Knit for premature babies

Take a look at our selection of downloadable patterns to enable you to knit clothing, blankets and toys for premature babies. Before you get started, please check with your local neonatal unit about what items they need.

All of our patterns are free to download, but if you use them, we hope that you’ll consider making a donation.

This helps us ensure that premature and sick babies across the UK have the best possible chance of leading healthy, happy lives.

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Where should I send my knitting?

Before you start knitting, please contact your local neonatal unit to find out what items they require. We ask you to send your completed knitting to them directly, as they are best placed to put it to good use.

Please don’t send your items to our head office, as we will incur the cost of posting them on to units.

How else can I support Bliss?

There are lots of ways you can get involved and support our work.

Take a look at our events you can get involved in or find out about opportunities to volunteer for us.

Crochet octopuses

We have seen there are a few appeals calling on people to crochet octopuses for premature babies circulating online. This idea actually came from Denmark, and Bliss was not involved in the research behind the octopus idea, or the appeals to crochet the octopuses.

If you are interested in knitting these octopuses, please check whether or not your local neonatal unit is prepared to accept the finished octopus. Hospitals have different criteria for infection control, so may not be able to take them.

Please don’t send anything to Bliss as we will not be able to distribute the octopuses.

You can find a PDF version of the Danish knitting pattern

Download knitting patterns