Baby gifts

I mentioned in a recent post, that I had quite a few friends having babies soon.  I started just the other day on one of my all time favourite baby creations, the Hamish sandal. I've made this heaps of times now as a baby gift, and when it comes to quick baby gifts, it's my go to pattern.

Although it's called the Hamish sandal, after the little baby boy that I created the first one for over 4 years ago now, it's a great pattern because it works just as well for girls as for boys.  This time was for a little girl again, and following with tradition I went for a lovely pastel pink.  In fact it was the last of my elan organic merino yarn, but I can get at least two pairs out of one 50g ball, so we might manage another soon.

So, that's my first new baby project down.  I've also got a nearly finished little green cardigan for a baby who's flavour is as yet unknown, but with little green ladybird buttons I think it will suit a boy or girl.  Then it's onto a few more crochet baby shoes, and I also want to crochet a baby blanket for a special friends first baby.  I just need to decide on a pattern, my twinkle twinkle blanket or something else.......

Preemie singlet - free knitting pattern

This is a very simple pattern, that I drafted after getting a request for some premature singlets from New Zealand charity Earlybuds.  They do a great job of providing packs of essentials for parents with babies in NICU in New Zealand.  Please feel free to use this pattern for your own use, and if you want to knit some items for earlybuds if you're in New Zealand, or your local hospital's NICU.  It might be worth checking what they want or need first though.

Premature vest

The vest is designed to be knit in pure wool, as natural fibres are better for such small babies.  It is knit in the round, so there are no seams which may irritate, and is ribbed so that it will grow with the baby.  The shoulders have sleeves to give easy access to add wires and the like.  The vest will fit from around 34 weeks, but you could easily make larger or smaller by casting on more or less stitches.

What you need

8ply/dk yarn, (one 50g ball will do approx 2 vests)
4mm circular needles or dpns.

Free Preemie singlet knitting pattern

Cast on 68 sts on either dpns or circular knitting needlesusing your favourite casting on method, I prefer to use a nice stretchy cast on.
Join in the round
knit 2 purl 2 around, this will form 2x2 rib
Continue working 2x2 rib until work measures 17cm, (7inches) long
Next round: Cast off six stitches
Work with next four stitches ONLY, knit 18 rows, cast off these four stitches.
Reattach yarn, cast off 14 sts, work with next four stitches ONLY, knit 18 rows, cast off these four stitches.
Reattach yarn cast off 12 sts, work with next four stitches ONLY, knit 18 rows, next row k1 yo ktog kt1, knit one more row, cast off.
Reattach yarn co 14 sts, work with next four stitches ONLY, knit 18 rows, next row k1 yo ktog kt1, knit one more row, cast off.
Reattach yarn and cast off remaining 6 sts.
Weave in ends, add buttons to shoulders.

Favourite knitting patterns for babies

I have quite a few friends having babies at the moment, and I thought that it was time I dusted off the knitting needles, hunted out my favourite knitting patterns for babies and got to work.  Sometimes, just knowing what kind of thing you want to knit is half the battle, and it's always good to have a few ideas lined up.

My favourite knitting patterns for babies

When it comes to knitting for newborn babies, I don't think that you can go far wrong with a cardigan.  A simple little top that you can slip on, is always handy, cardigans, with buttons down the front, are far easier to get onto a tiny baby than a jumper that you slip over the head.  They are also ideal in both winter and summer, and always look cute.

I have a basic cardigan pattern, and the Anja knitting pattern to release in the coming months, but in the mean time, the Lena cardigan is a cute option, or the Snowdrop wrap cardigan is another handy pattern.

Baby hat knitting pattern

Some of my favourite knitting patterns for babies are those for hats, a little woolly hat is always a handy addition to a newborn's wardrobe, and they are usually simple and quick gifts to knit up.  One of the most simple is my simple baby hat. It's so simple that it's not really a pattern as such, but it is a good place to start, and works well as a blank canvas for adding your own embellishments.

For something with a little more to it, then I don't think that you can go very far wrong with my oscar knobbly cable hat  (picture above) or barley twist cable hat, both of which come with patterns for matching mittens.  Perfect gifts for baby showers or for a newborn.

Something a little different?

Want to knit something a little different as a gift?  If the baby in question is going to be in cloth then a soaker pattern might be something to consider.  We have a free one on this blog that is fairly easy to knit.

So there you have it, a quick round up of my favourite knitting patterns for babies.

Knitting needle sale

Just a quick one today, as I'm focusing more on the knitting pattern side of things with 3 bags full now, I'm going to be selling off my remaining bamboo knitting needles.  They are mostly circular needles, in various lengths and sizes, although I have a few other things as well.
If you're interested, check out the pinned post at the top of our facebook page, I can post worldwide.

New patterns........ soonish

Well, it seems that months go by without me posting anything here, and for a long time now I've been promising new patterns.  Part of the problem is that I'm just not getting very much knitting done.  I can't hold her entirely responsible, but as I usually knit and crochet in the evening, and my littlest girl isn't sleeping particular well at the minute, I'm not getting a great deal done.  She is very cute though.

Of course that's really just an excuse, and to be honest I'd lost my knitting mojo for a while there.  Not sure why, but some times these things just go awol for a bit.  Any way, I've got a couple of new things on the needles; a cardi for me (which, being for me, may never happen) and a premie vest for Early Buds.  I want to check that it's what they're looking for, but if all works out ok, I'll be releasing it as a free pattern.  It's a very simple knit in the round job, but when they asked for singlets with buttons at the shoulder (due to all the wires and the like that are attached to the babies) I couldn't find quite the right pattern, and certainly not one that was knit in the round.  (Which not only means that there is no sewing up to be done - yay, but it also means no bulky seams to irritate little babies.)  I hope to be able to tell you more soon.....

Big sale!

I've changed direction in recent years, those of you who noticed the name change might have picked up on that one.  These days I'm mostly doing hand dyed yarn, buttons and hopefully I'll have some new patterns to release soon....
This change does mean one thing though, I need to have a bit of a destash of my commercially dyed yarn, so if you fancy grabbing some, you might want to pop along to my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/3bagsfullnz now, and check it out.....

Competition time!

Just thought I'd mention that I've got a bit of a give away running at the moment, with over $200 (NZ) worth of prizes.  If you're interested you might like to checkout our facebook page  and the hive and keep an eye out for my naughty kitten, who's been spreading my yarn around across facebook.....