Can I Use Baby Yarn for Charity Projects?
Baby yarn and charity knitting go hand-in-hand
Baby yarn is a vital part of any charity knitter's 'toolkit' - in fact, you could do nothing BUT knit with baby yarn if you wanted.
CHARITY PROJECTS WITH BABY YARN
One of the most popular -- and needy -- baby yarn projects you can get involved with is to knit 'preemie hats.' Premature babies often weigh less than 5 pounds (and as little as 14 ounces!) and their internal 'thermostats' don't work very well, so hospitals love to put little baby yarn knitted caps on them until they go home from the hospital. In some cases, that could be several weeks, so knitted preemie caps are very much in demand.
Get out your baby yarn, go to Community Knitters.com and scroll down to 'Baby Hats' to get patterns. Baby yarn comes in lots of great colors, and not even just pastels anymore - you can get bright, boldly colored baby yarn these days. An average knitter can finish a cap made from baby yarn in less than an hour - they're only about the size of an orange.
Speaking of preemie hats and baby yarn, many hospitals loved the idea of those tiny caps so much that they started inviting knitters to make them for all the full-term babies, too. Those use a little MORE baby yarn, but they're still adorable!
OTHER USES FOR BABY YARN
On a much less cheery note, baby yarn can also be used to knit another need that many hospitals have, called bereavement blankets. These blankets are made to hold little angels that haven't survived - so if you want to contribute your knitting skills in that way, most hospitals would be really glad to hear from you.
Many hospitals also have gift shops or 'hospital auxiliaries' whose job it is to help raise money for special equipment and programs at the hospitals. You can use baby yarn to knit sweaters and booties, for example, or other baby needs to donate to these causes, in addition to the tiny caps.
So call your local hospital, find out what their needs are -- and get out the baby yarn.