³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Maria Jose de Prada writes

I'm a knitter from Barcelona, Spain, and I'm knitting your patter "Easy Blanket".Ìý My question is if you'd authorise a translation of your pattern into Spanish to be published in my blog.Ìý Of course, I will give all the due credit to your website and to the creator of the pattern.

Let me know what you think.Ìý Thanks in advance

Christine replies

Hi,
I have answered and given permission provided they say where they found the pattern

Carol writes...

Hi Christine
Please can you help my sister rang me the other day to say that it had been on the National News that Neo-natal wards did not want knitted garments for premature babies as they pass on infection. Please can you advise as I really enjoy knitting for the babies and this will leave me at a loss as what to do with all my wool?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards.
Carol

Christine replies...

Hi Carol,
Thank you for your email...

If you saw the same news report that I did then it was naming a hospital in Blackburn. There is also a report about it in their local guardian. I can only speak for our local hospital as I have not had chance to speak to other hospitals but have already had to requests since the report.

In our own local hospital (Leighton, Crewe) I go into the hospital and give neonatal clothes direct to the parents. It is on the understanding that the cardigans/blankets etc are theirs -- just as if they had been purchased from a retail outlet. They take them home, wash their own and only ever use them on their own baby.The wardsÌý do the same. They do not wash them or use on more than one baby.

The hospital that was on the news does not appear to have been doing this. In fact on the written report it states that if families knit for their own baby and wash their own items then there is no problem.

I have spoken to the reporter who stated I was not listening and they were refering to one hospital. I beg to differ and the impression I got was that baby would never be able to use the blanket the grandma had knit. It left me very worried about babies when they left hospital also as some of these tiny ones aren't even 4lb in weight when they go home.

Always contact the hospital you send to as each one has different needs. We ask that any knitting that goes to Leighton hospital comes via the Ray of Hope so that it can be sorted and sent to the correct department. It is better if items are washed as it saves us a job and non bio and no softeners are used.Ìý Any more questions please feel free to e mail me

Best wishes
Christine, coordinator Ray of Hope

Megan writes...

Hi,
Would it be ok if me and some church friends at St. Bartholomew's used the angel's pocket pattern on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Stoke and Staffordshire website to make some pockets for the two maternity depts in Bristol's hospitals during the Lent period?Ìý We have decided we would like to do something practical during Lent and rather than give something up, do something positive.Ìý One of our clergy is Chaplain to Bristol Hospitals and has identified a need for these pockets in the maternity depts.
Thanks
Megan

Christine replies...

Hi Megan,
Thank you for your e mail. no problem at all. You do not say if it is the knitted or sewn pattern you wish to use but you are more than welcome to use either. Please just say where you found the patterns. it is usually the labour suite that use these little pockets. Please use white, cream or pastels in neutral colours (ie pale green perhaps or lemon) If the pockets are a definite pink or blue (sometimes you can use both on one pocket) some hospitals do not want to use them as the baby was so tiny they could not determine the sex. I think it is a lovely idea for you to do it. If you find in a while your hospital would like some more or some tiny gowns etc we would be more than happy to send to them (free of charge of course).
Best wishes
Christine, coordinator Ray of Hope

Angie writes...

Hi everyone, I am setting up a small group in my home area (Chorley Lancashire) of 'Charity Crafters' to encourage people knit crochet etc for charity.

I have downloaded some patterns from your website which I would like to pass on to my knitters to provide garments for our local Hospitals.Ìý Could you please let me know this is OK.Ìý The patterns will only be used by the group and we will also be knitting squares etc, plus hats, scarves etc for other charities.

Just wanted to let you know and would appreciate hearing from you to say its OK.Ìý The website is great and the patterns are really good.Ìý We do credit where the patterns were taken from when we hand them out.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards
Angie Bladen
(Charity Crafters)

Christine replies...

Hi Angie,
Not a problem at all - downloading our patterns - as long as you give us credit for them.
Please make sure you contact your hospitals first to ask what they would like. All hospital use different things and the ward managers on the neonatal units or delivery suites will be able to help you.

