Remember Bartholomew Cubbins?

Do you remember the Dr. Seuss story "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins"? That's how I've felt for the past few weeks. You don't realize how many hat 87 are until you stack them all up. THEN try fitting them in a box...let me tell you, they need 2 boxes! They are on their way to Julie and she's going to make the baby care packages first with bottles, pacifiers and hats. That's it for Hats for Haiti...Beth chose a Webs gift certificate which is on its way to her with the book, Hattitude. I promise now that this is all done I'll get back to talking about my WIPs and FOs, etc. I will tell you I'm doing a test knit but that's all I can tell you. BTW, I apologize for the messiness of the last post - I had it all beautifully presented and in order with the text and photos. Blogger really is awful sometimes and won't let you put spacing in the right way. I wrote it twice trying to get it pretty and it just wouldn't work.

And The Winner Is...

First of all, I want to thank all of you for letting me keep my faith in the kindness and generosity of knitters/crocheters - I received 78 hats for this effort! Wow! Add in the 9 I made and I'll be sending 87 hats to Julie to take to Haiti. She's promised me she'll send pictures of the happy recipients and I'll be sure to post them here as I get them. This was an amazing experience where I "met" new people, knit more hats in a month than I have in 10 years, and had an over-flowing mailbox with packages from all over the U.S. So to do this properly I had to put all the names in a hat - right?! Then I recruited Miss America to mix them up really well - notice her young, unblemished hand? Oh, to be young again - but I digress... I had to laugh and smile at the name she pulled out - this person knit 10 hats but told me she didn't need to be in the contest. I convinced her she should and put her name "in the hat". The winner is... BETH! Congratulations! Beth, leave a comment or email me with your choice of either a Knit Picks or Webs gift certificate. Thank you again all of you amazing women - you are the best!

Ten on Tuesday - Can't Resist

As you know, I love our local library - I've talked about it a lot in the past. Well, I could resist this week's 10 on Tuesday - 10 Reasons to use the public library.



















1. It's Free! I got my first library card when I was six or seven and every time I moved as an adult I never felt like I lived in the town until I got a library card.
2. Books, books and more books! I've loved to read since I was little. I always had a book in hand or had my nose in a book. I've been known to almost miss a flight because I didn't have anything to read on the plane and I would hit the airport store to get something to read on the plane.
3. DVDs - our library has an amazing collection of DVDs and even gets them before Netflix. I'm always reserving the latest and newest DVD.
4. Magazines - why subscribe to People when you can read it at the library (between orthodontist visits)? I also now check out Interweave Knits from the library.
5. Kids programs - our kids used the library from the get-go. They have great toddler programs and even now have teen programs.
6. Annual book sale - great for donating old books and picking up new books - I've even gotten some great knitting books including EZ's Knitting Without Tears.
7. Art - our library has rotating art shows of local artists. They are wonderful and add a certain flair to the place.
8. Computer access - when we lost power for a week last March the library saved our on-line lives.
9. Knitting books - one thing our library will do is place orders based on requests. I've requested quite a few books to be added to their collection of knitting books. I love to go back to the knitting section every now and then for inspiration, resource info, etc.
10. The librarians - we have some amazing people working in our library. I've gotten to know a few of them quite well over the years. Laurie helped me get DVDs for my church youth group and loaned them to me for a month - what a gem she is. Bhanu knows I don't like a printed receipt (save a tree) and always has a smile on her face. Peg always asks after our kids and remembers when Miss America would check out books above her reading level (old ones that had been rebound in those funky covers) and would sleep with them (yes our daughter literally would snuggle with library books). The library is a house...the librarians make it feel like home.

I'm definitely going to need a bigger box!

Today's mail brought 13 more hats from Diane (hulagirl1 on Ravelry). Aren't they wonderful and so bright and cheery! Thank you, Diane! We have 74 hats I think - wow! I'll do the drawing on Thursday as I'm teaching tomorrow and Wednesday and I truly want the time to do this justice on my blog. I have some ideas...

Overwhelmed and In Awe

Yesterday's trip to the mailbox had me staggering back up the driveway with 4 packages from places as far away as Georgia, Wyoming and New Mexico. I'll share them with you as I opened them.

First was Yvonne's (laughingwolf on Ravelry) set of 3 hats (she made the two little ones and purchased the other handmade one from Hats for Hunger on Ravelry).
















Check out the wonderful tag she had for the hats saying they were "Made with a Hug by Yvonne S." Thank you, Yvonne!
















Next I opened Vanessa's lovely hat which came with a sweet note wishing she had more time to make more...Vanessa, each hat is precious and time is precious too...thank you! Vanessa found me through her friend, Beth.














