Preemie Crochet Challenge 2021
Welcome to the Preemie Crochet Challenge 2021!
Last year was absolutely fantastic and the support and pledges from other designers and crocheters within the crochet community was fabulous! 2021 will be no different! We are hoping to surpass the pledge count from last year (which was over 22,000 pledges!) and are aiming for over 30,000 this year!
You can read about why this challenge means so much to us at Sunflower Cottage Crochet HQ here
How does the challenge work?
Unfortunately the challenge has now ended and the codes have all expired. I have kept all of the patterns below as a round up post and separated them into free and paid for you. Just click the pic of the pattern and you will directed where you need to go!
- Each day at 8am London time I will update this blog post with that day’s featured pattern.
- I will give you the code and links you need. If the designer has a blog I will be direct you there for more information about the pattern, if not you will be taken directly to Ravelry.
- You will decide if you would like that pattern.
- By accepting the free pdf download you are pledging to donate at least one made item from that pattern to a Preemie charity / organisation / NICU / family of your choosing.
- The patterns below will be categorised as the event progresses to make it easier for you to establish which patterns are still available, which are available free on the designers blog, and which are now only paid patterns. The first pattern will be the featured pattern for that day.
We have kept a round up of last year’s patterns that were donated to the challenge for your reference. Many of the patterns are still available free on the designers blog and a couple will always be free on Ravelry! You can check out that post here.
Dont forget you can join our Community FaceBook group and share your makes from this challenge or roundup with us!
Make sure you get your daily notifications of our events!
You can get daily notifications for the featured patterns in any of our events in several ways.
- Sign up to our special cal sand events newsletter by clicking the button below!
- Like and follow our Facebook Page
- Join our Facebook Community
- Follow us on Instagram
Of course, you can also sign up for our weekly newsletter. It’s full of pattern releases, news, and a coupon code to use as many times as you like that month. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page if you missed the pop up!
Can we talk bonding squares for a moment?
These unassuming little squares really pack a punch when it comes to preemie babies and the bonding process with mum. Bonding squares are made in pairs so please make even number of these. The great thing is that they are usually between 5″ and 7″ square so don’t take a lot of time or yarn! Have you heard of bonding squares before? As mentioned they are made in pairs and used when mum cannot hold or be with her baby for whatever reason. Mum wears one of them against her skin for a few hours so that her scent is transferred to the square. The square is then given to baby and mum gets the other square to repeat the process. Baby learns their mum’s scent. This is so important to both mum and baby while cuddles are a no-no or very limited. Mum knows she is still doing something important for her baby at a time when all too often she may feel useless and frustrated . It also helps the bonding process for both baby and mum when they can cuddle each other! Babies have poor eyesight but their sense of smell is just fine!
Available free on the designer’s blog (click the photos to go to the designer’s blog) :
Wenona Preemie Cocoon by Sunflower Cottage Crochet
Today is our turn to be featured in this event with a sweet preemie cocoon. This one uses the N stitch (we have video tutorials linked in our blog post for these!) and has a little shell flourish on the top. If you dont want shells you could add a few more rounds of N stitch.
Wenona Preemie Beanie by Sunflower Cottage Crochet
This cute beanie perfectly matches the Wenona Preemie Cocoon (which is still available – see below for the code and link if you have not already got your copy!)
Sara tells you how to easily adjust the size for this beanie to make it for a bigger baby head circumference.
Easy Crochet Blanket by Underground Crafter
Marie has donated this pattern to us for the challenge this year! I am so honoured she has joined us as I have been following her for a while. Marie refers to this as an easy crochet blanket so it is suitable for all skill levels. You could pick out a couple of colours to use, go with one or literally just grab your scrap bucket and get making! Once you have made one to donate you could easily keep going and make a bigger scrapghan!
Citrus Hat Trio by Hooked for Life Publishing (Mary Beth Temple)
The Citrus hat trio is a super quick project that uses sport weight yarn and a 3.5mm hook. In Mary Beth’s post she mentions that a preemie hat fits and orange and the newborn hat fits a grapefruit! It comes in 3 sizes. Preemie size 1 is free on the blog with the other sizes in the paid pdf version. More info in her blog post.
Sunshine Baby Hat by My Fingers Fly
Lisa from My Fingers Fly has designed this cute Sunshine Baby Hat for the challenge this year! The main hat will work up super quick and the sweet shells around the outside just finish this one fabulously!
