Latest donations - bracelet sets, kimonos and hats

 One of my most darling angel mamas ever, Kassie, has set about making dozens of these sets in the month since her angel was born, a way to heal her heart.  To say that I was in awe is an understatement!  She and her sister totally outdid themselves!

 Here are the four sizes, largest to smallest, the smallest being for 18-20 weekers with heads about the size of a small plum.  The largest are about the size of a grapefruit.  The elastic they're set on is very stretchy and soft.  I had a large spool donated a couple years ago and we're still chipping away at it.  She hand made each of the flowers on the headbands, and no two are alike.  I love them!!  So creative, so feminine.  She also made two bracelets for the babies, so that one can be buried and one can be kept.  A very thoughtful idea.  The angels are handmade charms from variations of wing beads and other beads.

 Each set comes with a tag telling the recipient that they are made in Chloe's memory.  I have a few of my diaper and kimono making volunteers that have been adding these tags and I think they're a fantastic idea.  It makes the gift so much more personal.

 She also made me several sets of boy ribbon and bracelets, each different.  I use the ribbons to set in the baby boy's hand, with the mom's arm nearby so that you can see the matching charms.  Then the family has the option to either keep the ribbon or else bury it with their baby.

 Another amazing volunteer, Dakoti,  brought me a HUGE sack full of knitted treasures.  Kimonos, diaper shirts, hats and headbands.  The kimono on the left is following the original pattern, which we have deamed to be too wide for these skinny little babes.  She narrowed it a bit for the two on the right, and they're just right.  Stacy has made similar adjustments in her crocheted ones.  These just need buttons and then they are good to go!  After evaluating both kimonos and diaper shirt sets, we've decided to focus more on kimonos with a separate diaper because they are so much more flexible in sizing.  The diaper shirts only fit a specific torso length, and are therefore harder to match to an appropriately sized baby.

 Most of these were made by Dakoti, but I added a couple small ones that were made by someone else.  The small ones are appropriate for 18-22 weekers because they are very stretchy.  Knit hats tend to flex far more than crocheted ones.  The largest solid blue hat with a tail is crocheted, the other two are knit and can flex to nearly double, making them accommodating for a wide range of head sizes.  The little girl headband and hat on the bottom are darling as well.  Christine just alerted me to a a different type of knitting loom that accommodates thin sock yarn, has lots of closely spaced pegs, and is adjustable.  It looks like it has the potential to be super duper awesome for stretchy hats with the advantage that it's easy enough to use to teach kids how to do it!

 Stacy's been busy as usual, and this is a new pattern she tried for a pouch.  I use pouches rarely, but there are some babies that are truly too fragile to dress, and that's when these come in handy.  I like that it opens all the way up with the button flap.  We determined that it's a little on the wide side at roughly 3 1/4" x 6".

 These are just a few of the outfits Stacy sent me.  The tiniest one on the end is suitable for 16-18 weeks gestation.  Suuuuper tiny, but oh so treasured by those families.  The next size is 20 weeker, the cute dress with adjustable headband would go for 22-24 weeks, as well as the dark blue set with blanket.  Stacy's amazing.  She's been making so many sets, and also putting a lot of effort in to figuring out patterns.

I have started a Facebook group where ideas can be exchanged more readily.  Please join us!  Send a request to join and we'll approve you ASAP.  The group is set to "closed" so that we can post information about meeting locations, but we welcome any and all who want to participate.

Knit Hat Patterns (and a BIG link to other great stuff)

My sister makes me the best hats for my angels.  Darling, soft, perfectly knitted, and STRETCHY.  Stretchy is the key, folks.  It's super important when trying to get these on to fragile heads to have some give.  I've received a few crochet hats that are reasonably so, but I have found that hands down, the knit ones stretch the best.  Amy shared her patterns with me.  I'm not a knitter, so they're meaningless gibberish to me, but hopefully some of you smart knitty type people will understand it.

Small Hat With Basket Weave
(5.5 inches in diameter)
Fingering weight yarn, #2 or #3 needles.
Cast on 48 stitches.  K1 P1 first row.  Repeat 7 rows.  K2 P2 one row, repeat on second row.  P2 K2 one row, repeat on second row. Repeat this pattern 2 more times.  K2tog, P2, repeat to the end of the row. K1 P2 one row.  P1, K2tog, repeat to end of the row.  P1 K1 one row. K1 P1 two rows. K2tog, P2tog one row.  Bind off.