Then I got to a box from Debora (deborasoule on Ravelry) who I've "met" through the Finish or Frog it group. Debora sent 7 amazing hats both knit and crochet. Check out the lace edge on one of them. Thank you, Debora!

The last box I opened was from Beth (feltlikeknitting on Ravelry) and quite honestly at this point I burst into tears...the hats kept coming out of the box - 10 in all! It was all so overwhelming and because I've followed Beth's blog for a few years I felt like a friend had come through and really put her heart into this not only for this cause but also for me. .

I was telling my DH about my friends I've met through blogging and ravelry - he came up with the term "blog-amie"...Beth is a "blog-amie" - thank you, Beth!

So, as of Thursday end of day I have received...drumroll...65 hats! That's not counting the 9 I made. I know more are on their way. I emailed Julie earlier today and told her I keep thinking "I'm going to need a bigger box to ship these".

Thank you all...knitters leave me in awe.

The past 2 days...

For the past 2 days I've been under the weather - I worked 4 days last week and caught a nasty cold from some darling student who should have been at home and not at school. Anyway, while I may have been out of it, you guys have been coming through with lots of hats. These are what I got on Tuesday and Wednesday...I have yet to visit the mailbox today.

Joan (bmom on Ravelry) sent these 5 hats - don't you just love them? I love that she even included a Thorpe - I bet that one will be coveted by many.















Then Marilyn (gardenstatelapin on Ravelry) sent these 3 adorable hats - perfect for little ones. I got an email from my friend, Julie, who has asked for these hats and she had a great idea. She received a dontation of baby bottles and pacifiers and she was going to package them up with a baby hat from this great drive. She was so excited at the idea of a present that included so much.

8 More Makes It 45 So Far

Today's mail brought 8 hats from Vanessa (luganknitter on Ravelry)...she even posted about the contest on her blog! Vanessa shows true spirit as a full time student she found time to help out with this cause. Thank you, Vanessa!

PS I had a moment of confusion as there is another Vanessa who is helping out too and it took me a while to realize which Vanessa made these hats.

Holy Hats, Batman!

Today's mail had everyone astounded - a bounty of hats - 18 to be exact! This brings the total received to 28 and then add the 9 I knit and we're up to 37. I knew knitters/crocheters are amazing but this is unbelievable.

First were these 6 wonderful, colorful hats from Pam (Pammiegirl on Ravelry). Aren't they fun?













And look what Amy whipped up - a whopping 12 hats. One is knit and the rest are crocheted. Her Ravelry id, knitterofhats, sure proves she's a hat person for this effort.

I'm thinking I'm going to need a big box to ship these to my friend, Julie.

Finishing Touches Are The Best

Today's mail brought 2 more hats for the Hats for Haiti contest. Teresa (knittingdancer on Ravelry) made 2 lovely hats but what makes them special are her finishing touch...
















Each hat had a special tag attached which says "Hand knitted by Teresa from Florence, Alabama" and then the tag has the fiber and care instructions. How wonderful and personal. I can imagine the smile it will bring to some Haitian's face to know Teresa in Alabama cares about them. Thank you Teresa!

More Hat Love

I was so excited when I saw not one but TWO packages in today's mail.

First was 3 hats from Diane (dpeach on Ravelry). Two are crocheted and one is knit in a great swirl pattern with a fun pom-pom.



















Then Kaitlin (ispeaknerd on Ravelry) sent these two hats - I love the colors and they too have pom-poms.

Thank you Diane and Kaitlin - I know these lovely hats will be well loved.

3 Chances in the Contest

Today's mail was fun! A package arrived from Debi (56steps on Ravelry) with her entry into the contest - 3 hats=3 chances. Aren't they adorable!?! Thank you Debi!

I can't wait to see what arrives next in the mail!

Ready to Ride

As I told you earlier, I am making 5 "bandanas"...here is the final one. I used a stitch pattern from a book I have and basically invented all 5 of these. Each is unique and I'll let my sisters pick out which one they want. I took a photo of them all stacked up - they really look nice. They are tucked away waiting for the dude ranch - we'll be ready to ride!

Don't forget about my "Hats for Haiti" contest...I'll take crochet, knit sized premie on up for kids in Haiti. Leave your contact info or pm me on Ravelry (emhknits) and I'll give you my address. I need all the hats by 3/25. Thank you to all those who already have volunteered!

I've "HAT" Enough! Nine is Fine!

I started knitting these hats on February 23rd...I have only been working on these hats since I started and I must admit I've "hat" enough! I've knit up 9 hats for the Hats for Haiti effort I'm working on. There is still time to enter the contest...so pull out some yarn leftovers, grab some needles and cast on!