February 29

Mark that date! It's the brand new, just announced, deadline for everything to be in San Francisco to be packed for this campaign. In celebration, I dug out a recently rediscovered pair of mittens that needed just half of one mitten and both thumbs. Now this pair needs only one thumb to be finished. . . I think there's time. (Edited to add -- they're done!)

I made those mittens following my mitten pattern,  using Lopi yarn (that's bulky) and appropriate size needles (US 8 [5 mm] for me, bigger for most knitters). Using the stitch and row numbers for the smallest size, the mittens come out as a medium adult size, so will fit lots of the older kids.

I hope the fact that there's a whole month left doesn't inspire me to cast on a ridciculous number of projects! Must stay focused. . .

Judith and Ann at the 2012 Jefferson Awards

in 2007, we received the Jefferson Award for Public Service. Ever since, we get invited to the annual awards ceremony at the beautiful Herbst Theater -- inspiring presentations about fellow citizens working on a wide range of issues. Brings tears to the eyes every year. K-CBS Anchor Kate Kelly does a terrific job as hostess. Then we go upstairs to the Green Room for a lovely reception with all the awardees and their friends and family. With a great view out the balcony of our illuminated City Hall.

Here's Judith and me (in Turkmen coat). We've got 10 fingers up because we've been at this project for 10 tears. I think Judith and I met at the knitting group at the New Main Library. Thank you, Judith, for all your dedication! No one inspects socks like Judith.



You can get a sense of how grand the Green Room is when you realize that we're standing in front of the pedestal of a Classical column.

This one's going in tomorrow's mail along with the other one (further down, posted to this blog earlier this month).

It's a size 10, all wool and mohair (Brown Sheep Lambs Pride and Patons Classic Wool). The pattern is from cottage Creations--Rialey's Sweater.

There were 2 ends to weave in for every color change. I thought I would never finish!

First Packing Session of 2012

We packed about 10 days ago. We would have packed this past week, but I was on call for jury duty so could not plan anything with volunteers. (I have never been on a jury in my life, but I would make a good juror!)

Emily, Antje, and Amy are showing off the sweaters made by one Bridget in New Mexico. Bridget has knitted exquisite sweaters for us for years. I do not know how she manages to knit so many intricate garments on small needles. Her box contained 17 sweaters. Mind-blowing.



Emily opened a big box of mittens. A lot of hands are going to be warmer next year in Afghanistan.



Louise in Southern California knit this cheery log cabin that is sure to be appreciated by the recipient. Louise also sent us a copy of Suraya's book for us to share -- so we're passing the book around to our local packing volunteers. Antje is first in line. Thank you, Louise, for thinking of our hand-working packing volunteers at the AFSC Basement.





Well, this photo is of Marcy and me. Why the 10 fingers? Because Marcy and I have been at this for 10 years. Marcy is our original, founding volunteer web maven -- from the inception. Marcy works a couple blocks away from the AFSC building. We rarely get a chance to see each other, but we're email buddies. Thank you, Marcy, for sharing your time and commitment to the cause -- for a decade! -- and I am very glad we're still in this together. Who knew when we started this ... where does the time go ...

Inga in Germany (near Munich) is also on our web team. I am going to have to ask her for a new photo for us to post -- Inga has been volunteering for several years at this point. We're lucky to have Inga's help. I don't even think about English being a second language for her -- we're not relying on my high school German.

(I am holding a miter blanket made with all different colors of sock yarn. Fantastic!)



Everyone can be pleased that the packages arriving include such high-quality blankets and garments. Very impressive! Thank you so much to all the volunteers of afghans for Afghans. Have a good week, everyone!

those pesky thumbs

Here is a great tutorial on closing up those nasty holes that often show up around the base of the thumb when you make a mitten. Please note -- the technique is demonstrated on a fingerless mitten. Those are NOT appropriate for A4A! I'm referring you to this site for the information, but don't leap to conclusions -- A4A wants only mittens that cover the fingers and thumb and are closed at the top.

P.S. I am sorry that I seem to spend so much time saying "no" -- it's just that it's so important to send the kids what they really need. . .

Destash sweater on the way

Just blocking is left on my destash. I used up 6 varieties of stash, which was great. That meant lots of weaving in, slowly but surely. Be careful when starting the round after casting on 172 stitches. It is tricky as I learned the hard way. A friend told me to knit 2 rows back and forth, then it is easier to see and create the round on the circular needles. It worked for me. I'm going to try to start and finish one more simple pattern. Hope I can make it!!

My kids  stash busting sweater is just about done.
It is for a 10-12 year old.  I still have some ends left to sew in and blocking to do.  I used Elizabeth's trick for the neckband - making it twice as long and then connecting the live stitches to the base stitches.

Colorido from Colorado

Here's a sweater for the campaign:

The design is my own bottom-up variation of "colorido" by Christiane Burkhard (you'll find it on Ravelry). I'm from Colorado, hence the title.

On Its Merry Way

I finished this sweater in Patons Classic Wool and will be mailing it out this coming week.

Pattern is a variation on a sweater in a Rich Designs booklet. (Details were posted previously.)

I hope to finish another before the deadline.

Sweater and Hat

Just sent in this sweater and hat. The sweater pattern is Knitting Pure & Simple Children's Bulky Top Down Pullover which I came across in ElizabethD's 11/08 post. It's a very easy quick knit. I made it in the largest size and added two inches to the length of the body and the sleeves. I substituted ribbing at the cuffs and neckband and used the wonderful neckband trick that Elizabeth recommended in that post. It made a very neat stretchy neckband - thanks Elizabeth! The yarn is Lion Brand Alpine Wool in Olive. I had a little left over yarn so I also made the Easy Peasy Hat from KnitPicks.