A Quiet Week

I can't believe it's almost February already!  Time goes by so quickly.  I've had a quiet knitting week.  I've just started updating my baby hoodie pattern.  I knitted it in blue merino yarn a few years ago and  added a zip fastening to the front.  This was for my little nephew.  I was happy with the results but never quite got round to typing up the pattern for it.

Top Tips when Knitting for Preemies

If you are looking to knit for premature babies, here are some of my top tips.

1.    When babies are born too soon it can leave parents unprepared and finding baby clothes that fit well can be a challenge.  Select a good premature baby knitting pattern that will create a little knit that fits snuggly and will help keep the little one cosy and warm.  Keep away from designs that are for dolls – the proportions on the sleeves are not correct for babies, and parents don’t want their new baby to feel like a toy!

2.    Choose your yarn carefully.  It should be a good quality machine washable acrylic - avoid pure new wool as some babies can be allergic to it.  Feel the yarn to ensure it is soft enough for a tiny baby.

3.    When buying yarn choose a 4ply or similar thickness.  Double knitting stitches look lovely on a full term baby but can look and feel bulky on a little one.

4.    Colour is very important when creating a tiny knit.  Go for pastels or white/cream.  If you want to use darker colours, keep them to a small amount and use as stripes or a motif.

5.    If knitting for your local NICU contact them first to see what knits are most needed – it can vary a lot from hospital to hospital.  Where possible include the yarn label so that staff can see washing directions.

6.    Don’t be afraid to design a knit yourself if can’t find what you are looking for. Look at full term babywear in shops or online for inspiration.  Some shops such as George, Asda offer a small range of preemie babywear.  You could pick up a bodysuit and design a cardi or hat that ties in with the colour scheme and style.

7.    Try to make clothes that are easy to put on delicate babies.  Sleeves should be wide (or stretchy so they can be widened) and seams kept to a minimum for the comfort of babies.  Stocking stitch makes the flattest – and therefore most comfortable – fabric for babies to lie on.  Other stitches can be used for the front of garments.  Be wary of designs that are lacy as tiny fingers can accidentally get caught in the holes!

8.    Buttons or plastic fasteners tend to be the best for closing garments.  Metal fasteners can heat up in an incubator and ribbons can irritate the skin.  Some premature baby clothes use a very fine Velcro fastening but this is difficult to source.

9.    Go online and look at charities for premature babies to get a sense of what is available. Sites like Ravelry.com have groups devoted to knitting premature baby clothes, and you can keep in touch with what is going on via social media, eg. @apreemiething, @PreemieProject or @EmilysStar. Some groups offer free knitting pattern downloads, and even if they are not exactly what you are looking for, they will give you a feel for premature baby knits in terms of size and special features. 

10.  If tiny clothing seems daunting start off with small blankets (about 18 inches x 18 inches  upwards) or bonding squares.  This should give you the confidence to go on to try hats or mittens, then cardis and bodywarmers if you wish.  Whatever you decide to make remember that putting the time and love into knitting for premature babies will be much appreciated by the parents, the hospital staff and the babies themselves!

I'm back!

Hello again,
I've had some technical problems but I'm glad to say that I seem to be up and running again.  I've been very busy lately with commissions for Love Knitting for Baby.  Tonight I finished the samples for the Spring issue.  It's always a good feeling when you finish a project you have been working on for a long time, and always a relief when the commissioning editor says she loves it! 

If I have enough time before the next commission I'll try to upload one or two of my newest patterns.  It takes quite a long time to format the pattern for posting online, some places like Ravelry use pdfs and others like Amazon work better with MS Word.  But it is worth the effort. 

My next post will focus on some of the storage solutions I have employed recently.

See you soon,
Angela

Selling on Amazon

I spent the day yesterday setting up an account with Amazon and KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).  I'm not sure if it will be a good platform for selling my patterns or not but thought it would be worth trying!  I'm constantly on my Kindle and thought other people might be the same.  Sometimes it's nice to follow a pattern from your tablet rather than looking for your paper version!

First of all, I looked at what knitting patterns were available for baby knits.  I browsed through them and downloaded some samples before going on to buy one that I really liked.  I realised I'd have to change the format for my patterns so that it is more like an ebook rather than a traditional printed pattern, removing the columns and rearranging some of the pictures for example.

Kindle ebooks require a front cover in a picture format such as jpeg.  So I took my pattern cover, deleted the pattern and changed some of the formatting.  I selected all, copied and then opened Paint and pasted it in.  I had to do this a few times since some of the details were distorted when it was transferred into Paint.  When I was happy with my cover, I saved it as a jpeg.

I opened up my original pattern and deleted the front cover - what was left was now my 'manuscript'.  I had a few adjustments to do after changing the columns.

In Amazon, I logged into my newly created KDP account and set up the details for payments etc - which was quite time-consuming as I had to add bank details (IBAN and BIC codes - which can usually be found on a bank statement) and tax codes. 

The actual adding the pattern to Amazon was quite quick and straightforward.  If you don't have a front cover they offer you a option of creating one (however some people online recommend using fiverr.com for a cheap but professional cover design).  The other details you have to enter are quite straightforward such as author name.  There is a preview button, and it is highly recommended that you use it to check formatting issues where there are tables etc - however, each time I tried to view it, it didn't work.  I think that my front cover image was such a high picture size that my computer and/or internet wasn't able to complete the action!

Finally, a message appears saying that it can take up to 72 hours for your ebook to appear on Amazon after you click 'publish' but I received a text after a few hours saying that my epattern was live and ready to view.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=premature+baby+romper&rh=n%3A341677031%2Ck%3Apremature+baby+romper

New Premature Baby Sea Collection out now!

At last, my newest premature baby design collection is published!

 

I love the little sea horse on the cardi!  The clothes are knitted using very soft 4ply acrylic and the octopus is cotton.

The octopus is a knitted version of the crochet ones that are popular in NICUs across the country - it helps give security to the tiny babies.

 

There are many other fabulous designs in this issue!

Been busy of late designing the collection for the summer edition of Love Knitting for Baby.  I really like the finished design!  Will share once the magazine is published.

Since then I have knitted up a premature baby romper with bunny slippers for a customer on etsy.com.  She loved it and requested that I add more premature baby knits to my etsy shop, so I have!  I will continue knitting up some more items, it's something I love doing.

 

In addition to this, I knitted up a matinee jacket and bonnet for another customer using luxury merino yarn.  It was gorgeous knitted up!

My first customer went on to buy my premature knitted bunny set - within 5 minutes of me listing it for sale!!!  Wow!

I'm hoping to have enough time to do more orders and more knits for sale.  I started working on the next commission for Love Knitting for Baby last night, and I received a copy of the current issue in the post yesterday.  If you enjoy knitting for babies I'd definitely recommend it.

I like the new style!  And it came with a bonus baby knits book!  My chick baby hat and booties, mouse baby hat and booties, little rabbit doll and baby lamb rattle designs are all in it.  I had loads of fun designing them.  :-)

Mr Penguin Tea Cosy

I've been busy this last week knitting up the emperor penguin tea cosy design from this month's issue of Simply Knitting.

It is a Christmas present for a friend who is mad about penguins.  Her father invented the Penguin biscuit and was affectionately known as Mr Penguin by friends and family ever since.  I hope she likes this Mr Penguin tea cosy pair!