Elizabeth Bonding Squares by Itchin’ for Some Stitchin’
Raelynn was a super star and jumped into the challenge again this year to fill a gap after the original designer had to pull out. She has designed these really pretty bonding squares. They have such a wonderful texture and are a super quick make – ideal for using up your part skeins before buying new yarn to fill the gap!
Paragon Plaid Blanket by HanJan Crochet
Our final pattern in the 2021 Preemie Crochet Challenge was this pretty offering by Hannah over at HanJan Crochet. It is beginner friendly and you could have so much fun with the colours you use.
Hannah’s post is quite interesting because it tells you the difference between all of the different check styles there are out there, so if you are a bit more geeky like me then this is definitely worth a read!
Brierley Preemie Blanket by Through The Loop Yarn Craft
We are thrilled that Ashley has joined us again this year! Last year she designed some really cute hats for us. This year it is the Brierley Preemie Blanket. This one uses the herringbone stitch to create this beautiful texture. (It’s not as difficult as it sounds if you are new to it.) Grey seems to be the ‘in’ colour for baby things at the moment, and I really like it. This one will work up very quickly.
Preemie Bunny Beanie Pattern by Fosbas Designs
This bunny beanie is so cute!! To make it you will need a 4mm hook and approx 50 yard of main colour and 20 yards of contrasting colour in #3 weight yarn (DK). The finished hat will be approximately 10″ by 6″. I just adore the use of the V stitch in this one.
Dr Inky the Octopus by Creative Snugglies
There is a reason why the NICU’s etc love these – they work! The tentacles remind babies of the umbilical cord in the womb and they help to calm the babies. I am so pleased that Christina from Creative Snugglies contributed this design.
Sweet Stars Bonding Squares by Green Fox Farms Designs
I have just added some information above to explain what bonding squares are. Apparently they are used throughout Europe but not necessarily known about too much in America. Let’s change that!! They are so important and this challenge has helped to highlight that.
Lisa has designed our first bonding squares of the challenge. Coincidentally she is also releasing her matching baby blanket today too (but that unfortunately is not a challenge pattern).
Piper’s Blankie by Juniper and Oakes
This cozy looking blank uses Bernat Velvet yarn (or any #5 weight yarn), 6mm hook and the moss and shell stitch. I love the overall effect of it. Bernat Velvet is a yarn that I love to touch but rarely work with! Erin named this one after her adorable daughter.
Snuggle Bonding Squares by Crafting Each Day
These beautiful Snuggle Bonding Squares by Suzanne at Crafting Each Day use around 70 yards of #3 weight (DK) yarn and a 4mm hook.
Suzanne has also given you the stitch multiple so you can make a matching blanket to donate in this simple but very pretty stitch combo too if you would like to make a set.
Clustered Beanie by Crochet and Twists
Isn’t this clustered beanie by Crochet and Twists fabulous? I am loving the textures that run through this one and the way that the colour change just makes it pop!
The Fledgling Baby Afghan by The Loophole Fox
This gorgeous beginner friendly pattern uses the moss stitch (sc and chains) to help create this stunning texture. The colour blocking Shannon has used just makes it pop and look absolutely fantastic! Despite using sc once you get into the rhythm with this stitch (which you will do quickly) it works up fairly fast!
Woven Crochet Baby Blanket by Blue Star Crochet
You can really get through some of your scraps (of at least 1 metre long) while making this blanket! Those little pops of colour are fantastic and really set off this blanket. It requires 3 weight yarn and a 4mm hook (although the pattern will work with worsted weight and an appropriate sized hook).
Newborn Preemie Blanket by Crochets by Trista
In a slight change to the order of the patterns today (apologies if you were expecting a hat – that will come tomorrow!) we have this fabulous preemie blanket by Crochets by Trista.
This pattern uses #3 weight yarn and a 5mm hook. It is also a great one for for beginners as it uses sc, hdc and tc (US terms) but it will also keep more experienced crocheters interested too! The texture Trista has created is just beautiful.
Lexi Tunisian Blanket by Ambassador Crochet
This is a great project to practice your Tunisian skills on – especially if you recently completed our Learn to Tunisian Crochet course!
Actually, Kristine was the one who taught me how to do Tunisian Crochet! This blanket is fabulous and Kristine shows you a slightly different place to colour change that really make this blanket look stunning!
So grab your #5 weight yarn and 10mm Tunisian hook and make this fantastic blanket!
Little Lamb Lovey by Three Fates Creations
Isn’t this lovely just adorable? I love that this one mixes flannel with crochet – it really makes that super cute lamb stand out. This one is an intermediate pattern but is well worth trying if you are a confident beginner with amigurumi. The safety eyes on this one are 8mm but you could equally embroider eyes on this one.
