cocoons

I've been cranking out cocoons lately. My goal is to make all the cocoons I can make with these two skeins or until I get tired of making cocoons LOL. So far, I've made the ones pictured here plus one more pink which was already sent out. The pink is Bernat Baby Sport Tiny Tulips and the blue is Bernat Baby Sport Funny Prints.

These are going to two places - Heartstrings of Houma and God's Tiny Angels. 

Although I am using my own pattern, I wanted to mention that Heartstrings has a pattern for a preemie cocoon/sacque which uses a formula I thought was interesting. At first I was like ugh math so I went my own way, creating my own pattern. But then I went back to it and once I actually did the math, it wasn't difficult at all. Kaci has kindly allowed me to share the details here.

Basically you use the length of the baby. If you don't have a specific baby in mind, no worries. Babies come in all sizes. Your cocoon will fit someone. The figures come from that starting point. (See chart below)

The formula is Length divided by 3.14 to get the diameter of your cocoon bottom. You round up to a whole number so using the "if it's less than half go down, if it's more than half go up" you will essentially be using 3 diameters - 4, 5 and 6".

Here is the chart to refer to. Click to make it larger so you can actually read it.

I'll save you the trouble of doing the figuring, however.
For babies 11.8" to 13.8" diameter is 4". That is 23 to 27 weeks gestation.
For babies 14.4 to 16.7" diameter is 5", That is 28 to 32 weeks gestation.
For 17.2" it was 5.5"so I was flummoxed whether to go up or down. LOL
For 17.7 to 20.2" diameter is 6". That is 34 to 41 weeks gestation.

To determine length of cocoon (which determines how many rounds to do) you just subtract 2 from the listed length. In other words If the length is 15", you might make your cocoon 13"'.

Here it is in chart form:

These are just guidelines, of course. For the length, I would probably just get an approximate measure. I'm not going to try and get to 9.8 but if it's around 9 1/2" to 10" I'd call it good. My thought is that if it is too long, you can fold it over. If it's too short, the baby won't be fully covered.

Note that the cocoon at Heartstrings uses velcro. I don't put velcro on mine. My past experience with velcro and yarn has been less than successful, especially in the wash. That said, if you are interested in adding it, you might like to make a sample and give it a try.

Happy crocheting!
Sandie