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Knit and Crochet NICU Blanket Information + Patterns

Knots of Love donates snuggly, soft blankets to Neonatal Intensive Care Units across the country. These hand-made gifts serve as a sign that each baby is loved and in the thoughts of caring people across the country.

Since 2013 we've provided over 60,000 NICU blankets to tiny babies in need!

Recently we had a recipient of one of our NICU Blankets turn 13 years old! When she was in the NICU incubator, she received a blanket from us and it supported her and her family 3 months and 4 days. Now, 13 years later, her mother reached out and has joined our community of makers!

How NICU blankets make a difference:

❤️ Parents sleep with the blankets before placing them on these precious new lives so their scent is on the blanket when it is then provided and lovingly placed onto the baby in the NICU incubator by a Nurse -- and the baby can receive both warm from the blanket and the parents even though they cannot yet be with her or him.
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❤️ By providing comfort to parents with babies in life-altering situations, often for months at a time.

❤️ Our blankets help make the experience a little less “clinical.” and a lot more LOVING when a total stranger provides a kind and loving gift to someone they will likely never know, just because, it is the kind and right thing to do.

❤️ By adding color and warmth to an often stark clinical feeling of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit -- it helps support the NICU nurses and all of the lives-on-the-line.

❤️ By providing a gift to cherish in the future. These treasures become a keepsake after the child is well and are sometimes put on display in shadow boxes or placed in a memory box.

How you can help:

Having now provided over 60,000 beautiful and hand-knit and crochet NICU blankets to babies, we have learned a lot about what babies and their families need in order to make the difference we seek to make:

When making your NICU blankets, please:

✅ Ensure the blanket is no smaller than 30” x 24”.

✅ Use yarns on our Required Yarn List to knit or crochet a blanket.  

âś… Remember, these tiny preemie babies that sometimes weigh only 1lb will be wrapped in your blankets.

âś… Do not choose a lacy pattern because little fingers, toes, and tubes can get caught in blankets with holes.

âś… Be sure to follow our guidelines and fill out a submission form when you send your lovingly made creation(s) -- this is very important. :)

âś… Note: We do not accept preemie and/or infant hats anymore because hospitals tell us they are inundated with them.

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A Note About Our Patterns

You are welcome to download and use our free patterns if you are doing charity or volunteer work with them. If you are using these, or any Knots of Love patterns for personal use, we ask that you kindly make a donation to our nonprofit.

All patterns on this site and our online store are the copyright property of our registered non-profit Knots of Love, Inc. -- The resale, modification, and/or copying without permission is not permitted.

Thank you for respecting our copyright and supporting our mission.
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Crochet NICU Blanket Patterns

Heart to Heart
"The Easiest Heart Ever"
Two Crochet Heart Patterns in One (PDF)

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Knit NICU Blanket Patterns (Free Download)

Want to learn how to knit or crochet?

If you want to learn how to knit or crochet, we recommend purchasing one of our Knit or Crochet Beanie Kits and starting there -- then going onto a blanket using an above pattern and yarn you purchase from our
‍approved yarn list.

These charity knit and crochet starter kits are great for beginners.
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‍Click here to shop our Knit & Crochet Starter Kits.