Hats For Haiti Contest

Okay, I decided to make it a contest...the Hats For Haiti Contest. Read about my inspiration in my previous post and here are the details:

If you want to participate, leave me a comment with your contact info. I'll give you my snail mail address so you can mail me your hat(s). OR go ahead and pm me on Ravelry - my id is emhknits.

It's been brought to my attention that I ommitted some info: Hats can be any size - I've made preemie ones and larger children's hats (I think the kids need them most). You can use whatever yarn you wish - I've used wool, washable wool, cotton, and acrylic. Also, hats can be crocheted if that is your strength.

For each hat you contribute to the contest, you will receive once chance in a drawing for a copy of the book Hattitude by Cathy Carron and a $25 gift certificate to either Knit Picks or Webs (your pick).

Comments/commitment to contribute must be left by March 15th and hats must be received by March 25th. Then I can ship them off to my friend Julie who promises that she will take pictures when they are delivered.

Here's what I've knit so far...

Hats for Haiti

Did you know that while Haiti is in a warm place that it gets quite cold there at night? I didn't...but my friend, Julie, whom I've known my whole life (our moms are friends and our grandparents were friends), contacted me and told me about her experiences in Haiti. She and her husband, Paul, have spent quite a bit of time in Haiti since the earthquake...in fact, Paul is a doctor and went there in the weeks after the earthquake with their teenage son and helped with all his wonderful medical expertise.

Anyway, Julie saw my knitting on Facebook and contacted me with a message asking that if I had spare time perhaps I could knit some hats for these families. She apparently took some hats with her on her last visit and they were very appreciated by the children and parents. So while our kids were down and out with the flu today, I whipped up these hats...from size 6 to preemie.











Then I got thinking...the knitting community is AMAZING and supportive and caring. I thought I'd give a shout out to see if I could get some more hats for Julie. Maybe you have one or two in a "just in case" drawer of gifts? Maybe you have some leftover yarn from a project and an hour to whip up a preemie hat? If so, leave me a message with your contact info and I'll give you my snail mail so I can collect these for Julie.

Depending on response and I'm thinking I might throw this on Ravelry, I think I'll turn it into a contest where you get a chance for each hat you donate. Hmmm...this sounds like a good idea. I'll get back to you on the prize.

BTW - Julie told me she will definitely take a picture once the hats are delivered so we can see where they ended up and how appreciated they will be.

Get Your Cowgirl On!

This year is a big one in my family...in March my mom turns 70, in April my youngest sister turns 40, in May my dad turns 75 and in September our parents have their 50th anniversary. All big wow things happening in one year. So, our immediate family (mom, dad and their 4 daughters) are running away for a long, long weekend in May to Colorado to go to a dude ranch. We have our own cabin with a parents room and 2 other rooms with twin beds (just like when we were kids) and we'll be our original family unit for a few days.

I decided that we need our own "bandanas" to help us get our cowgirl on. These 3 are the first ones I have done. I looked at a few Stephen West patterns for some influence then worked on my own trying to make each one unusual. The mauve colored one is from the Textured Shawl Recipe.

I kind of have an idea who gets which one but I think I'll let everyone pick. I have 2 more to make and then we can put on our bandanas and shout "yee-haw"!

Tube of Warmth

A while back my godmother gave me a bag full of yarn which she had intended for a project and then forgot what she wanted to use it for. It sat for a long time taunting me and begging me to be use it creatively. Well, I found this pattern called Stripes to Keep Me Warm and then I used the Stripe Maker program in the knitting resources section of my toolbar over there on the right and started knitting. It was fun "potato chip" knitting - oh, I just do one more stripe.

I was skeptical as to how it might look but have decided I really like it and I wore it today - it kept me snuggly warm (even though it IS finally 50 degrees) and it was easy to wear around without too much bulk.

This is Why I Knit

Yesterday my sister received a box of handknits I sent her and emailed me this picture - this is why I knit...these happy (and silly) faces. They're sporting everything from a hand-me-down Starsky Jr. and special scarf to a one of a kind sweater to personalized mittens. I love, love, love that they love my handknits.

Hope She Likes It

I know my sister doesn't read my blog so I can post her birthday present here...I made her a Saroyan using Malabrigo Twist. The yarn is scrumptiously soft and the color is divine (closer to the top picture).

This is a fast, fun knit - it took me two days! I love the leaf edging on the side. Now I think I'll go to my favorite jewelry store and get her some earrings to go with it and her gift is done!

Not a Pretty Scene

It's 4:45 pm, just about 2 hours before the Super Bowl kickoff and I realize I have NOTHING to knit...NOTHING on my needles (I just cast of Soroyan which I'll show you later). I go to my stash, I go to Ravelry and I start a search which feels futile. I remember I have a project in my queue to start and I go to purchase it but realize when I hit Paypal that my credit card had been hacked and I don't have one until the new card arrives.

It's at that moment, my DH chooses to call upstairs to me and I answer "WHAT!?!"...he than asks what is wrong and my answer is "I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO KNIT!!!!"...silence then he says "okay, it can wait". Smart man.

I looked at my stash again and found all this yarn my godmother gave me - DK weight mostly and then found a free (remember no credit card) pattern to sooth my itchy fingers so they could do something while I watched good football and fun commercials. All was right with the world again.

Last time this happened it was an easy solution - I cast on mittens for my nephew. However, I think I'll spend today re-assessing my stash and my queue and make sure this ugly scene never happens again. There is something to be said for having lots of WIPs.

I Won! I Won!

As you can see from my sidebar, I participate in the Ravelry group called Finish or Frog It. This group gets us to focus on our WIPs and assess them and post on Fridays our accomplishments. Jennifer started this great group which provides a lot of inspiration for many.

One of the threads was an Epic FO for 2010. I submitted my Inca Marl Coat which took me forever to finish. The ruffle around the edge was epic for me and even required that I go on Ravelry to find more yarn (which I did - here's the story).

Anyway, just this week I found out that MY epic FO won the contest! My prizes were a generous gift certificate to the LYS (thank you Jennifer) and a bag of goodies from Jan. Well, Jan's package arrived yesterday and I had such fun opening it up and finding goodies inside. She even packed some goodies in the skeins of yarn.

The package contained 6 skeins of Patons Classic Wool in a lovely purple (I'm already looking for something to make with it), a great project bag with a wristlet, gorgeous glass buttons, and some samples of Eucalan wash.















Here's the project bag - it has a snap top and the fabric is a lovely pattern with rabbits and dogs kind of like old tapestry patterns.
















This is the card that came with it - had me giggling and when I showed it to my DH he just nodded in total agreement. I love how the yarn on the card matches the yarn that she sent. Thank you, Jan! What a wonderful prize!

Quick Knit

My nephew's birthday is next week an my sister longingly wanted a Wallaby for him after seeing my other ones I had made. Well my Wallaby pattern is in New Jersey (long story) and I figured I could just make up a sweater for James. So, I consulted my copy of Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. If you don't have this book, I really consider it a MUST have book for any knitter's library.

I cast on 6 days ago for a raglan pullover and I modified a collar with some short row shaping in the back so it was sort of a polo collar. I will admit I considered and started making a hood but it just wasn't working. Anyway, I think it turned out wonderfully! James has BIG blue eyes and I know this will look great on him.

So yesterday afternoon after I finished this I had a moment of panic. I didn't have a single project on my needles and my hands were at a loss with nothing to do! For the first time in ages I watched an hour of tv without knitting...un-natural! So I grabbed the leftover yarn from this sweater and cast on some mittens for James' older brother.