KnitterlyNotions

I made some sweet little crochet mitts tonight, and I said well, I might as well blog about them! :) Actually, this is how I made them. They are size newborn+, with a bit f wriggle room. :) Materials: Baby weight yarn. I used Bernat Baby Sport Ombre. You don't need much. Size F crochet hook. Scissors and tapestry needle. Notes: Chain 1 and chain 2 counts as first stitch in each round. Abbreviations used: HDC: half double crochet DC: double crochet CH: chain Sl ST: slip stitch ST: stitch REV SC: reverse single crochet, or crab stitch Directions: Chain 2. Join with sl st to form ring. Round 1: Ch. 1, work 11 hdc in ring. Join. (12 st.) Round 2: Ch. 1, hdc in same st as join. 2 hdc in each st around. Join. (24 st.) Round 3: Ch. 1, do not work in same st as join. Hdc in each st around. Join. (24 st.) Round 4-11: Ch. 1, work 1 hdc in each st around. Join. (24 sts.) Round 12: Ch. 2, dc in each st around. (24 st.) Round 13: Ch. 1, hdc around. ...

It came to my attention today just how many charities there are the offer comfort items for bereaved parents. I want to donate to them all, but that's going to take some time. So I decided that, for the time being, I would write a blog post with some links to organizations and to patterns. I've mentioned Giving Artfully many times before. This morning when I logged on, I saw that there are now 11 projects for items for bereaved parents. These is the search results leading to "for bereaved parents." Five were added in the last week. Most of these charities focus on making hats, gowns, and other items for the babies to be dressed in and for the parents to have as keepsakes. One of the charities focuses on comfort shawls. And a few of them are looking for memory boxes. Bev's Country Cottage has a page of bereavement gown patterns. I've made some of these. The link goes to that page. Care Wear has many patterns for burial gowns as well, both in the news...

As you all know, I am in the family way, and once the baby comes I shall be a sleep deprived zombie. What many don't know is you actually get a start on that state before Baby is born. Between it being ever harder to find a comfortable position, to hands and arms going numb due to pregnancy-related carpel tunnel syndrome, to (in my case) a cat that wakes you up 13 times in one night by stepping on your hair while trying to curl up around your head.... I'm a wee bit pooped. However, I am still knitting and crocheting. Tonight I started a baby washcloth to use up a small ball of cotton I have. I am calling it the Sleep-Deprived Baby Washcloth, since it is easy enough for even a sleep deprived mom to make. It is about 6 or 7 inches square, so large-ish baby, or come to think of it, probably the perfect size for a child who is starting to bathe himself. Here is the pattern: Small ball of 100% cotton, worsted weight yarn. (I used leftovers of one of those skeins of ...