depending on where you are in the pattern. I usually make this blanket in an ombre yarn, as I like the looks of the stripes. If you get that “Baby Pastels” or some other pastel colorway, it will look very nice.
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