This pattern can be made larger by adding on stiches in multiples of 4, and making extra rows before decreasing.
Medium Small Hat
(6.5 inches in diameter)
Fingering weight yarn, #2 or #3 needles.
Cast on 56 stitches.  K1 P1 first row.  Repeat 7 rows.  Knit with stockingette stitch for an aditional 1 and 1/4 inches.  Begin decrease.  K6, K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  Knit one plain round.  K5, K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  Knit one plain round.  K4, K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  Knit one plain round.  K3, K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  K2, K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  K1, K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  Bind off.

Medium Hat
(7. inches in diameter)
Fingering weight yarn, #2 or #3 needles.
Cast on 64 stitches.  K1P1 first row.  Repeat 8 rows. Knit with stockingette stitch for an aditional 1 and 3/4 inches.  Begin decrease.  K6, K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  Knit one plain round.  K5, K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  Knit one plain round.  K4, K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  Knit one plain round.  K3, K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  Knit one plain round. K2, K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  K1, K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  K2tog, repeat for the rest of the row.  Bind off.

~~~

I was forwarded a GREAT LINK today to a newsletter from Care Wear that is chock full of fantastic knit and crochet patterns for hats, booties, buntings, gowns, bonnets, and blankets.  Go take a look!

Latest Arrivals

 I have had many good intentions of photographing every donation this year and posting the photos.  Instead I have done 46 angel photosessions so far this year in addition to 30 other sessions (regular client sessions and around a dozen rainbow baby sessions), on top of daily life and the demands of my real job as a nurse.   I have had to just be content with keeping the donation room in some semblance of order.  I am SO GRATEFUL for all of the wonderful people that have taken this project and just run with it!  There is literally no way I could manage all of this without the amazing army of helpers behind me.  The families that receive these lovingly handmade items treasure them so much.

These outfits were designed by a local woman who makes doll clothing.  The boy's pants have velcro on the insides to make them completely open for ease of dressing.  The dress opens completely down the back.  I love the tiny booties and hat that match the blanket.  These are appropriate for about a 20 week gestation baby.

 These were also donated, along with several other similar sets in different colors.  The kimono pattern was shortened into a shirt with an accompanying diaper and 10" square blanket.  The shirt can either be closed by tying a ribbon belt all the way around, or with velcro attachments on the inside of the flap.  This set is also appropriate for about a 20 week gestation baby.

 A friend of mine modified the original kimono pattern that SHARE had posted.  The small size pattern had too wide and deep of a neck opening.  This new and improved version is much better!  I did find that using this microfleece and rolling very tiny seams, it came out a little wider than anticipated.  I plan on sewing a little bit wider side seams next time.  Chris has also posted a simple flannel bunting pattern that doesn't have a hood.  I really like it.  I find that often, the hood is bulky and gets in the way a bit - I prefer to just use a hat.

 The two larger size gowns are the large baby pattern posted on my main Angel Babies page under the "Patterns" tab.  The small size boy gown is the 1-3 pound size.  The pink kimono is the new pattern posted above.  This is just to give you a bit of a size comparison.  The two larger gowns were sewn by an 11 year old as a church service project.  I love hearing who made all of the items donated, and I love to be able to pass that on to the families I serve!

 This gorgeous knit dress was knit by Chris from Sew Much to Share.  She has promised a pattern some time in the near future.

 These items came from a church women's group in Utah County.  The boy outfits open down the back nearly to where the legs come together, and the pink gown opens entirely down the back.  I do not have patterns for these, but I would love one, so if you see a pattern, please contact me so I can post a link.

Last but not least, gorgeously crocheted gowns from one of my very favorite angel grandmas.  I have requested a pattern link from her as well.

In the meantime, visit Stacy's crocheting blog for some new and updated patterns on her diaper shirt design.

Pattern links: Diaper Shirts, Hats, Headbands and Blankets

I met a couple of ladies from Idaho through the internet that are very talented with a ball of yarn and a crochet hook, and they have been an amazing resource for me.  I finally got to meet one of them last week as she was passing through and brought me a huge stack of outfits that the two of them had been working on.  She has very kindly typed up her patterns, along with photo tutorials, for diaper shirts, hats and blankets.  Click on the links below to see her posts:

Diaper Shirts

Hat

Blanket

Adjustable Headband

New crochet pattern links

