The Happy Knappy is a knitted nappy complete with five circles of different coloured poop to represent the normal colour changes that accompany a good intake of breast milk in the first five days of a baby’s life. Day one is represented by black knitted poop, day two is black with a hint of bottle green, day three is a transitional khaki green colour, day four is a rich brown with day five being mustard. Alison Blenkinsop, the creator of the Happy Knappy shares her pattern here.

Knappy

Cream or white chunky or two strands of DK wool (20-25gm) and size seven or eight needles.

Cast on 36 stitches loosely.

Knit six rows (slip the first stitch loosely of each row, to keep the edge neat).

Row seven: decrease one at the beginning and end of the row—this looks neatest by reversing the direction of the stitch at opposite ends, i.e. slip one, decrease one, (slip one, knit one, pass slipped stitch over), knit to last three stitches, knit two together, knit one.

Row 8: knit.

Continue to decrease one at each end of alternate rows until 16 stitches remain (27 rows).

Knit 19 rows.

Row 47: increase one at the beginning and end of alternate rows to get 36 stitches (i.e., slip one, increase one, knit to last two stitches, increase one, knit one).

Row 66: knit six rows.

Cast off firmly.

Poos

Wool—double-knit thickness, or two strands of four-ply which can give a mottled or in-between effect if you can’t find the right colour. Two strands also makes for neater increases. Textured wool is good for the last two days. You will need four to five metres (13-16 feet). Size 10 or 11 needles.

Colours and stitches for the different days:

Day one, black—stocking stitch right side out.

Day two, dark green/black plus dark green—stocking stitch right side out.

Day three, sludgy browny-green—stocking stitch wrong side out.

Day four, browny-yellow—garter stitch is fine if textured, or stocking stitch wrong side out.

Day five, golden/mustard yellow—garter stitch is fine if textured, or moss stitch.

Cast on 7.

Work as above; for days one to three (and four if not using moss stitch).

First row: purl

Second row: increase at each end of alternate rows until 15 stitches (experiment to get the shape you want). If using two strands of wool, increase by working each strand separately

Decrease at each end of alternate rows until seven stitches remain.

Cast off.

Sew poos invisibly on knappy as shown in picture.

©Alison Blenkinsop 2014 aliblenk@hotmail.com

The Happy Knappy can be used as a teaching aid to illustrate the song ‘The Five Days of Feeding’ from Alison’s book Fit to Bust, a comic treasure chest, chapter 5.

The Five Days of Feeding

to the tune of “The Twelve days of Christmas”

On the first day of feeding,
your babe will give to you
a wee and a sticky black poo.
On the second day of feeding,
your babe will give to you
two little wees
and a less sticky, thinner dark poo.
On the third day of feeding,
your babe will give to you
three little wees, two little burps
and a big greeny-browny soft poo.
On the fourth day of feeding,
your babe will give to you
four little wees, three little farts, two little burps
and a nice runny toffee-brown poo.
On the fifth day of feeding,
your babe will give to you
five bi-ig wees;
four little farts,
three big burps,
two overflows,
and a large golden mustard-seed poo!

©Alison Blenkinsop 2014 aliblenk@hotmail.com

Alison Blenkinsop qualified as a midwife in 1974 and worked in Pakistan for 13 years. After returning to her United Kingdom practice, she became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in 1999. She retired from the National Health Service (NHS) after five years as a hospital Infant Feeding Adviser, and continued in private practice as an IBCLC until 2009. She combined these experiences with her love of song-parodies to write Fit to Bust, now in its second edition (pub. Lonely Scribe). The book celebrates breastfeeding and motherhood in songs and stories from around the world, and includes research-based information for parents and teaching resources for health workers. The sales support the work of Baby Milk Action, which campaigns to protect all babies by limiting unethical formula promotion.