Preemie Hats with Scrap Yarn

At an art show a year or so ago I heard a woman ask what does one do with the leftover bits of yarn from projects. The woman was a vendor cranking out crocheted hats. At the time the answer was obvious to me, use them to make stripes in the hats. She gave me a facial expression that I'm sure what meant, surprise that she hadn't thought of that already, surprise that I would state the obvious, or that confused surprised look of but with the little scrap balls you never quite know how much is on there so it's a guessing game to know if the stripe will make a full circuit but didn't want to get into that topic, or maybe the odd expression on her face was that she just remembered she'd left the iron on at home or the water running...

Here's a perfect project to use up all that leftover yarn. I'm sure there are more ways to use up bits of yarn but I like this one. Preemie or newborn hats. They don't take much yarn. You can go for the striped look or the half and half look or all sorts of options. It's a good way to experiment with color, actually. They're small and whip up real fast. And then you can take them to the local hospital or clinic or charity for newborns and/or premature babies.

For the preemie hats using Homespun yarn or similar heavy weight yarn I cast on 12 stitches per needle for a newborn and 10 stitches per needle for a preemie hat, using size 8 double pointed needles and knitting in the round. I love knitting in the round with wood double pointed needles. For smaller weight yarn you can go smaller in needle size and more stitches per needle but will probably end up using the metal needles then. I don't mind the metal needles once you get a few rows done but until then they always feel like they're sliding off. Once you get two or three rows done then it tightens up and holds in place. You can do a ribbing also, which seems to have faded from modern photo prop baby knit hats but which is done to allow some stretch. I suppose for the photo prop hats they're only on a few minutes while the baby is being posed, compared to real world. But babies in general really don't move around a whole lot when they're that small so ribbing is definitely optional. I like going back and forth and back and forth with knit-purl--except on metal needles in the first row or two or three. Experiment, play, be daring, do what you feel like. After all, it's about having fun and in the end there is a delicate, delicious little cap for a preemie or newborn.

I avoided using wool and stuck with yarns that are washable.