Hummingbird Hat and Baby Bird Blanket KAL

I’m Marie from Underground Crafter and I’m so excited to be kicking off a special Knit-a-Long in support of one of my favorite charities that accepts handmade donations. This KAL also features one of my favorite Lion Brand yarns, Heartland.

About Knots of Love

Knots of Love is a non-profit organization that distributes handmade hats to people experiencing traumatic hair loss due to injury or illness, and handmade preemie blankets to infants in neonatal intensive care units around the country. Since 2007, they have distributed over 330,000 hats and they work with over 550 healthcare providers around the United States to donate over 4,000 blankets and hats each month.

Because the recipients of Knots of Love hats and blankets have sensitive skin, they only accept donations in very soft, machine washable yarns on their approved list, such as Lion Brand Heartland, Jeans and Jeans Colors, Feels Like Butta, and Landscapes.

You can learn more about Knots of Love in this video.

About the Hummingbird Hat and Baby Bird Blanket Knit-a-Long

I’ve designed a cozy hat and blanket set in Heartland with Knots of Love in mind. Both patterns are simple enough for a dedicated beginner but beautiful enough that more advanced knitters will want to join in. The Hummingbird Hat pattern will be released on May 9. The Baby Bird Blanket pattern will be released in two parts, on May 16 and 23.

• Join in by knitting each of the patterns. You can make your versions to donate to Knots of Love or a local charity, to gift, to sell, or to keep.
• Share your progress on social media. Tag your project with #lionbrand, #knotsoflove, and #undergroundcrafter. You can also tag me as @UndergroundCrafter on Facebook, MarieInNYC on Ravelry, or @ucrafter on Instagram or Twitter.
• If you’d like to chat with other knitters, join the Underground Crafters Facebook group or visit this thread in the Underground Crafter Ravelry group.
• Share your completed project pictures here by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on May 30, 2018 for your chance to win great prizes, including yarn, stitch markers, and needles.
• At the end of the KAL, you’ll have at least two great projects to donate, gift, sell, or keep.

Materials for the Hummingbird Hat

The Hummingbird Hat uses a stitch pattern that can be worked in the round or flat in rows! Depending on your preference, you can use straight needles, or knit in the round on double pointed needles (DPNs), or use the magic loop method with 30” (100 cm) circular needles. This pattern will be available in 10 sizes from preemie through adult large.

To make this pattern, you will need:

• Lion Brand Heartland yarn – 1 skein each in your main color and your contrasting color.
  • For my versions, I used 195 Biscayne as the main color and 98 Acadia as the contrasting color for the preemie sizes. I used 149 Great Smokey Mountains as the main color and 195 Biscayne as the contrasting color for the larger sizes.
• US Size 8/5 mm knitting needles, or size needed to obtain gauge. (Once you have your yarn, visit here to get the pattern for the gauge swatch.)
• Stitch marker (if knitting in the round).

Materials for the Baby Bird Blanket

The Baby Bird Blanket combines the stitch pattern used for the Hummingbird Hat with another stitch pattern to add texture. Since the blanket is knit in one piece, I recommend using 30” (100 cm) circular needles so that you don’t lose stitches because you are putting too many on the needle at once.

To make this pattern, you will need:

• Lion Brand Heartland yarn
  • For the preemie size (suitable for donation to Knots of Love): 1 skein each in your Color A and Color B.
  • For the stroller blanket size: 2 skeins each in your Color A and Color B.
  • For the baby blanket size: 3 skein each in your Color A and Color B.
  • For my versions, I used 178 Pinnacles as Color A and 156 Guadalupe Mountains as Color B.
• US Size 8/5 mm 30” (100 cm) circular knitting needles, or size needed to obtain gauge. (Once you have your yarn, visit here to get the pattern for the gauge swatch.)
• Stitch marker (if knitting in the round).

Get Ready

So, are you ready to join in the Knit-A-Long?

• Get your materials ready (see the lists above for details).
• Feel free to share our KAL button on your Ravelry project page or elsewhere on social media to spread the word. Just right click on the image to save it.

• Introduce yourself in the Underground Crafters Facebook group or this thread in the Underground Crafter Ravelry group.

I’ll be back on May 9 to get started!