It started out as a Facebook group set up to ask people for wool donations to enable knitters to create items which can be worn by premature babies.
But within a matter of weeks the Warm Baby Project has been inundated with items donated from across the country and from abroad.
Olivia Cundell, from Bury St Edmunds, was inspired to start the group following the premature birth of her friend’s grandson Frankie.
The 20-year-old said: “I have a friend whose grandson was born prematurely a couple of years ago and he was given little cardigans and hats.
“It made such a huge difference to her, people had taken the time to make these handmade knitted items. She said she wanted to give back.
“So I started the page with the initial thought for people to donate wool.”
In addition to donations of wool, keen knitters have been sending hundreds of their own creations - including cardigans, hats and blankets.
The neonatal unit at the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds have received some of the gifts and with the numbers increasing, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, and Ipswich Hospital will also be given some.
The plan is to push it out to other local hospitals.
“You would not believe how many parcels we have had,” said Miss Cundell, who runs her own T-shirt printing business. “It is constant. It has just gone huge.
“We have had them from all over the country. And we have had parcels from Holland. I set the Facebook page up a couple of weeks ago and it already has almost 300 likes.”
She added: “When they go to the hospital people are not always prepared with clothes which are small. It is nice to have that comfort of something hand knitted.
“When the babies come out of the incubators they need the cardigans to keep warm.”
In addition to the donated items, people have also been sharing the stories of their premature babies and the comfort donated blankets and cardigans provided them.
Knitting patterns and information about how to help can be found at Warm Baby Project on Facebook.
A fundraising page to pay for wool has been set up at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/projectwarmbaby
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