Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Dallas Hospital Wants Blankets for Every Baby

by

parkland hospital warm up americaParkland Hospital in Dallas is the public hospital for Dallas County, which means they deliver a lot of babies in a lot of different circumstances.

They’re teaming up with Warm Up, America to try to fulfill a great — and big — goal: to have every baby born at the hospital leave in a hand-knit or -crocheted baby blanket.

To that end, Warm Up, America is requesting baby blankets instead of the regular blanket sections. Ideally they say they would like blankets to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 inches square, but if you work in the usual WUA square template you’d end up with a 35 by 40 inch blanket, which would also work. (They don’t mention it, but smaller blankets are great for preemies, too.)

All blankets need to be made out of machine washable and dryable materials for use in the hospital environment.

Check the page linked above for more details on where to send the blankets. And check out my baby blanket patterns if you need inspiration!

[Photo via Warm Up, America.] Looking for more Baby Knitting patterns? Check these out on Etsy.

Next Pattern:

Comments

  1. I would like to have the address of where to send the blankets. Please send it to my email address above. Thank you.

  4. This post is from 2014 so I don’t think that particular campaign is still going on. But lots of hospitals accept blankets, so you could start locally and see if anyone is looking for donations.

  5. This project is old, but Parkland can always use blankets of any kind. It is in Dallas you can Google for the address.

Have you read?

A Knit Vest to Get You Ready for Summer

I know that my posts can be read at different times of year and in different years by different people, but as I write this we’re on teh cusp of summer. And I know a lot of people don’t knit as much, and certainly don’t wear a lot of knits in the summer, but I want to encourage you to make and to wear your makes no matter the temperature.

To introduce you to the joys of summer garment knitting, I offer the Tied Vest from Lion Brand Yarn.

This easy project is great to make and wear throughout the year but it’s especially good for summer. It’s worked flat in one piece from the bottom up, mostly in stockinette stitch with a seed stitch edging. The I-cord ties are worked directly onto the garment so you don’t have to sew them on.

The project uses worsted weight yarn, and calls for a blend of cotton and hemp that’s great for warm weather.

There are eight size options, ranging from a finished chest measurement of 35 to 62.5 inches, or 89 to 159 cm. That makes it sound like it should be worn with at least a few inches of positive ease, but the pattern doesn’t specify.

The ties at the front give it a casual look and make it great to wear over a tank top or T-shirt when the weather is warm.

I also think this one would be good to knit in wool or a warmer fiber, too, to make a version you could wear more comfortably in the winter months, too. Though of course you could layer the summer version over a long-sleeved shirt and wear it throughout the year, too.

The tied vest is a free pattern available from Lion Brand. You can also purchase a kit that includes the yarn and optional needles and stitch markers if you need them.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

Knit an Easy Hooded Vest

Knit Vests to Help Transition to Warmer Weather