Best wishes
Christine, coordinator Ray of Hope

Sue writes...

I work with a charity called Sands (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity) who offer support to families after a baby is stillborn or dies soon after birth. We work closely with hospitals and one of our recent projects is to provide memory boxes for families. One of the things we want to include is a hand knitted blanket. A friend has passed me a pattern for ‘Easy Baby Blanket with Lace Edging’ which looks perfect. It has your reference at the bottom and I would ask if you are happy with us using this pattern. We are hoping that members of our charity will knit but may also approach organisations such as Mother’s Union and on-line knitting forums.

I look forward to hearing from you

Sue Hale
Group Services Manager
Sands

Christine replies...

Hi Sue,
Thank you for your e mail. We have often dealt with both SANDS and ISANDS. We are quite happy to send you gowns etc should you require them. We have also given permission to use any of our patterns providing you say whose they are and where you found them.

The blanket can be made any size. We usually say 12" square for the small losses (it is also nicer if they use 4ply for those) and 24-30" for full term.
If you do require any items please do not hesitate to contact me.

Christine Cooper, coordinator Ray of Hope

Ella writes:

I'm a member of an Icelandic knitting group and we are thinking about starting out second round of charity knitting for premature and newborn babies at the Icelandic hospitals. When looking online for patterns I came across your website and was wondering if I could get your permission to translate the patterns and use them for our projects.

Thank you in advance,
Ella

Christine replies...

You are most welcome to translate our patterns as long as they are used for charity and not for sale. All good wishes for your project.

Nancy writes:

I wanted to thank Carol for submitting her baby bootie pattern! I knitted 5 pairs of booties, using her pattern, and gave them all to my nephew and his wife, who are expecting their second child soon.The booties are lovely, and easy to understand, yet not so simple that they look like beginner's booties.
Thank you, Carol!

Nancy, Jacksonville, Florida USA

Nancy OConnell wrote:

To Doris Lord: I don't know what you mean when you state in a pattern for a Baby Body Warmer, under the V-Neck Instr:Ìý

You state to YARN FORWARD knit 8Ìý knit 2 together etcÌýÌý What IS YARN FORWARD knit 8 mean? Also would you tell me the difference with the DK yarn and 4 ply worsted weight yarn.Ìý What is DK yarn?

Christine replies...

Are you in the USA? The patterns and wool are all in UK mode so to speak. I think you will find that our yarn forward is the same as your 'yon' (yarn over needle) - all you are doing is making a buttonhole. Wool differences are as follows:

our 2plyÌý is your ............... lace weight
3ply, 4ply,5ply ..................ÌýÌýÌý fingering
8ply,dk,double knit............sport weigh-double knit
aran........................worsted weight
chunky..................bulky

Sorry Doris passed away a few year ago, but we still of course use her patterns.

Christine co-ordinator Ray of Hope

Top tip for buttons!

Just a handy hint - make buttonholes on both left and right side of garment, thus making it suitable for either boy or girl and bonus is that you know exactly where to place the buttons by sewing up the unwanted buttonhole as you sew on the button.

Thank you for all your delightful patterns of which I have both made and distributed to other charity knitters.

Regards,

Una

Hospital praise...

Here is a letter to Crewe Chronicle December 2007...

I am writing to say a huge thank you to all the staff on the Neonatal Intensive care Unit ( NICU) at Leighton Hospital.

Our daughter was born six weeks premature and was a patient on the ward for the first 15 days of her life.

All the nurses. doctors, midwives, auxiliaries and students were the most hard-working, dedicated people we have met and we cannot thank them enough for the care that they provided to our daughter and the support to ourselves during a stressful time.

I would also like to say a special thank you to Chris Cooper and the *Ray of Hope* who provided us with so many tiny knitted items for our baby Lucy.

The work of both the NICU and the *Ray of Hope* was much appreciatedÌý by ourselves and we hope that they continue to do such an amazing job.

T HOWE, Crewe

Christine (Coordinator of Ray of Hope) writes...

Hello Sarah,
Thank you for your e mail.
We have no objection to you using the pattern , providing you say where you found it. Hope this helps.

