Warm Woolies 2008 Finale

Now that the year is winding down, and my stamina is too, I think it's about time I recap my Warm Woolies goal of knitting 100 items this year. It didn't go so well. I knit quite a lot of stuff, but didn't make my goal. I think perhaps I could have, if that was the only thing I knit all year long, but there were other responsibilities that needed attending to. I know I shouldn't feel guilty about that, but I do anyway. If you look at my accomplishment in terms of grades, I'd only get a C. I passed, but barely (this would be funnier if all of you were Jack Black fans like I am ;) . But since I'm laying it all on the line here, these are the final stats for my year of Warm Woolies knitting:

* Knit 70 items total

* Knit 55 pairs of socks, 5 Hats, 5 Vests, 1 Cardigan Coat

* Completed sections of 3 Oddball Baby Blankies

* Seamed 1 Blanket of 36 squares

* 22 squares for the Knit a Square, Join a Swap Group on Ravelry. However, I'm not counting these in my final total because it takes 36 squares to make one blankie and therefore, these do not count as one item :(

My 1st Seamed blanket for the Knit A Square, Join A Swap Group on Ravelry

Crocheted Cuteness: My last contribution to the Warm Woolies Baby Oddball Blankets Group On Ravelry

I met so many wonderful people this year working towards this goal, and among them was my blog-free pal Kathy, who sent me a ginormous box of yarn to use for WW projects. What a generous and thoughtful gesture, and I'm so glad to have gotten to know you this year Kathy! I promised that I would post a few pics of items I've made from the yarn Kathy sent, so here are the last 2 vests I'm mailing out this year. The blue/grey/black one is made entirely from yarn she sent, and all the brown yarns in the second vest came from her stash as well. Thank you again Kathy!

My knitty friend Troy, also contributed to my endeavor with 10 adorable hats that he knit for me to send to WW. He tells me that I should count them in my total, as he knit them for me to do so, but it just doesn't feel right since I didn't knit them myself! But I would love to claim them as Troy uses only the most beautiful fibers and gorgeous colors for his hats :) Thanks so much for your generous gifty Troy!! Here's a pic (which just doesn't do them justice):

With that, my Warm Woolies goal draws to a close for this year. I'll keep contributing in the years to come but I think I'll try less to focus on a number for 2009, and more on the joy I experience in the projects I do. It's not supposed to be work, right? It's supposed to be fun and make me feel soft and fuzzy inside to be able to warm up cold little munchkins.

Thank you so very much to all of you wonderful LovePurl participants! You have all made my journey much more fun this year and it's been wonderful hearing about and seeing all of your projects here on the blog :) That being said, I don't plan to continue with the blog in 2009. Now that Ravelry is here, and so many of us are joining groups there, I don't see a need for this blog anymore. There are piles of charity knitting groups over there that are filling the space this blog used to fill and I hope you can each find one there that you enjoy. I'm afraid that maintaining this blog as well as my own has been quite a lot of work and I haven't done well with consistently posting here - death for any blog or group! I hope you all understand :) It's been a joy and I thank you all so very much for all your hard work and kindness.

Hope your 2008 was joyful and that 2009 brings you all that you could wish for!

********
P.S. If another member of the group would like to take over the blog, you are more than welcome! Just e-mail me via the contact info in the sidebar and we can chat about that. Otherwise, if I don't hear from a replacement by the end of January, I will be deleting the entire blog. Please, if there is information here that you want to retain, get it before I do so. I would hate for anyone to lose precious info. Thanks so much for your understanding!!

checking in

I wasn't very productive at the beginning of the year but in the last couple months I've been able to get a little more done. It helped being part of a Ravelry group where knitting for a charity was one of the challenges.

Warm Woolies Wednesday (On Thursday)

Warm Woolies Items #39 - #42

So, I’m a day late. Such is life. Thanks so much to everyone who weighed in on the subject of putting the group on Ravelry. I appreciate all your thoughts on the subject! I was just thinking it might bring us a little more activity or a few new members if we had a group there. But I will definitely let you know before I do anything major and keeping the blog but also making a group on Ravelry is definitely an option too.

I mailed off my second box for the year to Warm Woolies on Monday. Nestled inside was the cardigan coat I made recently as well as 17 pairs of socks, bringing my mailed off total to 34. Warm Woolies is still holding their contest until November 30 and in reading the fine print the other day it says you can be eligible for $50-$75 worth of prizes if you knit 25 items for them by that date. What a nice little bonus, though I am certainly not doing it for the prizes :)

The hats above bring my total of finished items up to 42 for the year and I am currently working on item #43 (another hat). After that I think I may try to make a couple vests and see how long they take me. Then, maybe back to socks. I’ll keep you posted. Keep up the good work everyone!

