This is my second year of running the Charity Challenge for knitters and crocheters and once again I was bowled over by all of the lovely things we were able to make for others this year. It made me wish I had enough prizes for everyone!
I went carefully through the entry forms this week to make sure I could credit everyone with as many entries as possible and then I left the prize pull up to the fates and my friend, Random Number Generator.
Congratulations to:
This prize goes to Evelyn L. who entered with a cabled hat she made for Ohio Binky Patrol (if you aren’t already reading it, check out Evelyn’s wonderful blog here).
This prize goes to Yvonne C. who made several baby cardigans for Bundles of Love.
Prize #3: Norajane gift card
This prize goes to Melissa M. who made a prayer shawl for a project run by her church in Texas.
I will be contacting all three winners immediately with details.
Congratulations to everyone who participated for using your yarn skills to do something great for others! And many thanks are due to our contest sponsors, SpinSpanSpun, Three Bags Full, and Norajane.
Time is running out to enter all of your charity knitting projects to win a great prize. The final day to enter the contest is Sunday (January 15).
In case you’ve forgotten, the idea of the charity challenge is to reward people who knit and crochet to help others in need and to encourage knitters and crocheters who have never made things for charity to start.
The concept is simple: knit or crochet a project of your choice for a charity of your choice. Each project earns you an entry in the prize drawing and big projects count for two (up to 10 entries). The contest is open to anyone in the world, non-U.S. yarnies welcome! More info and prize details are on my contest page.
To enter the contest, you must complete two simple steps 1) fill out a quick online entry form and 2) submit a photo of your finished project(s) to me via Flickr, Ravelry, or email.
It’s not too late to get your needles and hooks going on some baby hats or afghan squares. If you need ideas, try my past charity posts, or head to Ravelry.
Happy knitting!
Something was apparently going on with my friends in 2011 because I know at least 4 friends and colleagues having babies in the January-February time frame. That’s a lot of baby gifts, people! Not yet a mother myself, I’ve been investigating some classic baby knitting patterns, and one thing has become abundantly clear to me this week: I have no idea about the size of babies!
Here is a case in point. On Sunday, I had the pleasure of meeting Baby Keegan, who was born last week. She weighs something less than 10 pounds (read: she’s a tiny little bug!). Remembering a post where the Yarn Harlot raved about this magic baby bonnet pattern, I fished out some Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock—the softest and most durable superwash yarn in my stash—and went to town.
Soon I had this:
After a little bit of sewing, it turned into this:
But, friends, this thing looks so much bigger than little Keegan’s newborn baby head!
Check out the dimensions:
Am I wrong, or is this thing not going to fit her for weeks? Should I save this for later and make something else?
Even if it is more than newborn sized, it sure is cute. Next up, booties with remaining yarn. Baby knitting is great for instant gratification!
My project notes on Ravelry
Happy New Year, friends! I started 2012 in the best way possible: brunch with friends followed by a day of knitting. As if this wasn’t wonderful enough, I even finished making something beautiful. Check it out:
This is a scarf for moi, made from Lexy Lu’s free Foreign Correspondent pattern and a single skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in the Stovepipe colorway. I had this pattern in my queue forever and the Loopy Ewe’s 2011 Fourth Quarter Challenge was just the push I needed to get started on it.
The pattern is simple and well-written, but it is not mindless. I had to pay some attention (so no reading). I worked on this while watching TV and listening to audio books. Credit is due to author David Grann, whose book The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon is so compelling that it pulled me through at least the last two feet of this scarf. I’m hoping the second half of the book can work its magic on my Laar sleeves this week.
Stovepipe is not the softest colorway of Tosh yarn I’ve worked with. I think this gorgeous navy shade comes at a tactile cost. It softened considerably in the blocking, though. The scarf used all but about 8″ of my one skein of yarn. The finished, blocked product is 7″ x 75″—plenty long for me.
While the scarf has an obvious right and wrong side, I was pleased to see that the wrong side looks okay, especially in this dark color. See:
As you may have noticed, the color looks different every time I photograph this yarn. I think capturing the color far exceeds my photographic ability and may not actually be possible, so if any of you want to see the color accurately, we may need to meet in person. Please let me know when you are free.
Project notes on Ravelry
It’s almost the end of the year and December has simply blown by!! My month was a blur of hard work, accelerated Christmas shopping, family hosting, and finally illness (minor illness, thankfully). I’ve decided to give myself and all of you a break: let’s take two more weeks to make things for others.
The new deadline to enter the Charity Challenge Contest is January 15, 2012, 11:59 P.M.
All other rules will remain the same: simply knit or crochet an item of your choice to donate to a charity of your choice, fill out a simple entry form, link to or send me a photo (for proof), and potentially win a great prize from the following awesome sponsors.
SpinSpanSpun @Etsy
Three Bags Full @Etsy
Norajane on Etsy
Don’t forget: you may also enter the contest with items that you made for charity anytime in the contest period, which began November 1, 2011.
Spread the word with your knitting/crocheting friends!
Welcome!
I'm Sara. I knit, spin, sew, and blog in Durham, North Carolina. 