Best wishes

Sarah replies...

Thank you.Ìý I will link your site to ravelry.Ìý This way people can look at all of your patterns.Ìý They have come in very handy for me, as you are the best site to get preemie patterns.Ìý I have had three people in the past year with preemie babies.Ìý Thankfully, they have all survived.

Message from Malawi

Last November we received an e-mail thanking us for the prem baby patterns on our website from a lady in England whose daughter is working with premature babies in Malawi. She was pleased to find patterns small enough for their needs.

The ladies in Malawi were also being taught to knit whilst they were in hospital. She explained that she sent things out to Malawi with others who were going out there or returning there after leave and someone was going out there at the begining of December. We had quite a few small items at the time so made up a parcel and sent them to her. She was so pleased and refunded our postage (and more).

Today January 2007 we received a lovely card from her daughter in Malawi...

"Thank you so much to you and all your team for the delightful knitting that you did for the babies of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Blantyre Malawi- they were exquisite.

"The nurses and mothers were delighted with them. We try to provide the best medical care posible with the limited resources that we have - but it is these extra touches (like being able to dress the babies up warm - it gets quite cold in Malawi and especially the premature babies need wooly clothes) that really show the mums that no matter how small or sick their baby is they deserve to be cared for in the best way possible.

"The mums are always amazed that people from the other side of the world care enough about thei babies to send knitwear. So thank you again for your time and generosity. Best wishes for 2007."

What a lovely thank you and it is meant for all of you who help us.

Christine

The island of Vanuatu

Dear Christine

Thank you for the premature baby knitting patterns. I shall pass them on to my elderly mother in law who is a member of a knitting group at a local retirement village. TheyÌý are busy knitting for premmie babies in a public hospital in Vanuatu - an island in the Pacific.

Sue

Christine replies...

Hello Sue,

Thank you so much for the email which has been forwarded to me by our webmaster at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ. I hope your mother in law enjoys knitting our patterns. I am thrilled that hospitals and babies on the other side of the world will benefit from them.

Cartridge recycling down under

Hi Everyone,

I know this site has had an amazing response from New Zealanders wanting to support Premature Babies.

I have set up a wonderful recycling project up down under in support of our tiny ones and children in need.

I need to hear from anyone living in New Zealand who currently uses and throws away printer and toner cartridges in their homes and businesses. Every cartridge generates funds.

This is a free no fuss service with all profits going to The Pampering Project which has been set up to support our little fighters ( and their worn out mums with a bit of pampering.) and the work of our special care baby units.

If you can help please email me:

»å±ð²ú°ù²¹.±è²¹°ù°ì±ð°ù°ª²µ³¾²¹¾±±ô.³¦´Ç³¾Ìý

Deb Parker

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Angels in need

Dear Christine

My name is Patty Asmus and I belong to a group called Heavenly Angels In Need.Ìý I am making starter kits for those who would like to make things for babies.Ìý I was wondering if I could make copies of some of your patterns to put in these kits.Ìý These kits would then be sent out free of charge to anyone that would like to help.
Thank you for your help of this matter.

Patty Asmus

Christine replies...
Hi Patty,
No problem at all. If you pass on the patterns as well please just give us credit where you found them. We hope you find them very useful for you.
Best Wishes.

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Knitting in the car!

Dear Christine

I like to knit in the car. Are there any suitable patterns?

Jean

Christine replies...
We have a pull on Bob hat on our site that you may like to use. It is so simple in the car or anywhere where concentration is not needed (I assume you are a passenger - LOL) The site is www.rayofhope.co.uk. Hand knit patterns. Pull on Bob hat. It can be knit any size from tiny to adult. Cast on for larger sizes in multiples of 6 ie 36 sts, 42 sts, 48 sts and just do a few more ridges to suit. It can be used in fancy wools and used as cemo hats. One tip - sew the top up first and gather, then do the side seam.

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A bigÌýthank you...

Dear Christine

I have been looking everywhere for a m/c knitted cardigan for baby Fay, 2 months premature.Ìý A bigÌýthank you so much for supplying so many machine knitted garments.

