Preemie Gift Set

We've had a very special, extra small addition to our family recently. One of our cousins had her baby very, very early. In fact, she was born at just 27 weeks. Things were precarious at first, but now I'm happy to say she is growing faster than we could hope for!

Immediately, I knew I needed to make preemie hats. I waited patiently until she was allowed to wear her own clothes. I made my best guess at her head circumference, based on photos of her and a helpful chart I found on the internet.

I made her a basic beanie and added adorable kitty ears, as well as a cinched bow headband. Everything took mere minutes to make, and came out so teeny tiny! It's simply adorable. You can customize the look and add stripes, or just make one in every color. Once you start, you won't want to stop! Just look how precious!!!

World's youngest fashion model!

These could make excellent gifts for friends or relatives, or make a bunch and donate them to your local hospital. It's a great project for your women's group too. In fact, I give exclusive permission for any women's group or crochet charity to use and distribute this pattern for purposes of donating hats and headbands to babies in hospitals in your local area!

Yarns featured: Red Heart With Love in Mint, and Studio Classic by Nicole in Cream Speck

I made my favorite Preemie a gift selection of hats and headbands in different sizes so she could grow into them during her stay in the NICU. Work these adorable little do's in any worsted weight yarn, refer to gauge for sizing and resizing. Remember, some thicker yarns will yield bigger stitches and thinner yarns will yield smaller stitches, adjust gauge accordingly to imitate my results. This can be achieved by either adjusting working tension or hook size. 

If you love making baby or preemie hats, visit my friends over at allfreecrochet.com, they have a huge database of only free crochet patterns, including patterns for preemies! They're the best!

Let's Get Started!

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Preemie Gift Set

Hook: H/8 5mm

Yarn: medium/worsted 4 weight

Gauge: 6 sts = 2” in HDC

Difficulty: Easy

Materials: Tapestry Needle

Finished Sizes: 10”, 11” & 12” head circumference, apx gestational ages 30, 32 & 34 weeks respectively.

Special Stitches:

hdc inc- half double crochet increase. Make two hdc in same st.

Fhdc- foundation half double crochet. A technique for making a chainless, starting foundation in lieu of chaining. There are many helpful tutorials and videos on the internet to help you master this skill.

Notes: Pattern is for a hat, with or without kitty ears or pom pom, and a bow style headband. Instructions for different sizes are listed separately for hat, and successively for headband (e.g. “10 (12, 14)”). Simply follow instructions for desired item and size, make number of stitches indicated for size.

Hat:

All Sizes:

Form Magic Ring.

Round 1: hdc 10 into magic ring, join with a sl st, ch 1. (10 sts)

Round 2: make 2 hdc in each st around, join, ch 1. (20 sts)

Round 3: *hdc, hdc inc*, repeat ** around, join, ch 1. (30 sts)

10”/30 weeks:

Round 4-8: hdc in each st around, join, ch 1. (30 sts)

Round 9: hdc in each st around, fasten off, weave in ends.

11”/32 weeks:

Round 4: *hdc 9, hdc inc*, repeat ** around, join, ch 1. (33 sts)

Rounds 5-9: hdc in each st around, join, ch 1. (33 sts)

Round 10: hdc in each st around, fasten off, weave in ends.

12” 34 weeks:

Round 4: *hdc 4, hdc inc*, repeat ** around, join, ch 1. (36 sts)

Rounds 5-11: hdc in each st around, join, ch 1. (36 sts)

Round 11: hdc in each st around, fasten off, weave in ends.

Kitty Ears:

Make two.

Ch 3.

Row 1: Make 3 hdc into third ch from hook, ch 2, turn. (3 sts)

Row 2: Make 2 hdc into first st, hdc, 2 hdc into last st, ch 1, turn. (5 sts)

Row 3: Make 2 hdc into first st, hdc, hdc, hdc, 2 hdc into last st, (7 sts), pivot work, sl st evenly along side of ear to point, ch 2, pivot work, sl st evenly along other side of ear to bottom, ch 1, sl st along bottom of ear, join at corner, fasten off.

Hat Finishing:

1. Sew ears where desired onto top of hat.
2. If desired make or buy a pom pom and sew to top of hat.
3. Weave in all ends.