Welcome Home Baby Bundle by Foxy Creative Crochet
This is Davina’s first year joining us for the Preemie Crochet Challenge. I am so pleased that she has! Davina has created this beautiful set for you to make. There are 3 beanie sizes up to 10lb baby , the baby mitts and the blanket. I love how cute these are together.
To get this pattern you will be directed to her blog post which will give you more information. The patterns themselves are in a password protected area of her website so the password below will work to get you into that. From there you can download the patterns. As this is not a shop you will not be asked for any personal information – just the password.
Bobble Preemie Blanket by Carroway Crochet
I am loving the way that the bobbles are made with a different colour yarn in this picture. It really makes them pop. Whether you choose one colour or several for this one it will look great! I think I am tempted to make one where the bobble sections are the colours of the rainbow. What about you?
Pam’s designs are always so bold and fabulous.
The Zig Zag Baby Blanket by Lakeview Cottage Kids
This baby blanket design is just beautiful, and sure to be used for generations! The edging finishes this one off perfectly.
Preemie Granny Lovely by MadameStitch
Debbie has used the granny stitch to design this sweet lovey for preemies. I like this take on the granny stitch with full rounds every other round which creates a more solid look to the traditional granny stitch every round.
Little Textures Sweater by Two Brothers Blankets
How cute is this pattern? Michelle is known for her garments and I am thrilled that she has contributed a sweater pattern to this year’s challenge. This sweater comes in sizes preemie to 24 months. It is an easy pattern requiring #2 weight yarn and a 5mm hook.
Anaya Baby Blanket by Pam’s Cozy Corner
The thing I most love about crochet is how with a couple of tweaks about where you place your hook, or how many pull throughs you have in a stitch, you can create such beautiful textures and patterns. This blanket by Pam’s Cozy Corner is another great example of that. Pam really loves to play around with texture!
Paired Bonding Square by Cosy Rosie UK
Fiona at Cosy Rosie has designed this paired bonding square for the challenge. It is made using paired hdc (US terms) and works up quickly. In fact this photo is of the ones I made whilst testing this pattern. You can see the texture it creates.
Sweet Preemie Hat by Rafamussa Designs
I just love this pattern (and am hoping that Raffaella makes the pattern for adult sizes too!) It looks so warm and cosy and is a great unisex pattern.
This one comes in sizes from preemie – 1 year old.
Paid Pattern only (click the photos to go to the designers blog post):
Marleen Beanie by DutchCrochetbyMdK.
This beanie is actually a great pattern to work up. I had the pleasure of testing this one for Marjolein and it looks so cute. The pattern calls for a 4mm hook and #3 weight yarn. As Marjolein notes in her post you can easily make around 10 hats from one skein of Stylecraft Special DK.
Fighter blanket by Kimberly’s Crafts
This corner to corner blanket is great if you are new to corner to corner and want to give it a go, or if you are experienced and want a quick C2C project. Kimberly has asked us to host a post for her today so you can find out more about the designer and get the links you need by clicking the button below.
Nautical NICU Blanket by Straight Hooked
This blanket is just adorable! It uses your front post and back post stitches to create the basketweave effect. For me that border just finishes this one off beautifully and makes this blanket!
There are a couple of things to note about this pattern:
- If you are in Europe, due to the cookies used you will need to click the ‘add to cart’ button on the designer’s site rather than the download button. If you are outside of Europe then the download button should work fine!
- This pattern is downloaded from the designers own website because she does not have a ravelry shop. To do this you click the button and then input your name and address (the designer does NOT get this information, but because it is a site that accepts payments it is a legal requirement for audit and security purposes should that be needed. You may remember similar information being provided to ravelry when you signed up!) Click proceed to payment. Malena has a Q&A section linked just under the buttons on her post if you have any questions or issues.
Twinkle Twinkle little Star Baby Blanket by Jo’s Crafty Hook
I love the design of this blanket – the use of hexagons, the stars in the middle of each hexagon and the way that they fit into each other. It gives this design a lot to look at both for mum and for baby (whose eyesight isn’t great at this point in their life). This is another great stash busting pattern as you could literally use any colours you have available.
Entwined Bonding Square by Clair De Lune Fiber Art
The wonderful Alison from Claire de Lune Fiber Art has designed these great bonding squares for this year’s challenge! With just a little bit of cabled texture these will be great keepsakes when little one grows up too! Check out the information above for how these small but mighty squares can help new mothers and their babies bond!
