Zoo Babies

Our next hat collection is starting, and the goal is to raise 500 animal hats! I CANNOT wait to start finding these in my mailbox! I am even more excited to be able to bring them up to the NICU at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital!

I had been hoping to post patterns and links to patterns written by myself and others, and I am so thankful for those who have designed patterns for this next collection! You are such a blessing to this project and to all of those families who will receive our hats. You can find our list of patterns below. PLEASE keep checking back, because I am hoping to add more as designers get back to me.

I think it would be awesome if we shared with everyone what has been made.  You can either post it to the Rosie's Cozies Facebook Page, OR use #rosiescozies for Instagram or Twitter.

I would like to have all hats to be sent in by March 23rd (or so). This will give me time to deliver them by Easter and bless all those babes with some cute little hats :-)  Hats being sent to me can be mailed to the address below, or I TOTALLY understand if you want to send them to your own local NICU:

Rosie's Cozies

6026 Kalamazoo Ave SE #119

Kentwood, MI 49508

Thank you again to all of our designers, as well as those of you who plan on making hats.   I know that they will be a huge blessing to the families who receive them.  I think I am most excited about this collection than any other that we have done so far!  

One quick reminder!  The hat patterns below are written for preemie size.  Do not be afraid to go up a hook or down a hook to make hats in all different sizes.  The NICU needs hats for babies as small as 1lb and as large as 10+lbs.  Babies grow quickly, and as they get bigger they will need larger hats.  

Okay, get those hooks ready, because I know you are going to want to make at least one of each of the adorable hats below!

The Dainty Daisy Owl 

 The Dainty Daisy Monkey

Calleigh's Clips & Crochet Creations Tiger

My Sweet Potato 3 Hippo

Niccupp Crochet Sock Monkey

Deanna from Dandy Mountain Boutique created the following hats.  She does not have a blog, but be sure to show her some love at her Facebook page.  Below you can find the links to the pdfs:

Dandy Mountain Boutique Zebra

Dandy Mountain Boutique Lion

Dandy Mountain Boutique Chick

Dandy Mountain Boutique Giraffe



Below are the hats I already hast listed elsewhere on this blog.

 Bear

 Winnie The Pooh

Kitty 18-20 Week Gestation

Monkey 16-18 Gestation

Owl

I'm Back!

I have seriously neglected this blog over the past month!  It is time to fill you in on what we have been doing and projects I have worked on.

First, my personal life is going great!  I am 19 weeks pregnant and we just found out that we are having another little girl.  We are overjoyed and thankful for a healthy little girl.  I can't wait to start making her and Belle matching hats for the winter :-)  Below are some pictures of Baby Girl Thompson:

My crocheting has taken a bit of a back seat to the busy-ness of summer.  I have been completing projects, but not near as many as I would like to, so I think I am back in the saddle and ready to get those hooks moving.  I just finished a project for a friend who is due in 3 weeks.  She wanted a soccer ball hat, and I found the PERFECT pattern here at My Sweet Potato 3.  The pattern is the best I have found to represent soccer ball and the hat turned out great!  The designer was also EXTREMELY helpful and answered any question I had.

The most recent project I have been working on are some micro preemie hats.  My sister's friend delivered her baby at 23 weeks.  Rosie was born at 1lb 7oz and is currently fighting for her life.  Her birth story is unreal and amazing all at the same time you can read it here in the words of her parents:

"Rosanna was born unexpectedly on Sunday, June 12th at 10:30am.  She was 23 weeks and 2 days along.  “Rose,” “Rosie” was delivered by her terrified father in our master bathroom and kept alive by her amazing, professional mother performing CPR until the medics arrived.  Rose was rushed to the hospital and welcomed by a group of 40 people consisting of nurses, doctors, techs, social workers and chaplains.  She was born 1 pound and 7 ounces and has more hair on her head than her sister!"

So, since posting about this on my Facebook page I have had many people ask to see pictures of the hats and to know the yarn and pattern I use.  In all honesty, I think sizing for micro-preemies is the hardest.  I have never seen a baby that small in my life and can only guess what will work, therefore I have made little Rosie quite a few hats with some differences in sizing.  I figure that if some are too small they can be donated to the NICU for a baby who has a smaller head and if they are too big then Rosie will grow into them.  This is the least I can do for Rosie, her parents, and her big sister. 

Obviously, prayer is the greatest thing I can do for this family and I beg that you join me in praying for this little peanut as she fights for her life.  I pray God gives her parents strength, peace, and that He reveals His plan to them. 

Below are the hats I have made for Rosie:

Marilyn Marie

My friend from college, Shawna, had asked me to make a hat for her friend's baby, Marilyn. Marilyn was born way too early and is a teeny tiny micro preemie. Shawna told me to make the hat for a 3lb baby. I used the pattern I posted in my last post. This hat was SO tiny, and it looks like the hat was even a little big for Marilyn! Looks like I might tweek my pattern for a baby this small. I just didn't realize how little their heads could be.

Anyway, Shawna took pictures of little Marilyn yesterday in the hat I made for her. It is so adorable because the hat is one of my Mega Flower Beanies and the flower is bigger than her head! The pictures remind me of how powerful God is. This baby was born way too early and so small, yet she is going to be okay. I can't imagine how someone so small can make it, but God is good and is taking care of her. She is another one of God's amazing, but teeny tiny miracles.

Shawna told me that the hat was the talk of the NICU and one of the nurses is in charge of creating the March of Dimes poster for Ann Arbor and is putting one of Shawna's pics (so exciting for her!) on the poster, AND it will be a pic of Marilyn in my hat! They also want my business card to give to families in their NICU to buy hats for their little miracles!

I have to say, that although I LOVE to crochet it makes it even more worth it when I get to see my hats on the recipients. This hat in particular has really touched me. Seeing the pictures of this little girl with tubes all around her, but with this HUGE flower on her head just brings a smile to my face. I know it is just a hat, but I hope it has brought joy to this family and that I will be able to make little Marilyn bigger hats as she grows and gets stronger.

God is so good.