Headband:

Round 1: Fhdc 30 (33, 36), join with a sl st, ch 1. (30, 33, 36 sts)

Round 2: hdc in each st around, join, ch 1.

Round 3: hdc in each st around, join, fasten off.

Headband Finishing:

1. Using starting tail, join bottom of foundation row to close gap.
2. Take both yarn tails and tie them together securely over top of the right side of the headband to cinch it in the middle. Trim tails.
3. Using a length of yarn, wrap chiched middle of headband to form a “bow knot” less than 1” wide.
4. Turn headband inside out, and sew wrapping tail back and forth through the underside of the “knot” several times to permanently secure it.
5. Weave in ends.

© Haute Kippy 2018

www.hautekippy.com

You may sell items made from this pattern, but please be courteous, always credit Haute Kippy with the original design and link to my blog when possible. Do not use my photographs to sell items. Do not copy, repost or distribute this pattern in part or in whole. Sharing paid patterns is a form of copyright infringement.

Original pattern “Preemie Gift Set” copyright Haute Kippy by Bethany Sypolt Crochet Designs 2018

Toddler Quick Mitts

My little one loves to wear mittens. She also loves pockets. If a shirt or pants have pockets in them she gets very excited and wants immediately to hide her little hands. I've bought some small mittens for her in the past, and we always seem to loose one of the pair. Where it goes, we'll never know. 

Northern West Virginia winters are long, gray and a mixture of snow, rain, sunless days and varying temperatures. One week, we expect snowfall, the next moderate temps and intermittent rain. It's super fun.... not. As a rule of thumb in our family, we wear coats until April. Just because it's randomly 56 degrees today doesn't mean you can run around coat-less. It's not good for the body, and roller coaster highs and lows contribute a lot to decreasing people's immune systems. 

We can also experience very cold temperatures. Two winters ago, we had an arctic blast that still shows its visible scars on many trees and bushes. It was so cold that even some evergreens were dying. Driving down the road, I can still see many people's trees and bushes have dead branches on their lower third where the sub-zero air and snow touched them. A reminder of that bitter cold winter. 

This is why children need mittens. They need super cute mittens, easy mittens- ones you can whip up yourself in minutes. That's what I did for my little one when I realized she might need them, and the only pair I could find was no longer a pair! 

These Toddler Quick Mitts can be made using any worsted weight yarn, and a size H8/5mm hook. Employing the same techniques as the adult Quick Mitts, these baby versions are sized down for a 2-3 year old and completely cover little fingers, keeping them safe and toasty warm. 

Of course if you live in a warmer environment, or you need your toddler to be able to play on a tablet or phone while wearing mittens, simply stop and fasten off at the last row before the decreases to make chic little fingerless versions. 

Make it unique:
-Try in a colorful variegated for even more fun! 
-Use remnants for a fun and quirky boho style stash buster project!
-Stripe the rows for an easy exercise in color work!
-Customize or alternate colors for team spirit! 

Let's get started!

Toddler Quick Mitts Free Crochet Pattern

Hook: H8/5mm

Yarn: Any Worsted

Notions: Yarn needle

Gauge: 6 sts=2” in hdc

Size: 2-3 Years (6 ½” from fingertip to cuff and 7” around palm)

Difficulty: Easy

Special Stitches:

Hdc2tog- Half double crochet two together: yo, insert hook into st, yo, draw up a loop, yo, insert hook into next st, yo, draw up a loop (5 loops on hook) yo, draw through all loops. Hdc decrease made.

Notes: Left and Right Hand gloves are made identically, except for thumb hole round. See instructions for more details. Joined rounds are worked as follows: make first hdc in next st (after join), at round end, make final hdc in join st. On thumb rounds only, joins are left unworked.

CUFF:

Chain 7

Row 1: hdc in third ch from hook, and in each st across, ch 2, turn. (5 sts)

Row 2: hdc in the blo of each st across (5 sts), ch 2, turn.

Rows 3-12: repeat row 2. Ch only 1 for end of row 12. Do not break yarn.

Fold cuff in half  to form a tube, lining up stitches. Working through both layers, sl st through the back loop and front loop of both ends to sl st the cuff together into a tube shape. Pivot cuff to work along raw edge, keeping right side facing. Ch 1, sl st loosely and evenly around raw edge of cuff (19 sts) do not join, ch 1.