Mrs. Gladys Punshon

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A useful tip...

Dear Christine

Hi from Omaha, Nebraska I just wanted to offer a method for seaming ribbing that I use for the machine knit ribbed hats and ribbed "tube socks" that I make for our local

NICUs and to put in charity layettes. When seaming ribbing, you can get a perfectly smooth seam that is only detectable by the break in the pattern on the inside if you use the weaving method instead of the usual seam one stitch in. To weave- from the right side, with a knit stitch on each end - weave the INSIDE half of the OUTSIDE (last on each side) sitich, loop to loop, knot to knot. This sounds confusing until you have a piece of knitting in front of you. This is also illustrated in many hand knitting technique books. It is a bit tricky at the cast on edge but just do your best. I make several hundred hats and pairs of tube socks each year and I have gotten fanatic about not having a rough, bumply bit next to the babies' tender skin. On the plain tops of bobble hats I use the same weaving stitch, only on the very outside half of the end sitiches; it isn't as pretty as a seam one stitch in, but the smoothness makes it worth the loss. Hope that helps some of you, I fussed for a year trying to find a seam that suited me.
Faye Couch

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Dear Christine

Hello. I am a CareWear volunteer for the INOVA Alexandria Hospital (VA) and I knit burial gowns for the babies they lose. CareWear, directed by Bonnie Hagerman (hagerman@hood.edu) has a list of patterns for use by hospitals. However, the burial gown pattern they have is too large for the premies. I very much like the Doris Lord pattern and would like to share it with the other Carewear volunteers if you will grant permission for it to be published. Carewear is a non-profit organization of about 26,000 volunteers dedicated to providing hats, blankets, gowns etc to hospitals all over the country. Please let me know if you would consider letting me share this pattern. Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Faith Holcombe

Christine replies...
Hello Faith,
No problem at all. We would ask if possible that you would say where you found it and perhaps put our web site on. We find it a very good pattern. Pleased to be able to help. Link onto the site by all means, print it out, whatever will help you.
Best Wishes,
Christine Co ordinator 'Ray of Hope' (teenytinybabywear) www.rayofhope.co.uk

***

Dear Christine
My name is Ro Cafaro and I have a website here in the US called www.onesmallthing.org I am encouraging my friends to donate their knitting and crocheting talents to donate to various charities.

Clothing for preemies has been one of the main points of my charity work, having lost two babies to miscarriage myself this is very near and dear to my heart. I have even designed some hats small enough to fit a golf ball in order to clothe babies that were too small to make it. The patterns are being used by many charities here in the US.

My reason for writing is that I have a friend who is originally from Wales and she is living here in the US now, and with the events that have just occurred in London she is wanting very much to crochet some things up to send "home" to the UK for donation to a charity. I would like to participate with her as well.

I was wondering if you could recommend a facility that we might be able to send our donations to, that would welcome them? Preemie items, or otherwise.

I thank you for any information you can provide in helping me to help my friend reach her goal. For information on previous charity drives I have done in the past, you can visit my original website www.psf.homestead.com as the www.onesmallthing.org site was just launched and does not contain as much information about the history of our group.
Thank you very much,
Ro Cafaro www.onesmallthing.org
in Westland, Michigan USA

Christine replies...

Hello Ro,

Thank you very much for your e mail, and thanks to you and your friend for thinking of the London people at this tragic time. Your thoughts I am sure are very much appreciated. You are quite welcome to send any charity donations to my home address.

Ray of Hope
c/o Mrs CE Cooper
6, Bradeley Road
Haslington
Nr Crewe
Cheshire
CW1 5PW.

and I will distribute them for you whichever cause needs them most. If you prefer things for a different type of charity ie Children or animals I will see to them for you also. If your friend lets you know what part of Wales she comes from I will see if they require anything at the hospital nearest to her home town, if she would like that. we do already send to several of the Welsh Hospitals. Please e mail me at any time. We are very pleased to be able to help your friend reach her goal.Ìý

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Dear Christine
Thanks for your great website. Would love to see more crochet patterns since I'm knitting-challenged : ) Also, what's a "scanning flap"? Maybe it's because I'm an American that I'm unfamiliar with the term.

