Sue Gave Birth to Newborn Socks Recently, Too!

Foxy Knitter, we're so happy to add your adorable newborn socks for the maternity hospital in Kabul. The new mothers will love the colors. Wonderful and practical ribbed cuffs.

Wednesday's sorting gang at AFSC were Carlene, Candace, Ann R, Sue, and me. (Thanks, again, ladies!) We concentrated on reviewing socks and sizing them. We rarely receive socks that don't make the grade. Reviewing is time-consuming, but we get to look at hundreds of pairs of socks in an infinite array of colors, all high-quality wools, and lovely stitching. Bless you, sock-knitters! You can imagine what one terrific pair of wool socks will mean to someone with little or no possessions in wintertime.

Here's Sue with her own contribution to the collection of newborn socks:

One pair is knit toe up, and the other from the cuff. I don't know which is which! Both patterns are links on Ravelry, for those who are on Ravelry.com.

Cozy Little Toes (top down)



Basic Newborn Set (toe up) - With Caveat to Make Cuffs Longer

Baby Socks Headed Your Way

I just mailed these wee baby socks to y'all this afternoon. I think they turned out really well.

All about hats

As the deadline for this summer's campaign approaches, the AFSC basement has been seeing a lot of activity lately; last Friday, several of us gathered with Ann for a very productive afternoon devoted mostly to sorting your fabulous, colorful, gorgeous knitted and crocheted hats.

 Can you believe those adorable infant hats? These made us think of cupcakes (the basement crew always have dessert on their minds, apparently). Long-time contributor Pamela from Rochester always impresses us with the adorable buttons or appliqués that she adds to her work.

We do our best to work fast and efficienty, but every few minutes, we simply have to stop and gaze at the drop-gorgeous handknits that you have made with so much care and talent. It is impossible not to be inspired after a couple of hours of studying what others have made out of sticks and wool.

In case you are feeling intimidated or overwhelmed by the above, don't! We love a good, warm hat in every stripe and stitch pattern. Knitter Diane sent this bounty of lovely, creative, bright and subdued classic ribbed hats. In case you are wondering if we ever get tired of this model -- No, Never! We love that it is stretchy by design and that if it is long enough, it can be folded into a brim and thus provide twice as much warmth on a cold day.

While most of us played with hats on Friday, others got to open the packages that have been piling up, always an exciting task if you ask me. These beauties were only a few in a package that included many pairs.

 And given photos like this one, many more gorgeous baby socks will get to be handled, fondled and admired by this week's volunteers.

The photo below was sent by Mary Timberlake. From a knitter's home all the way to Kabul -- what an amazing, impressive journey.

So many socks!

Look at these beauties knit by Virginia!

There is still time to make one or two more things for this campaign. The due date is the first week of August. 

If you are "enjoying" the same heatwave we're having here in the Philadelphia area, small things are the way to go. 

Rainbow World at AFSC Basement

We were all happy to be back in the AFSC Basement, opening your packages and sorting the rainbow of wool hats, socks, and mittens that will be on their way to Afghanistan in late September.

Look inside Longmont Kathy's package ... the Leprechaun skipped out before we snapped the pic ...

The Afghan newborns are going to look very cute in these colorful, delightfully patterned wool caps! Picture that in your mind!

Carol came by car, ferry, and streetcar to pitch in for the cause. Here's Carol holding her favorite cap of the day ... I think the color is Yves Klein Blue, or perhaps a little more purple-ee, with that glow from inside the color itself ...

Hope some a4a volunteers will post photos of their creations here, for the enjoyment of all!