We have now sent over 2000 garments to 33 hospitals. A big thankyou to all who have been involved so far and who continue to do so much.

If you have not been involved so far and would like to you can email us at the shop or call on the number at the top of this page. All are welcome to help at any standard as there are paterns for all levels or you can come into Bakewell and we will get you started.

On the 2nd April 2008 Daphne and Dean from Wye Needlecraft visited Sheffield Neonatal Unit at the Jessop Wing. There they took the little knitted clothes (knitted by staff and customers) and also met some mums and babies. Read more here.

10th April 2008: The Sheffield Star Newspaper have published an article on Wye Needlecraft's Big Knit for premature babies.

17th April 2008: Here's the article that was in today's Matlock Mercury. It will also be in tomorrow's Peak Times and the Bakewell Community Newsletter.  

Whats needed now - Blankets   2 July 2008

We do not have a specific pattern for blankets, but 14” x 14” square (approx) and 18” x 24” (approx) are the most requested sizes. We are also asked for some larger blankets which can be made from joined squares.
Hospitals ask that we avoid knitting blankets in lacy, open stitches or heavily textured, ridged patterns. Tiny, fragile fingers can easily be damaged by being caught in holes and loose stitches. Please also avoid crochet blankets for the same reason.
D.K. Baby Yarn is the most often used but 4 ply and Baby Aran yarns are also suitable.
The whole blanket can be knitted in garter stitch. However, the central part of the blanket can be knitted in stocking stitch or variations of Knit & Purl stitches.
If you do this, please knit a garter stitch border at least 1 – 1.5” wide all round. This ensures the blanket will lie flat without the edges curling up.
Fluffy and textured yarns are not suitable, even if labelled ‘For Baby Use’ . Premature babies have very thin skins and such yarns can easily damage them.

Many thanks again for your help, please send these to us so we can forward them to the correct baby unit