Thanks for all you do and for your help.
Ann Stokes Plano, TX, USA

Christine replies...
Hi Ann,
Thanks for your e mail. I am not medical, only a knitter, so we try to follow as the staff ask. Prior to the pattern for the bonnet with a flap, some hospitals had even tried to cut a small hole in the tops of bonnets, which of course does not work with knitting. Here is the explanation our hospital has for parents whose babies are on these ventilators:

Ventilators
A ventilator is a machine that performs a very simple job. It carefully infaltes babies lungs allowing oxygen to pass in, and then allows the lungs to deflate so that the waste products of breathing can be removed. Ventilators have very complex control and alarm machanisms, which allows the Doctors to set the ventilator to babies individual needs. For the ventilation to take place, a tube is passed through the babies nostril or mouth into the trachea (windpipe). The tube is secured in place by tying it to a knitted bonnet.

This bonnet will have a flap on it so that your babies ante nor fontanelle (soft spot) is accessible for scans.

I hope this makes it clearer for you now Ann (have you seen the new pattern for a body warmer this is for babies with drips in their arms, ask your hospital if they would use those).
Chris

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Dear Ms. Cooper

I am member of a Danish online knitting community, "Webstrik" (translated Web Knit), we are organised via Yahoo. We are about 250 active members and we all love to knit and do all kinds of things with our hands.

A few days ago one of our members got the idea to knit for premature babies, for the hospital units where they take care of the prematurely born babies. Alas there is no real tradition for this in Denmark, some of the hospitals accept home made things and others don't, because it has to be treated differently than the boring, white, sad hospital clothes that they provide, ofte much too big for these small babies.

Right now we are only in the beginning phases of this project - we are trying to get organised through a Danish web site (not much there yet, and it is in Danish: http://fortidligt.webbyen.dk ) and are in need of patterns. I made a search via google.com and found your site and see that you have really many beautiful and practical patterns. Now I was wondering if we could be allowed to take some of those patterns and translate them into Danish (I am a freelance translator) to use them on our web site where it is the plan to create a free patterns' data base.

In anticipation
Bettina L. Lundgaard,
Denmark

Christine replies...
Hello Bettina, Thank you for youe e mail. We would be more than pleased to help you and the Danish Hospitals.Most of our patterns are all tried and tested. We find the most popular things are the pull on bob hat, and the little ventilator bonnet with a flap so that babies head can be scanned quickly and easily.

We are quite happy for you to translate and use the patterns from our web site. The only thing we would ask is that they are credited to usas The Ray of Hope UK patterns. Perhaps you could include our web site for the ladies who speak English, and if you wish to translate some of the information pages (measurements etc) that will be fine also.

Good Luck with your project. Please keep in touch and let us know how it all goes.Ìý

****

Dear Christine
I just wanted to pass on my thanks to all your knitters for the wonderful box of knitted items I received in the post from you. The tiny cardigans, hats and booties have gone to Pembury & Maidstone hospitals in Kent to dress the tiny babies born too soon, those in the SCBU and those who are still born. Having lost a child myself I know just how much it means that others care enough to take the time to make something for a child and for parents they will never know. Thank you to everyone and keep up the good work.
Lorna Simm
Edenbridge, Kent

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Dear Christine
Hi there, I just found your web site and had to let you know how helpful it has been. I was looking for some different patterns for premmies, (I make clothing for several hospitals here in New Zealand). I am also making some items that will be sent to Uganda for refugee and sick children. I also make small quilts for parents of stillborn/neonatal death babies. These quilts look lovely in the coffin which gives the parents a treasured memory of their babies. I can't wait to try some of the patterns out and I will let the midwifes know about your web site.
Take care,
Meryl

