Yarn for socks or mittens

You all know I am crazy about Bartlett yarns and Peace Fleece for socks and mittens. They are thick, hearty yarns that wear like crazy, and because they are on the thicker side of worsted they knit up fast. Here are the skeins I wound this summer (on the back porch of a house that has since been destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, after resisting bad weather for 80 years):

I have already used about half of this, but I still have plenty to share. I will mail a package of yarn for socks or mittens to 3 readers on Wednesday. That will get it to you by the weekend, in time to finish a pair for the second half of the January campaign. (Because of time constraints, this offer is limited to US addresses only.)

Send your name and address (do NOT post here) to me at yarnystuff@gmail.com - I do need the mailing address, because, although I am pretty good on the computer, I have not figured out a way to email yarn. Also, notice that there is a "y" in the middle of that address.

On to the needles!

Quick campaign for January

For those of you who do not receive email updates from A4A (why not? go here to subscribe; just enter your email address in the box at the top of the righthand column) a new, fast campaign has just been announced.

Here are the basics from Ann's letter:

"We have just been presented with a new opportunity to send several boxes of wool hats, socks, and mittens (for 5-12 years) to Afghanistan in January -- for use by girls and boys THIS WINTER.

Beginning January, we welcome wool socks (knit only/no slippers), mittens, and hats for 5-12 years based on these same guidelines --

http://www.afghansforafghans.org/currentcampaign.html

Our gifts will be distributed *this winter* in the Ghazni region to students in the educational programs supported by Afghan Friends Network (AFN), a small humanitarian organization that started here in San Francisco by Afghan-American Humaira Ghilzai and the Honorable Carol Ruth Silver. We have known Humaira and Carol Ruth and the work of AFN for many years. You can read more about the organization here -- http://afghanfriends.net/

This is very unusual that we have a chance to warm kids in Ghazni. The area is harder to reach and has more security problems, which limits transit and access. We hope you will join us in this short timeframe.

We will ship out a few boxes of whatever we now have on hand in the AFSC Basement during the first week of January. Thereafter, we will send a few more boxes toward late January. Two small deliveries of a few boxes each. We cannot wait longer because these items need to get
to the kids for use during the last few months of this winter."


It is so exciting to be able to get things there so quickly, and to be able to send things to kids we haven't been able to help before.


As is my custom, I've started knitting mittens "just in case" -- now I have to finish them. I am so glad they will be able to get to Afghanistan for use this winter.

Happy Holidays from the Afghan Embassy

Wooly Warmies

More crocheted mittens heading off to the hinterlands...  These are medium-large for those older kids, made out of worsted llama/sheep wool with a strand of Elizabeth's Alpaca Fine worked in.  Nice and warm!

I'd love to see more posts here.  What's everyone else making?  Your work inspires me and keeps me on track so that I don't procrastinate!

Mittens For A4A

       With Elizabeth's give-away in hand, I finished a pair of mittens in time for the current campaign.  I held together 3 strands of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine yarn and used US #7 dpns.   The pattern? - Elizabeth's mitten pattern, in size small with extra-long cuffs, of course!  These mittens fit my nine-year-old daughter.

My mittens made it to Afghanistan!

Here's a picture I took on 1/24/2011 of the mittens I was about to send off.  The two-purple-colors mittens show up in the latest photos Ann shared with us from Afghanistan!  If you haven't seen them yet, the link is
http://www.afghansforafghans.org/thankyouoctober2012.html 

The mittens are in the photo of the boys, towards the lower right.  Ann sent me this detail and encouraged me to post it here (and gave me permission!).

It's a great feeling to see these smiling kids, and even better to see something I donated!  It looks like the boy will be able to use these mittens for quite a while, as he grows into them!

Gwyneth