Quick Check In

Just a short post to show the beginnings of an odd ball sweater I am rushing to finish for the current campaign.

I used Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns as a guide and the Patons Classic Wool and other wool odd balls I have in my odd ball bin. I'm almost to the point of stopping to make the sleeves, so I should finish with time to spare for the February 14 deadline.

Wool blanket

Here is a basket weave wool blanket in a light beige. The color in the picture is much lighter than it really is. It will ship with the sweater.

Stripes for a boy.

Here is the stripey sweater - about a child's size 12. It will go out tomorrow.

Apologies, But it's Hats

I know you don't want lots of hats, but as a beginning knitter, it's the best I can produce for now. I am in the process of making a vest. I hope I get it done in time for the Feb 14 deadline, but I can't promise. So for now I'm sending in these two hats, my first official donation to A4A!
Carol E.

red wool, warm hands

On January 1st, I cast on for a pair of mittens with the red wool left over from the yoke sweater I had knitted for the ongoing youth drive. Since the yarn was only dk weight, I coupled it with some ancient mohair from my stash in a very close shade of red.


Elizabeth D, your pattern could just as well be tattooed on my brain by now! I enjoyed my experiment in stranding two different yarns so much that I immediately cast on for more mittens in that same red wool, this time stranded with an orange fingering-weight wool for a tweedy effect.



In both cases the addition of the new yarn made the wool feel softer as well as warmer. I have to keep this stranding trick in mind as it is perfect for those orphan skeins of lightweight yarn. One skein of fingering weight wool (this was Brown Sheep Naturespun) was more than enough for two pairs.

Campaign end date is February 14

Ann just posted that the current campaign will be ending on February 14. That means there's still time to make something, or finish something -- or both!! To inspire you, I am offering 7 skeins of Lamb's Pride Worsted in the color Red Baron, a beautiful, vivid scarlet red. I wanted to use it myself, but it's been sitting here staring at me reproachfully for several years now, and it is time to give it a chance to reach its full sweatery potential. Seven skeins comes to 1330 yards (1216 meters), enough for a pullover to fit a 34- to 38-inch chest (86 to 96 cm), which falls at the larger end of this campaign's size range.

If you would like to have this yarn, and are pretty sure you can finish the sweater and mail it in time to arrive at The Basement by February 14, please send me a note -- including your mailing address -- at yarnystuff@gmail.com. I will review replies Wednesday morning, pick a winner, and mail yarn out on Thursday. U.S. and Canada only, this time, because time is short.

Here is the vest I recently finished out of the Blue Sky Bulky Alpaca/Wool that had been donated to A for A. It was a challenge to work with. I knit it on a 17 needle and used the vest guidelines from Ann Budd's "The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns". For those of you unfamiliar with this book, it is great to use for A for A patterns. She has information for designing your own garments with multiple gauges and sizes. Her heaviest yarn was 3 stitches to the inch though, and this yarn was 2 stitches to the inch, so I had to make a few adjustments!

On their way tomorrow

These things go in the mail tomorrow:

Mittens, from left to right: Peace Fleece, made by my sister; Lamb's Pride, by me (they are gray, not white -- late afternoon sun); Lamb's Pride, by Pat, Knitpicks Shamrock, by me. And blue socks from Pat.

Three of the four panels of my blanket are knitted; can I do 576 more square inches of garter stitch this week?

Let me introduce myself . . .

I'm Holly, I live in Palo Alto CA, and I've been knitting for a4A for several years - even packed boxes in the basement once. I started out as a novice knitter but have "perfected" the basic top down sock by sending off at least a dozen pairs to warm Afghani feet. I've been lurking on this blog for a long time, but joined so I could post this sweater I dropped off last week (yep, that's me) which is from a super easy pattern I highly recommend. (It's the Torino Bulky Circular Pullover - free at www.tahkistacycharles.com.) It's bulky yarn on #10s, too warm for California! Now, what to start on next . . .

Happy New Year

Almost finished in 2010

I finished the socks except for running in the ends. They are a basic toe-up (from tiajudy.com, my favourite) pattern in Red Heart's Heart and Sole, worked double. They work out to about a child's size 3-4 to adult 6, and have long legs because I just kept working until the yarn ran out. The leg is ribbed the whole way to help it stay up and fit all different widths of legs.

The vest is a UFO I found while unpacking some old boxes. It's an alpaca blend, very soft and warm. I love the colours but I remember the yarn was remaindered and so I wasn't sure there is enough to make me a vest that won't be skintight. So I'll finish and send it off for a child.

Socks with Mosaic border

Didn't the slip-stitch pattern brighten up this pair of simple navy socks? It was a pattern of necessity as I knew I was running low on the blue, and wanted to knit something a bit more interesting that basic stripes. These are about 9 inches.

Here's a blanket in process. This is my knit-while-watching-a-movie project, and it looks like it'll be big enough for the Afghans for Afghans winter youth campaign:



The yarn is a single-ply fair trade from Nepal bought on sale through the group SERRV. It's a bit rough but the swatch softened and fluffed up nicely.