 Some new cute stuff arrived today, and I love the uniqueness!  The yellow and pink ruffley style hats on the top have a ribbon to cinch it down, allowing adjustability and greater ease in putting the hat on. The small blue stripe hat was actually made with elastic yarn, which makes it nicely stretchy.  The tiny little hat with pigtails is the size for a 16 weeker...very, very tiny.  I have indeed photographed a couple of babies that small.  My only comment on that pattern is that babies of that size are particularly fragile and difficult to put the hats on, so stretchiness is even more important.  The headband on the top row has a unique stitch to the band portion that makes it very stretchy, and once my friend Wendy gets the instructions written up, I will post them.  The fuzzy all white hat on the right was made on a round loom.  A lot of loomed hats don't work very well because they're gappy and not stretchy, but with the right kind of yarn and careful technique (like the one shown), a very cute and useable hat can be turned out.

The remaining four hats came from patterns found on this page.  Thank you, Wendy, for finding this great resource!  So many great patterns in one place, and many of them with multiple sizes for babies of different gestation.

 I fell in love with this little owl hat!  So unique, and so cute!  Click here to find the pattern.

 This hat is super cute as well, though according to Wendy, far more time consuming than the other patterns.  I love the stripe and curly boinger thingy details.  Click here for the pattern.

And this hat?  Adorable!!!  I can't wait to use it along with a little crocheted sleeper sack.  Absolutely precious!  Click here for the link.

Other patterns on the page that look particularly useful include these cute little shell pattern hats, this layette set, and this "Fly Boy" hat.  I have photographed three little angels with a condition called anencephaly, in which the brain and the upper portion of the skull do not develop.  A hat that ties around the chin is really important for these babies.  For the girl that I photographed, we were able to rig up a bonnet with ties that held it in place nicely, but for the two little boys...well, it was a problem.  So I would love to have a few of the Fly Boy hats in my stash in various sizes.

"Diaper Shirt" outfits

 A lovely woman in Idaho contacted me a couple of months ago about donating some outfits, and she came up with some really darling and innovative things.  I had the best of intentions of taking photos of all of them to post, but needed to use some right away for angels.  I at least managed to save these three.  The original pattern for these "Diaper Shirts" can be found here.  This one is well proportioned for about a 20 week baby.

 Wanita says that this particular one used the full number of stitches as the original pattern, just with small yarn and an E sized hook.  She changed colors on rows 4, 5 and 7.

 This tiny little one is appropriate for about a 17-18 weeker.  It has been proportionally shrunk down from the original pattern.  She used yarn ties on this rather than ribbon.

 This one is the basic diaper shirt pattern modified to open more in the middle (and on the backside rather than the front), as well as to add a skirt.  The skirt pattern was modified from this dress pattern.

 Back side, with ties to keep it closed.

All opened up.  This size is pretty small, most likely to fit an 18-20 week baby.

If you'd like more details about any of these, send me an email and I can forward Wanita's notes to you.

Sizing Guidelines

I often get asked about sizing for especially the little bitty micropreemies.  It is hard to imagine how small these wee little angels are until you've held one.  I found this sizing chart, which should help those of you that are crocheting sleeper sacks and dresses, to make sure that you're getting proportions right.

Click here to link to the chart.

Darling Little Diapers

 I had several sets of the absolutely darling little diapers donated a couple of weeks ago.  I have already used them at two photosessions.  These fill a very important gap in bereavement supplies.  Our Elizabeth was just under 3 pounds, and the smallest preemie diaper the hospital had fit her perfectly.  It's about the size of a maxi pad (sorry - best visual I could come up with :)!)  But what about all these teeny little peanuts that are born between 18-28 weeks that are anywhere from half a pound up to 1 1/2 pounds?  Most of the time, there simply isn't anything to cover their bums.  I have seen nurses fashion a "diaper" out of a piece of gauze, or even cutting up a regular diaper into a small one and trimming down the tabs.  None of those options are ideal.  That's why I got super excited when I first laid eyes on these.

Here they are on a cutting mat so that you can see the sizes.  Each square is one inch.  These were made by a woman near me as part of a service project to honor her own angel.  She made sets of two of each pattern so that the family will have one as a keepsake if they wish to bury their baby with the other one.  It's a very thoughtful gift.  I love these colorful patterned ones, but could also use lots of plain white ones.  Most of the clothing I have is white, and wild patterns show through.

You can click here to download the pattern.

Crochet pattern for gowns

I have a few people crocheting me example gowns from this pattern and similar ones, and I will post photos once I get my hands on them.  Two modifications I request if you use this pattern are to make the opening in the back go either all the way down, or at least a 6" slit for ease of dressing, and either tighten up the stitch pattern on the skirt so that there aren't so many large holes or hand stitch a simple fabric liner inside the skirt.

(I also wouldn't recommend ironing on a poodle patch...random.  But the iron mark gave me a good laugh.)

Here's the link to the pattern!

Guidelines for hats and headbands