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Dear Christine
I am writing to thank you for a wonderful site. I am a mother to 3 Angels. My 1st Evan was born sleeping at 24 weeks in 98, then Adam was born sleeping at 19 weeks in 03 . My 3rd Angel Bo was born on the 23rd of March 05.
I have found it so hard to find anything that was suitable to bury them in. For Evan I managed to buy a tiny baby grown then I took it apart and cut some out and sewed it back together. With Adam it was harder because he was so small. I managed to knit him a blanket then I lined it with a soft baby sheet. I faced the same problem with Bo, until my sister found your site.
I am new to knitting so I don't really know how to do all the stitching and read the patterns. My sister is going to knit the burial gown for Bo. She is going to knit a copy so I can keep one.
What I wanted to know was how do I go about contacting my local hospitals to see what help they need. I know how much having these kind of items means to a mother who has lost her baby. I hope I can improve my knitting skills so I can start to make some of these items for others in need.
Thank you for such a wonderful site.
Lane

Christine replies...
Dear Lane, thank you so much for your letter. It is very brave of you to write it. I am only pleased that in this small way we were able to help you. Are you in the UK? Can we do anything else to help? Would you mind if we put your letter up on the babytalk page (without your e mail of course). It helps some of our knitters/sewers to understand how very important these tiny garments are.
With all our very best wishes...

***

Dear Christine
Thank you for your reply. Yes I do live in the UK. I live in south Wales. The hospitals close to me are the Royal Gwent Hospital and Nevil Hall in Abergaveny. I have given birth in both of these hospitals. Please feel free to add my letter to the baby talk page. You are right that it really does mean so much for us to receive these items.
The only other thing that I can add is that when these things are given to the parents of babies who were born sleeping is to give them two of whatever is given so that they can keep one to remind them of their child. In my experience most of these mother don't know about things they can do to create memories of their babies.
I have been thinking for sometime now about doing something. I am a member of a few online support groups in the States as there aren't too many in the UK. Some of the mothers on the site have started to get groups of people together to donate memory boxes so that the parents can take something home. I have also thought about trying to write some sort of information booklet to send to the hospitals. Telling them all the things that were important to myself and other mothers I have talked to.
When my 1st Evan was born I had no idea that I could have spent more time with him, or had my own photos taken. I was lucky because the hospital staff took a few Polaroids, but I have since learned that I could have had photos taken with my baby. They also weighed, measured and took hand and foot prints of Evan.
With my 2nd loss Adam I made sure I took photos but because he was small the staff didn't weigh or measure him and there were also no foot prints taken. With my 3rd loss Bo I made sure that these things were done, but they were only done because I asked.
These tiny details are so special to me and I want to find away to give other mothers the memories, the blankets and clothes being some of those memories. I hope I haven't gone on too much and thank you once again for doing what you do.
Lane

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Dear Christine
I've checked out your "Ray of Hope" site and need some yarn information. I'm writing from the United States and would like to know if your 4 ply yarn is the same weight as our 4 ply knitting worsted? I spoke with an English friend here and she thought that it was finer. The knitting worsted seems rather heavy to me. I did one of the Angel Pockets and would like to do more things. My daughter works in a Neo-natal ICU in Florida and says she could use the items and thought the Angel Pockets were a very nice idea.. Can you help or direct me to where I can get help. I knit, but am self taught and don't know some of the finer details, I can pretty much follow a pattern. Thank you very much and looking forward to hearing from you.
Pat Mackey

Christine replies...
Hi Pat,
Our 4 ply I think is your fingering. Knits about 28 sts to 4". Our Double knit is your sport 22-24 Sts to 4" weight. And our Aran weight is your worsted weight 20 Sts to 4".
Hope this helps.

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Dear Christine
Thanks for getting back to me.... now I have a better idea of what to do. Will let you know how the project turns out for my daughter's unit at her hospital.
Again, thanks so much.
Pat Mackey

Christine replies...
Hi Pat,
That's great, I hope they find our patterns useful. I will put this on the babytalk page (no e mail for you of course). Would it be OK to use your name? It's just that other people may find the answers useful.

