Knit a Purple Hat to Help a Baby

It’s a fact of early childhood that babies tend to increase the amount of time they spend crying around the age of two weeks up to three or four months of age. Some health experts call this the period of purple crying, which is characterized by an increase in crying from day to day that often comes on unexpectedly and not because of a problem in their environment, crying that is resistant to soothing and looks like the baby is in pain and crying that is long-lasting and often happens in the afternoon and evening.

This sort of crying is normal and does go away, but it can be a great frustration to parents and other caregivers, sometimes causing them to abuse and harm the child in an attempt to get them to stop crying.

One effort at preventing the abuse of babies during the period is called CLICK for Babies, and it involves knitting purple hats that are distributed in hospitals across the United States and Canada to remind parents that this period is just a phase. There are chapters in 10 states and three Canadian provinces, but knitters and crocheters anyway can help in the effort.

The deadline for hats — which are distributed in the winter months — is Oct. 1. You can send the hats to your local chapter if they happen to have one, or send them to the national office in Utah, which will distribute them where they can be used.

Baby hats are really fun, quick projects and the fact that you can potentially help a child by knitting one (or a few!) is really great.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

Looking for more Baby Knitting patterns? Check these out on Etsy.

Next Pattern:

The other day I saw a post from Pinterest about trends for summer and it said one of them was “cultivating whimsy.”

Well, I don’t know where Pinterest has been all this time, but we’ve been cultivating whimsy here at Craft Gossip for a long time. I love sharing projects that are a little different, things that make you smile when you see them, and will make you smile when you knit them and wear them or use them.

Such it is with the Tutti Frutti tee knitting pattern from Bea Creative Knits.

This cute little baby tee is worked top down in the round with contiguous shoulder construction to shape the sleeve caps. There are short rows for the neckline and folded hems with picot edging at the hemline, neckline and edges of the sleeves.

All of this would be great on its own, but then there’s the addition of a super cute fruit icon, which is added with duplicate stitch. There are a lot of options, including strawberry, banana, orange, cherries, watermelon, lemon, blueberries, kiwi, peach, dragon fruit, apple and pear, so it’s likely you can add on your favorite fruit.

It is offered in eight sizes, to fit a bust measurement ranging from 28-30 inches (71-76 cm) to 56-58 inches (142-147 cm). The design is meant to be worn with around 6.3 inches/16 cm of negative ease, but you can choose the fit you prefer. There’s also optional bust and waist shaping included in the pattern if you want to make it even curvier.

This is considered an advanced beginner or intermediate project because of all the skills involved, but it’s sure to be a lot of fun even if some of these techniques are new to you.

Grab a copy of the pattern for yourself form Bea Creative Knits on Etsy.

[Photo: Bea Creative Knits]

Next Pattern:

Comments

Have you read?