I often get asked about hats and headbands.  They're an awesome gift for bereaved families, and also serve a very valuable purpose of covering bruising and providing support to fragile heads.  I did a photosession recently for a family that doesn't speak English as their primary language.  The hospital had a beautiful crocheted gown on hand, but nothing for their baby's little head.  I pulled out a hat and a headband, and the mom's eyes immediately lit up when she saw the cute little pale pink flower on the headband.  It was just the right touch.

There are a wide range of head sizes.  It is easiest for me to visualize objects of comparison.  The smallest little micropreemies have heads about the size of a plum.  The next size up is about the size of an apple.  Then a large navel orange, a grapefruit, and finally, normal newborn size.

One of my biggest issues with some of the hats I have had donated in the past is their lack of stretch.  In order to slide these hats on without damaging fragile skin, they need to be quite stretchy.  Preferably stretchy enough to turn them inside out and carefully flip them right side out onto their head.  I've had a lot of hats donated that were made on the round looms.  Some of them work ok, depending on what kind of yarn is used, but many of them are pretty tight.  The more flexible ones are either sewn from stretchy fabric, crocheted or knitted.

I love hats that have a little bit of character.  Little embellishments like a flower, pom pom or a button, or a pale blue stripe as an accent make it so much more personal of a gift.  One of my favorite hats that I've photographed was a cute beenie style hat with a crocheted purple flower on the front that matched the accompanying blanket.  Just like I posted in the previous post about yarn colors, though, stay away from rainbow yarn.  Blotchy hat + bruised skin doesn't come out looking so great.  Also, yellow and green don't complement the skin tone well either.

Here are some links to patterns that I particularly like.

Knit hat patterns  (These are my absolute favorite!  So cute!)
Crocheted bonnet for little girls
Knit hat and bootie sets
Knit hat and hand mitt set (This may not be very stretchy, but it's very cute.  More muted shades would be desirable, but the embellishment concept is great.)
Crocheted hat and bonnet patterns (This hat looks like it may not be as stretchy.  I would love some feedback if you try this pattern.)
Hat and Kimono set (totally adorable, and I'd love them in sizes as small as fitting around a standard bottle of water)

Headbands are fantastic for baby girls.  Use soft, stretchy banding that's at least 1/2" wide up to 5/8".  Flowers and bows should be 1-1 1/2" in diameter.  As cute as ginormous big-as-their-head flowers are on healthy newborns, they're a bit much for bereavement use.  Pale pinks, purples, creams, whites, and even pale yellow as an accent color are all great.

I will come back and edit this post to include photos in the next week or so, but in the mean time I just wanted to get some patterns up for those that have requested it.

Thank you!

Featured Pattern: Sleeper Sacks

A friend brought my attention to these two patterns, and I love them.  They're essentially the same, just one for crocheters and one for knitters.  We have difficulty finding things for the especially small babies, the 18-22 week gestation angels that are well under a pound.  Any of you crafty ladies and gentlemen out there that can whip some of these up, I will make sure they get put to good use.

Pardon the ugly front-seat-of-my-van backdrop.  I picked these up from Angela (HUGE THANKS to her for staying up in to the wee hours to complete these in one day for a family in need), and went right to the post office with them.  I mailed the blue one along with sewn gowns of each size of my pattern for a little babe with a chromosomal problem that makes extra those angels extra small, so I wanted the parents to be able to have something in each size range to be prepared for any time that he chooses to be born.

This size is absolutely perfect and fills an unmet need for babies that are 18-22 weeks gestation, in the 8-12 ounce/8-10 inch size range.

I'm a very visual person when it comes to size comparisons.  I slid this little sleeper sack over a standard size water bottle and it fit absolutely perfectly.  I adore the matching hat.

Something that I am going to reiterate over and over again, and I am particularly bringing it to your attention on this first post because of the photo in the crochet pattern, is that rainbow yarn doesn't look very good with babies that have bruising and other skin discoloration.  In black and white photos it just comes out looking blotchy.  Stick with simple, muted, solid colors like blue, pink, purple, white and cream.  I actually like the stripes in the knit pattern photo, and little touches like a nice decorative edging are great.  But fuchsia, turquoise, yellow, orange, green, royal blue...just trust me when I say they don't photograph well either next to angel skin.

Measurement wise, many of the babies I have photographed in this size range are 8-10" total length from head to toe, with roughly a 6- 6 1/2" wingspan.  It's better to ere on the side of making the sack a little bit longer, so completed sacks that are 6" wide from sleeve tip to sleeve tip and 10" long, and ones that are a little smaller, 5 1/2" wide and 8" long would be great.  Make the sleeves large enough in diameter to comfortably pass your thumb through so that it's not difficult to ease their little arms in.  Even short sleeve sacks would be welcome.  If you really want to make me faint with happiness, make a matching hat small enough to go over a large plum to small apple size head.

Click on the following links for patterns:

Sleeper Sack - Crochet Version
Sleeper Sack - Knit Version