***

Dear Christine
You can use my name... and I'm glad if it helps others. Knitters always have left over yarn and a couple of organizations I belong to may even be interested in using this as a community outreach project. I will present it to them.
Thank You.
Pat Mackey

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Dear Christine
After 6 months of knitting baby clothes for Ray of Hope, I have suddenly realised the obvious. While clearing out some old shirts from my husband's wardrobe, I noticed that the buttons I buy for the babies are the same size as on shirts! An average shirt yields 10 buttons (not forgetting the sleeves and the spare one inside), which is enough for 2 body warmers. After half an hour with a pair of scissors, I now have a large collection of little white and blue buttons and a pile of buttonless shirts for the council's new textile recycling scheme. So get those shirts liberated and you may never need to buy baby buttons again.
Janet

Christine replies...
Hi Janet,
Thanks for that, great tip. I hadn't thought of it myself. Any more similar ideas folks? please share them with us.

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Dear Christine
Thanks so much for the baby patterns. I make these up and sure enough somebody needs them it's hard to have a special baby it's better if somebody elese shows they can help to. You had some very tasteful patterns I liked the hospital hats a group of my friends do hats for the tiny hospital babies in the special unit. Thanks again! For the love of a tiny baby and their stressed out family.
Teresa

Christine replies...
Hi Teresa,
Thank you for your E Mail to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Stoke and for your kind comments about the site. I know how stressfull it can be for parents who can not find tiny things or low birth weight babies. Sometimes when they do manage to find them they are too expensive for them to afford. That is why all you knitters do such a wonderful job. You are filling a gap that takes a little stress from mum and giving a great deal of satisfaction to the staff who are able to offer these tiny garments. It is a long time now since one of my own twins was in an incubator and it was very difficult then to find patterns at all for small babies. What country are you in by the way?
°ä³ó°ù¾±²õ³Ù¾±²Ô±ðÌý

***

Dear Christine
Thanks for your wonderful site and patterns. I have used many of them to knit for my local S.C.U.B.A Nottingham City hospital which I have been donating to for a year. I am also a member of the Bonnie Babies group in Scotland and send them a few items when I can as they helped me a lot in the begining with sizes patterns e.t.c and have now made some very good friends due to their site
Thank you
Linda

Christine replies...
Hi Linda,
So pleased you like the patterns, we try to make the site easy to follow and answer a few questions as to why we do things the way we do. We are in constant touch with the hospitals listening to what kind of things they need. The flat body warmer pattern is one of the latest. It was a suggestion from staff on the neonatal wards and it now seems to be well used. Have you tried that at your Nottingham Hospital (The one with the little buttons on the shoulders)? We would be interested to hear what they think. If you scroll down to the very first letter on the babytalk page you will see it was from Debbie when she started her hospital knitting. They are a good group and we were pleased to help her when she first started. We also have a group. It's on yahoo rayofhopeuk@yahoogroups.com. I think we have that listed under sewing in fact. Keep up the good work.
°ä³ó°ù¾±²õ³Ù¾±²Ô±ðÌý

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Dear Christine
I have just found the book, Knit Lit in my local public library, and am fascinated by all the stories. What a wonderful idea to collect them all together! I loved reading so many experiences, about knitting, and now I want to read the second book. So I have ordered it from my bookshop but have to wait about 3 weeks. That will be hard.
Your story was especially interesting to me, as we have similar projects going on here, knitting for the hospitals , premature babies in particular. I have not done that myself, but am involved in a blanket knitting project. We are knitting for orphans in cold countries like the Ukraine and Romania. We make Peggy Squares and they are sewn up into blankets, about single bed size and some smaller for cots. Last year 3000 blankets were sent from N.Z. So it has now become an on going activity.
Yes it certainly is an addiction. I slowed down after my children grew up and have been inspired to get going again, now that I've become aware of the need everywhere for warm knitted garments . There is truly nothing better than something handmade from wool.!! Best wishes and good luck for all your efforts.

Yours....
Anne Ansted

Christine replies...
Hi Anne,
Thank you for your comments about the article in Knit Lit. I have found the book very interesting myself. I had a copy sent to me by the publishers in America. I have never seen it in any of the English bookshops, perhaps some one else has and can tell me where. I did not send an entry into the 2nd edition as most of the things we have to say can now be read here on our Radio Stoke web pages. We have had several contacts from America because of the book, including a shawl ministry who are pleased to use our patterns.
Christine