MITTEN:

Rounds 1- 2: hdc in each st around, join, ch 1. (19 sts)

Round 3 FOR RIGHT HAND MITT: hdc, ch 2, sk next 2 sts, hdc in each st around, join, ch 1. (17 sts + 2 st space) Thumb hole made.

Round 3 FOR LEFT HAND MITT: hdc in each of the first 16 sts, ch 2, sk next 2 sts, hdc in last st, join, ch 1. (17 sts + 2 st space) Thumb hole made.

Round 4: hdc in each st around, join, ch 1. (19 sts)

Rounds 5-8: repeat round 4

Round 9: hdc2tog, hdc2tog, hdc in each of next 6 sts, hdc2tog, hdc2tog, hdc in each of remaining 5 sts, join, ch 1. (15 sts)

Round 10: hdc2tog, hdc in each of next 4 sts, hdc2tog, hdc2tog, hdc in each of remaining 3 sts, join, ch 1. (11 sts)

Round 11: hdc2tog four times, hdc, hdc2tog, join, fo. (6 sts) Sew small hole shut with yarn tail, weave in ends.

THUMB:

Round 1: join with a hdc to bottom edge of thumb hole, and hdc evenly around as follows: hdc 2 along bottom edge, pivot, hdc 2 along side, pivot, hdc 2 along top, pivot, hdc 2 along side, join, ch 1. (8 sts)

Round 2: hdc around, leave last st unworked, join ch 1. (7 sts)

Round 3: hdc2tog around, leave last st unworked, join, fo. (3 sts)  Sew small hole shut with yarn tail, weave in ends.

I hope you enjoyed making the little love in your life an adorable and warm pair of winter mittens! Share your work with me on facebook, instagram or pinterest! #hautekippy

xoxo- Bethany

Take Your Vitamins

Foolproof method to get your baby or toddler to take their liquid vitamins without them even knowing it (or tasting it)! Read on...

For anyone who has children, especially a breastfeeding mother, I can take a wild guess you've been instructed by your pediatrician to give your babies vitamins. You must, then be familiar with this:

A pricey little vial of infant's liquid multi-vitamin. (With-iron version for breastfeeding babies of course!) It looks simple enough. It comes with a one mil. dropper and your child should have one dose a day with meals. Okay...

But have you ever tasted it? 

If not, then maybe you should! I have. I taste everything I've ever given my children including those nasty vitamins. If you have any experience with this you know the liquid is potent, strong smelling and very bitter to the tongue.

How can you expect your baby or toddler to actually take this thing!?

I bet, like me, you've tried mixing it into infant cereal or other foods. It doesn't mask the taste. It just makes the food yucky and brown. Maybe you've even held your kid's face still and just popped the little dropper in as quick as you can. I've tried that too. Maybe you've seen the same reaction to the taste, and maybe sometimes they've spit it out!

...And what about the mess it makes? The stains! Oh, the stains!

Those vitamin drops are diabolical for laundry. The brown liquid quickly stains anything it touches- from clothing, to counter tops, even skin! I thought for years, there has to be a better way! If you give it to your child straight, they spit and gag on the horrible taste. If you mix it into something you only ruin the flavor of what ever you're trying to mask it with. 

The Solution:

Fruit Pouches! 

As sort of a combination of the pop-it-in and mask-it methods, I use the genius of the children's fruit or applesauce pouch to help you get yucky tasting vitamins down!

When you open the fruit pouch, you'll notice there's a little bit of room at the top. Measure the vitamins and carefully drop them into the pouch right on top of the applesauce or fruit. Be careful not to squeeze or let your child squeeze. Just place the spout of the pouch in your child's mouth and let them begin sipping. 

The first mouthful they get will have the vitamins, and then be immediately chased with the sweet goodness of fruit! After the first sip you can let them hold the pouch. They'll gleefully enjoy the rest without having even known they've taken their vitamins! The trick is not letting them squeeze the pouch until the vitamins go down with the first sip. This can easily be a mess-free way to get the job done. 

Babies, toddlers and children need their vitamins. If you make this tip a part of your daily routine it'll become a beneficial habit. I serve my baby vitamin-laced fruit pouches at lunchtime daily. I hope this helps some of you moms and dads out there!

Take care! xo- Kip