children's

I had a lot of bulky wool blend yarn at home, but nothing to knit with it. So I whipped up these Chubby Cat Hats to be donated to charity! Here's the pattern to them for you.

I offer this free hat knitting pattern for no fee for your own personal use - you may not sell this pattern or the hats you knit using it (please ask me about charity). Also please consider purchasing my stitch markers or Worsted Knitt's Shirts and Bags when planning on getting some knitting apparel!

Please contact me if you find any errors in this pattern.

For the second time in a row, I'm participating in the Finnish knitalong "Kesäyön hullutus", which is a KAL for crazy Finnish people who want to start a new knitting project every day from the 1st of June to Midsummer, the 26th of June - and finish all 26 knits by the end of July. Pretty insane, huh!

At least until now I'm keeping up. I've started a few bigger things I know I'll be able to work on in the train (I'll be travelling a bit the next few weeks), and lots of small ones (I mean finished-in-one-hour small ones!) This post is about a small one and a bigger one.

This is my 2009 tally für preemies. You might know that I support the German knit for preemies charity Frühchenstricken, who collect preemie knits and distribute them to the hospitals who request them. I usually send one packet a year, and this is the one for 2009 (they asked me to wait over Christmas to send it, so I only sent it last week).

What I made:
2 cotton blankets, ca 55x60 cm big
5 pairs of preemie socks
5 preemie hats

OK, it's not so much, but hey, every little helps and I know these items will beused by those who need them. Plus preemie knits are so great for quick stashbusting projects!

PS. What do you think about the new background Nick made for me?

I've knit some small things last month and I thought I'd show them to you, as they came out nicely, I think!

First we have the Grown-up bootees. The pattern is by Ysolda Teague, and it's a part of the Whimsical Little Knits 1 collection. I've knit them with vintage superwash wool held double on 5mm needles. This pair fits me, so the size is ca. European 39. They took approximately 100 grams of yarn. I'll be making more as Christmas presents!

Next I have two more pairs of preemie socks for the Sukkasato-KAL. Again 28 stitches around, made on 2,5mm dpns. The yarn is of unknown quality, but I did dye it myself (except for the toe of one sock, as I ran out of the self-dyed yarn). The KAL is finished now, my total: five pairs of preemie socks, and the grown-up bootees. Not bad!

The problem with living in Germany and being a patron to the local library, and blogging in English is that I get to read really interesting books - which are available only in German. I usually then just leave them be and blog about something else, but recently I've read two books which I really want to write a review about. Maybe they will one day be translated, or you will get interested in the theme and find some books on the issues in English / your own language.

The first book is called "Kinder auf dem Strich" by Cathrin Schauer. The title translates to "Children on the game" and it talks about child prostitution on the German-Czech border. The author has worked in the region as a social worker for years. The book discusses the views of the different parties involved - the children, the pimps, the adult prostitutes, the buyers, the police and the general public.

Just two more pairs of little preemie socks for charity. I'm also counting them in the Sukkasato sock KAL.

The yarn is a nameless sock yarn I received from a friend a while back. The socks are made on 2,5mm dpns, and have 28 stitches around. The cuff is 1x1 rib and the foot is plain. As simple as it gets!

Sukkasato has started again, the Finnish 2-month sock KAL in which I also participated last year.

Like last year, I'll be making small socks for charity. Here's the first pair of preemie socks. Made on 4mm needles using 24 stitches around, the yarn is Hjerte Sock held double.

I have more pairs on the needles and will post them throughout the KAL. They are so sweet and quick!

I'm taking part in a crazy Finnish KAL called "Kesäyön hullutus", which translates to "summernight's folly"! The idea is to start a new project every day from the 1st June to the 20th of June, and finish all these projects by the end of July! I joined on the 6th, so I have a few less to do, but still... so therefore small projects are the best in this challenge!

I think preemie hats are the perfect small projects one can make. They're easy, quick and very useful (I'll be sending them to charity).

So here they are, my last entries for Sukkasato-KAL which ends with October.

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Tässä ne ovat, viimeiset Sukkasadon tuotokset, ja kuva koko sadosta - 16 paria lapsille hyväntekeväisyyteen, ja yksi pari äidille synttärilahjaksi.

Nyt sitten mukaa Lapaskuuhun!

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The first two are for preemies, 28 stitches around, 1x1 ribbing and stockinette, nothing special, but hopefully they will warm someones small toes! They are made with Regia yarn, the yellow-black ones with 3,5mm needles, the red ones with 2mm needles.

What do you know, I'm making more socks. The Sukkasato KAL is still going on for a couple of weeks, and I'm trying my best to knit as many socks as I can for it.

I have one pair ready, again child size. I cast on 32 stitches with Lana Grossa Meilenweit held double, and made the foot with some Novita Julia mix blend yarn (but really soft!) My needles were 2,5-3,5mm, a mix of what I had free... I think I must have lost some needles somewhere!

What I'm also working on is - another pair of child's socks! This is worked on Regia Galaxy held double, on the mixed set of dpns, I think I have 36 stitches all over.

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