08.25.08
A Plug for Crafty Charities
The members of the knit group I meet with on a weekly basis generally works on their own projects. However once a year, they tend to like to have a group project where we donate to a charity as a group. Last year we donated various baby items such as afghans, hats, sweaters, etc. to Stitches from the Heart. This year we pooled together to make one big blanket for Warm Up America. Each of us was assigned a color and a couple skeins of yarn from which we were to knit up 9X9 squares in garter stitch. I don’t really know who thought up the design for this particular afghan or who chose the colors, but I suppose garter stitch made it easy enough for any skill level to join in. Once we got all the squares completed, our fearless leader assembled all the squares together. A few weeks ago, the blanket was finally completed. Here’s a pic of our combined effort.
The squares I knit up were the very dark purplish color that seem to be next to the yellows, and look almost dark chocolate color in this picture. The afghan is draped over a folded table, so it’s really twice the size that is shown here, plus the ends are scrunched up on the sides. Warm Up America actually accepts just the plain knitted squares, and they can assemble it over there, but it’s helpful to them if you assemble it for them. But for anyone who doesn’t have much time or much yarn, a square or two would be just fine to send in as a donation. I’m sure they’d appreciate any bit of help.
Seeing the finished project inspired me to check out other charities just to see what’s out there. Honestly, while I do like knitting, I prefer to knit with wools or other animal fibers as opposed to acrylics or other synthetics. The problem with some charities is that they prefer acrylics because they are easy to wash, and I think for the newborns such as those that Stitches from the Heart cater to, acrylic is requested, too, because I “think” some wools can be itchy to their soft skins and wools tend to need to be hand washed, which is inconvenient. HOWEVER, I stumbled across a charity group that sounded right up my alley. It’s called Warm Woolies.
Warm Woolies is right up my alley for several reasons. First of all they prefer wool, a least 80% wool or more. According to their website, they provide wool clothing to orphanages, which is another thing I like, in areas where it gets quite cold, so only wool or other animal fibers will do. No acrylics unless it’s for an afghan. Concern for washing instructions? Not a problem because the places where these wool items go, they generally don’t have washing machines that will shrink or felt the wool, so they’re all hand washed anyway! Another thing I like is that Warm Woolies claims to provide items for the very needy first. They also have a neat program wherein they will provide the wool for the knitting, and if you live in the Denver area, I think they will also provide the knitting needles if needed. Oye! Do other charities do that? It’s the first I’ve heard so far. From reading their website, it seems that they are able to do this because of a very generous donation they received from a couple sisters who used to own a yarn shop.But since I don’t live in the Denver, CO area, they still have a system by which we can participate in the yarn program. Basically all they ask are the following:
1. You pay for postage, either $11 or $13 depending upon what size box of yarn you want,
2. Make sure you only use their yarn to make items for Warm Woolies such as sweaters, vests, and socks,
3. For the first yarn request, they would like you to send in one finished item using your own yarn. (I’m guessing this is for a good faith type of thing, but fair enough, I think), and
4. That you return the completed items by three months.
That all sounded pretty fair to me, so I knitted up a couple kids socks, and a couple infant socks, and shipped it off to Warm Woolies along with a $13 check to see what kinds of yarns they like to use. About a week later, I got my first box of yarn. Here’s what it looked like.
They actually use some pretty nice yarns. The stuff they sent me was Lamb’s Pride by Brown Sheep, Wave and Zara by Filatura Di Crosa, and Iceland by Madil Yarns, all 100% wool. I found that their website even has free patterns for them, and they are super easy for anyone who’s just starting out with knitting. Also since they like thick wool items, they knit up super fast! I’m so used to knitting with #2 needles with fingering yarn for socks and such, that when I started working with this stuff (thicker yarns) and #5-#10 1/2 needles, I was able to whip through their yarn in a couple weeks. I just finished tucking in all the lose ends this morning, and took a pic of what I was able to knit up with the yarns they sent before shipping it back to them. Here’s what I got out of it.
The little bunch of yarn at the top center is all that was left of the yarn they sent. I suppose I can hold on to it and add it to other projects I hope to knit for them. The two vests I knit using their free pattern from their website. The magenta colored vest was made using this pattern. The hunter green vest was knit from this pattern combined with another pattern on their site that I can’t seem to find right now, but the Xs are from their pattern. The pattern on the green vest isn’t seen well in the above pic, so I took another pic to get a better look at it.
Their patterns are so super easy that it’s great. This basic form will accommodate a lot of ad libbing. I’m thinking I’d like to try other patterns on their basic vests, just for fun. I’m also hoping to get my hands on an EZ baby surprise pattern. I think those would be wonderful baby sweaters to knit up. But first, I need to find that pattern. Another thing that makes this so easy is that you don’t have to really worry too much about size because they supply for kids anywhere between the ages of newborns to 16 years old. And when I use myself as a gauge, well, I’m the same size I was when I was 13 years old, my feet and my height. My 14 year old son is bigger than I am now including his feet, which is almost the same size as his dad’s. So it doesn’t matter how big the items are, so long as they are not too small. Who can knit an clothing piece smaller than newborn size? So it’s almost fool-proof. No need to bother with gauge, so long as the item is the right proportions–i.e. the socks are the same size to one another, or the armholes are even, etc.
One of the features that makes their vest patterns so easy is that they are knitted in the round, so there are no seams to sew, just the two little shoulders, which are very short. And while I do like knitting, I tend to not like weaving in all the loose ends. Ugh. I really need to learn to like doing that because it is so necessary to finish the items properly. But here’s a pic of an item that has lots of loose ends to weave in. And a perfect example why I don’t like switching colors too often, if I can help it.
Ugh. This is what the multi-colored socks look like on the inside before the loose ends are woven in. I was thinking this AM while I was weaving in the loose ends, why I don’t like to do this although I do like to sew by hand and cross-stitch. I’m not really sure, but one thought was that when I cross-stitch the stitches are meant to be seen, but here the stitches are meant to be invisible. Hmmm. Oh well, whatever it is, I hope to learn the technique better. Ah! Maybe that’s it! I don’t think I’m so good at weaving in threads to the point that I feel good that they are completely unseen or unfelt. Maybe that’s why I don’t like the task. . . Anyway, it’s done now, and the package was shipped off today. Now it’s up to the post to make sure it gets to its destination.
Okay, hope this gave some ideas for any crafty people who might be poking in here and looking for some charity to help out. I know there are other charities that provide for kids that also accept sewn items, too, not only knit or crochet items. For anyone who loves crafts, charities are a fun way to try branch out with a bit more creativity. Participating with Warm Woolies had given me the experience of knitting socks and vests with fat yarns that I had not done previously. Interesting, and I think I like it, heheh. I still want to try my hand at lace, but I’ve got a bunch of boys to knit for in my house who won’t appreciate lace, and the kids for Warm Woolies need coverage and not holes such as lace would make. I’ll have to save that project for another time.
Toodles for now,
Marlakins 