Warm Woolies Update

Hi Everyone! I know it's been a while since I posted something here and I keep telling myself I need to do it, but it just never seems to happen :) I'm still knitting diligently away for Warm Woolies and have been trying to work steadily towards my big goal of 100 items for them this year. It's going very slowly and I have doubts that I'll make it, but I keep trying anyway! Recently, I've made it a point to post once a week on my own blog about my progress and I have been wanting to add those same posts here for everyone to see but there just never seems enough time for me to get to both places in one day. So hopefully, now that I've done this little intro, I can more smoothly post to both each week. Wish me luck!

Warm Woolies Items #36-#38

This week I did manage to complete 2 more full sets of small-ish sized socks and as of last night, I am halfway through a large-ish sized set of socks that will bring my total up to 38. The smaller socks are easier on me and faster to complete (i.e. more satisfying!) but I try to knit at least one large sized sock for every 3-4 small sized ones that I knit. After all, big kids need socks too! Once this large sized pair is finished I can go back to some small-ish sized ones which seem to be easier on my hands (which I'm having some trouble with). I’m trying to switch up projects too and not knit with bulky yarns as much, hoping that will give my joints a rest. Perhaps a hand massage is in order……

As of right now, I have sent off one package to Warm Woolies containing 1 vest and 15 pairs of socks. I also have another box ready to go that contains 1 cardigan/coat (pattern from their site) and 17 pairs of socks. I'm getting closer every day!

Everyone's projects are looking great so far and I thank each and every one of you for your hard work, and for joining me here at LovePurl! I love seeing what all of you are doing :)

A quick question for you - I've been wondering if it might be more fun for us to meet up over at Ravelry instead as a group. Any thoughts on that? Look forward to hearing what you have to say and have a great weekend everyone!

Kitty Blanket

I finally finished the kitty blanket for the local animal shelter. It finished up a good size, 30x47, so it will help keep one of the larger animals warm this winter.



Lynn/Orlando

Hat Quest

I was planning to post back when I had 4 hats, but life got in the way, and now I have 6 hats!
The top two are from the January 2008 issue of Creative Knitting - the snowed-under cap. I decided not to embroider the snowflakes because it would detract from the natural variegation of the yarn, and I'm not sure how well it would stay - not one of my best skills.

The rest of the hats are patterns I've made up. When I get one that works well, I'll post the directions on my blog.

I'm off to work on #7!
~Sarah

Contest

There's a contest up on my blog.... www.knitoneblogtoo.blogspot.com

I'm looking for hat idea for infants. :) Free yarn to the winner.

Kristy's Hat Quest

Thanks to ES posting abt this charity, I was able to send Kristy five more hats to add to her total. Here is the link again if you want to check out her ongoing totals.

Here are the hats that I sent her this past week.

They will fit kids 6-12 y/o, depending on the hat, and the bright red hat will fit one of the caretakers.

The majority of knitting right now is for the family, but I do have an afghan going that will either be for Warm Woolies or my local animal shelter. It depends on how big it is and when I get it finished. Here's what it looks like so far.


I'm doubling my worsted weight acrylics and its a perfect way to use up my white yarn. Once I finish the tan, I'm adding another white, then brown, then white, another tan and will finish off with the rest of the white. I'm hoping it will be big enough for a kid's blanket.

Hope everybody is having a great summer!

Lynn

Warm Woolies!!

Here is one box of stuff I sent off to Warm Woolies (in April)



i'm getting together another box & will post once that is ready to send :)

Just found out about a new charitable project

http://rabiesonmyshoe.blogspot.com/2008/05/300-hat-project.html

Knitting 300 hats for an orphanage in the Ukraine.

ES

Better Than Booties

I just finished this Better Than Booties sock from Knitting Daily. I see myself making up a lot of variations of this pattern since I have a lot of Cascade 220 left over from another project.

Pattern: Better Than Booties Sock Pattern
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: Size 2 dpn
Modifications: The pattern calls for using Lorna's Laces, however I thought the Cascade 220 would be a lot warmer. I decreased the cast on stitches to 30 and just separated the chevron's by 6 stitches. I also left off the chevrons on the top of the foot. These fit about a 3-4 year old. They're a bit snug on my 3 1/2 year old, but she's tall for her age.

Socks for Warm Woolies

Well, I finished my first pair of socks for Warm Woolies last night whilst watching Dancing with the Stars.

The cuffs are a little funny looking because I had to go back and add on to the them, since I misread the pattern originally. Oh well!! They now fold over perfectly :)

They were knit with Reynolds Lopi, so are fairly thick.

Two Packages Going Out

Now that school activities are starting to kick into gear, I've been winding up my charity knitting for the month of March and I just wanted to post what's going out.

