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Doctors Warn of Dangers When Using Knit Umbilical Ties

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knit umbilical cord tiesHere’s a knitting trend I hadn’t heard of before, but apparently in Australia (I’ve seen reports of their use in the UK, too) a rising number of women who participate in home births or have midwives are using knit umbilical ties instead of the clamps offered by hospitals.

The idea is that the handmade ties are less obtrusive, potentially less painful and a lot cuter than clamps used to hold the cord until it heals. But doctors say the trend is dangerous because the cords can’t be kept sterile and thus provide lots of potential for infection as they get wet and soiled when baby’s diapers are changed.

Though a mom quoted in that story from the Courier Mail says there are patterns “all over social media,” I didn’t find any patterns for the items on Ravelry. I did find a place in the UK that sells them, however.

Is this trend something you’ve heard about? Have you or would you use a knit umbilical cord tie? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[Photo by Emma Jean Photography, via Courier Mail.]

Comments

  1. GICK! That makes me sick to look at it!

    So unsanitary, potential for infection, just nasty.

    People are crazy, and not in a good way…

Have you read?

Learn a Flower Bobble Technique to Knit a Fun Shawl

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier. 

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project. 

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible. 

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge. 

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects. 

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy. 

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project. 

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Xandy Peters]