Flo has just one tube in now, which is lovely considering how many she had just a few weeks ago. Her remaining tube is her feeding tube which goes into her nose and down into her tummy. We’re hoping that in the future Florence will be able to feed orally and so we can get rid of this, but for now it is essential to her survival, delivering her food and medicines safely and reliably into her belly.
However Florence doesn’t really appreciate this and thinks that the tube is very annoying and simply must go. Several times she has hooked her tiny fingers under the tube and whipped it out of her nose quicker than you can scream ‘NO!’ She’s very pleased with herself until she realises that it has to go back in, which isn’t that pleasant and sometimes involves a trip to x-ray afterwards to check it’s in the right place. What a palaver. So something had to be done.
We first tried the common little cotton scratch mitts, but these dwarfed Flo’s tiny hands and with one quick wave of her fists they were flying across the room. Of course I found the solution in knitting. It took less than an hour to make a pair of Flo sized mittens and they managed to stay on her hands successfully so I thought I’d share my super basic pattern with you just in case you know a tiny baby that likes to scratch or pull out important tubes.
Premature or small baby scratch mittens:
Yarn: Oddments of Rowan Fine Milk Cotton
Needles: 3mm and 3.25mm needles
Notions: Tapestry needle
Pattern:
Using 3mm needles CO 10st loosely
Knit 6 rows in K1 P1 rib
Next row: K1, M1, K3, M1, K2, M1, K3, M1, K1 (14 St)
Next row: Purl
Continue to stocking stitch for a further 32 rows
Next row (RS): K1, K2tog, K2, K2tog (x2), K2, K2tog, K1 (10 St)
Knit 6 rows in K1 P1 rib
BO all stitches loosely.
However Florence doesn’t really appreciate this and thinks that the tube is very annoying and simply must go. Several times she has hooked her tiny fingers under the tube and whipped it out of her nose quicker than you can scream ‘NO!’ She’s very pleased with herself until she realises that it has to go back in, which isn’t that pleasant and sometimes involves a trip to x-ray afterwards to check it’s in the right place. What a palaver. So something had to be done.
We first tried the common little cotton scratch mitts, but these dwarfed Flo’s tiny hands and with one quick wave of her fists they were flying across the room. Of course I found the solution in knitting. It took less than an hour to make a pair of Flo sized mittens and they managed to stay on her hands successfully so I thought I’d share my super basic pattern with you just in case you know a tiny baby that likes to scratch or pull out important tubes.
Premature or small baby scratch mittens:
Yarn: Oddments of Rowan Fine Milk Cotton
Needles: 3mm and 3.25mm needles
Notions: Tapestry needle
Pattern:
Using 3mm needles CO 10st loosely
Knit 6 rows in K1 P1 rib
Next row: K1, M1, K3, M1, K2, M1, K3, M1, K1 (14 St)
Next row: Purl
Continue to stocking stitch for a further 32 rows
Next row (RS): K1, K2tog, K2, K2tog (x2), K2, K2tog, K1 (10 St)
Knit 6 rows in K1 P1 rib
BO all stitches loosely.
Stripes are optional.
Finishing:
Finishing:
Fold strip in half and sew side seams using cast on and bind off tails at the rib edge.
Ahh, how cute, she really looks like she's put some weight on, and I detect some of her mother's colouring in her hair....
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