A4A had a quick challenge for Root for Peace. Their deadline is March 18th and this is what I'm sending in today's mail.

There was no request for this on their website, but it was posted on the blog. Check it out if you have some wool things sitting around not knowing where to go....

And then I have a package going out to CIC.

The current challenge is to knit up some vests and sweaters. I've already sent out two vests, but I wasn't happy with them so I knit up two more and some socks. The bigger of the vests is in the above picture going to A4A.

Not alot, but a little something to keep a couple of parts warm. I've still got a wool afghan started for A4A and I have an acrylic afghan started for my local animal shelter so as time permits, I'll work a little bit on each of these. Charity work is always there, esp baby socks. They are great for mindless TV knitting.

Lynn/Orlando

More warm toes

Another pair of "BIG" socks for the current sock drive by the Mittens For Akkol group. These measure out at 10 3/4 inches, toe to heel. They are made of Worsted Weight 100% wool. I am not crazy about the color combo, but trying to use from my stash. Hope they keep some toes warm and toasty.
KathyInIowa
http://nuttinbutknittin.blogspot.com/

Mother Bear Project

I just got the nicest note from the Mother Bear Project. I'd sent in a bear, and Amy Berman (the founder) sent me a card with a preprinted message along with a handwritten note saying she liked the glasses on my bear (so she really saw it and it wasn't just a form letter). She also included a couple extra tags. So, my first bear is on his way to Africa and I've just cast on a second bear.

ES

Socks in the Pile

I just finished off a pair of socks for charity. Which one? I'm not sure yet. I usually knit for CIC and will put it in the bag to see if the next campaign is for socks. Right now we are doing vests & sweaters, and while I already sent in 2 vests, I wasn't happy with them. So I cast on for another one. While I'm loving the vest, it looks much bigger than a size 3-4, so it may be going to another charity that is looking for bigger vests.

I'll post a picture of that once it's complete, meanwhile here are my socks.

I used up some wool ends that I had hanging around to make these.


But I thought they were too light and would show dirt too quickly so I pulled out some Cherry Kool-aid and nuked them!


They look and smell great!

Lynn

Introducing Myself

Hello,

My name is Sarah, and I just joined LovePurl. I really need some motivation and accountability in my projects. As soon as I finish knitting my pretty-purple-shawl-that-doesn't-look-like-the-pattern, I'm going to knit some squares for Warm Up America; my local craft store has a collection box for the squares.
One of these days I'll get around to e-mailing Lollypop Farm to see if they are part of the Snuggles Project. I may also do some knitting for the Mother Bear Project. The trouble is, the knitting projects that I plan are way ahead of my needles. I guess I'll see what happens after I finish the next 3 or 4 projects I have lined up. :)

~Sarah

Tajikistan Needs Help

I just read about how Tajikistan is having it's coldest winter in over 50 years. Babies are dying from the cold in maternity hospitals. There are food shortages because people are spending every penny they have on keeping warm. I cannot imagine the hardship these people are going through. As much as I complain about the cold here in Northern Wisconsin, at least I have heat (and a mini heater under my desk!!)

I know that Unicef as well as the UN will be distributing aid. Does anyone know of any other organizations that would distribute to this area? I looked on the Warm Woolies site, and they don't specifically say Tajikistan, although they do distribute to countries in that region. I'm assuming that woolen items would be preferred since they are warmer than cotton or acrylic. Any ideas?

First Four of 2008

A friend gifted me this pretty coral colored yarn for Christmas. It didn't fit the bill for any upcoming projects, and I was feeling really horrible that my charity knitting was non-existent... so I spent a weekend whipping up four quick knits. A scarf and ear warmer in seed stitch, and a scarf and ear warmer in garter stitch. And voila, four pieces of charity knitting complete and one skein less in the stash!

Pieces will be donated to the Whatcom Volunteer Center's Project Warm-Up, a local "charity" in NW Washington State.

Keep up the great knitting everyone!

Not Fit For Man Nor Beast Out There

The weather forcast is looking like this...

Friday
Mostly sunny. Highs zero to 5 above zero. West winds 5 to 10 mph. Wind chill readings 30 below to 40 below zero.

Friday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows 14 below to 19 below zero. South winds 5 to 10 mph. Wind chill readings 25 below to 35 below zero.

Saturday
Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of light snow. Highs 18 to 23. South winds 10 to 20 mph. Wind chill readings 30 below to 40 below zero.

Saturday Night Not as cold. Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of light snow. Lows 12 to 17.

So I've decided that it is not fit to go out in. It's not the highs that are bad, it's the 10-20 mph winds that will get you. I'll be sitting at home working a lot of Rambling Rows... here's the progress so far. It's made with 100% cotton Fantasy yarn, so I will probably donate it to one of the hospitals here in town.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope you're all staying warm.