DETROIT (AP) — Joelle Haley went into labor on Christmas Day, giving birth to a son two days later — premature at 24 weeks. In the soothing darkness of a Detroit hospital room a little something was missing for the newborn Kieran and his mom. Turns out that something was a colorful batch of soft yarn Haley would crochet into a small, tentacled octopus.For preemies in the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at DMC Hutzel Women’s Hospital, dozens of the cuddly, donated octopi get their attention and help keep small hands from grabbing and tugging on tubes and wires that help keep them alive.“It was very hard to leave my son here, knowing he was in good hands even, because I was afraid ‘what if he’s upset and he has nothing or no one to comfort him in that moment?’” Haley said Thursday. “Just knowing he has something near him that brings him comfort helps me feel better so that I can also take care of me.”
Called Amigurumi, from the Japanese art of crafting small plush animals from yarn, the octopi are mostly crocheted in a blaze of colors.Haley began making the octopi after overhearing a nurse saying some would be helpful in the NICU. Having crocheted since second grade, the 30-year-old began filling that need, so far making about 20. She also reached across social media for help.
