I've been asked to teach kids at Orchard how to knit! On March 18th I'll be teaching 6 lovely young ladies and 1 (also lovely) Sunday school teacher to make washcloths. This is a great first project to learn on. It's a ministry project for them - they will be giving these to abused women and children in the community. I will be making up "kits" for each of them with all the materials they'll need. I suggested they wrap their washcloth around a nice bar of soap, and add ribbon. This will make a nice gift!
So Strands of Love has a "farm system" - we need to keep teaching the younger ones so we never run out of knitters....:-)
Friday, March 2, 2007
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Meeting Notes Feb 28th
You are all amazing! Look what we did last night! We tagged:
128 baby hats
16 adult hats
46 baby blankets
19 pairs of booties
10 large baby blankets
5 afghans
6 scarves
2 baby sweaters
These are going to Good Sam, Los Gatos Community, Valley Med, and the VA's in Palo Alto and San Jose. And just so you remember Who is in charge....last night Steve B. picked up 16 adult hats and 2 blankets to bring to InnVision tonight. Last week he ran out of hats to give out, disappointing many in need of a little warmth. He was so very excited to get more hats - this was truly God's timing!
Thank you to Linda, Debie, Joan, Connie, Sandy and Torey! Janet and Trisha stopped by for a bit (good to see you!). And we missed our other regulars - Carol, Bobbie, Pam and Kate...:-)
More money in the piggy bank: we collected $26 tonight!
News from Sara regarding the Navy Seabees we blessed with a few scarves for Christmas: her husband's unit is due home in April (woohoo!). They are planning a welcome home celebration and have invited us! What an honor it will be to meet these brave souls. I will keep you posted as I get more information. I have also been talking to Sara about our group adopting another unit to bless for next Fall. We can be making things for them starting now and get a nice bundle together in time to ship overseas for Christmas. Keep you posted on that too.
We had some yarn donated while we were at Sandy's last night (thank you, Deed!) It is a whole box of various novelty yarn. We thought to make more scarves for Women's Ministries to sell, so I emailed Deborah about it. She indicated that they still had some left and that she would prefer that we find another use for the yarn. So let's put our heads together and see what else we can make with the yarn. One thought - the Whisper yarn is so incredibly soft and would be perfect for chemo caps.
I think that covers the meeting. My apologies to everyone since no one was able to actually knit last night, but we were so productive and that feels really good. Great job everyone!
128 baby hats
16 adult hats
46 baby blankets
19 pairs of booties
10 large baby blankets
5 afghans
6 scarves
2 baby sweaters
These are going to Good Sam, Los Gatos Community, Valley Med, and the VA's in Palo Alto and San Jose. And just so you remember Who is in charge....last night Steve B. picked up 16 adult hats and 2 blankets to bring to InnVision tonight. Last week he ran out of hats to give out, disappointing many in need of a little warmth. He was so very excited to get more hats - this was truly God's timing!
Thank you to Linda, Debie, Joan, Connie, Sandy and Torey! Janet and Trisha stopped by for a bit (good to see you!). And we missed our other regulars - Carol, Bobbie, Pam and Kate...:-)
More money in the piggy bank: we collected $26 tonight!
News from Sara regarding the Navy Seabees we blessed with a few scarves for Christmas: her husband's unit is due home in April (woohoo!). They are planning a welcome home celebration and have invited us! What an honor it will be to meet these brave souls. I will keep you posted as I get more information. I have also been talking to Sara about our group adopting another unit to bless for next Fall. We can be making things for them starting now and get a nice bundle together in time to ship overseas for Christmas. Keep you posted on that too.
We had some yarn donated while we were at Sandy's last night (thank you, Deed!) It is a whole box of various novelty yarn. We thought to make more scarves for Women's Ministries to sell, so I emailed Deborah about it. She indicated that they still had some left and that she would prefer that we find another use for the yarn. So let's put our heads together and see what else we can make with the yarn. One thought - the Whisper yarn is so incredibly soft and would be perfect for chemo caps.
I think that covers the meeting. My apologies to everyone since no one was able to actually knit last night, but we were so productive and that feels really good. Great job everyone!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Gone Public
Because so many of the invitees to this blog have had "issues" with getting in, I've decided to make this a public blog. In the interest of privacy I've removed all last names. I honestly don't think we'll have a problem with any unwanted activity though.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Tag! You're It!
I finally managed to sort, organize and wash all of our "inventory." We have the equivalent of three bins of baby items, most of it suitable for preemies. We also have a bin of items which would be great for the children's shelter. What we need to do is TAG it all. I have printed out tags (I think I have 250 ready to go) and will bring them on the 28th to Sandy's. With our many hands it won't take long to get everything tagged, I'm sure.
If you have any scrap yarn (preferably smooth, not novelty yarn), and you have time, please cut it into 10" lengths and bring it with you on the 28th. I will bring a hole punch - if anyone else has one, please bring it - can't hurt to have more than one.
See you next week - Tag, You're It!
If you have any scrap yarn (preferably smooth, not novelty yarn), and you have time, please cut it into 10" lengths and bring it with you on the 28th. I will bring a hole punch - if anyone else has one, please bring it - can't hurt to have more than one.
See you next week - Tag, You're It!
Meeting Notes Feb 7th
A very delayed posting, with my apologies. Between being sick for two weeks and Nick wrecking the car....well, blogging hasn't been a priority!
GREAT JOB!! Many (adult) hats were turned in on the 7th, and lap blankets have been started too - this is wonderful! It was decided that we would donate these items to two VA facilities - one in San Jose and one in Palo Alto. Kate has been in touch with both places - thanks Kate!
We collected $9 in overhead monies and the sidebar has been updated.
We cleared up a "little" misunderstanding about delegation of projects. Sweet Sandy, bless her heart, thought that she was responsible for making all the lap blankets (someone mentioned 50 at one point? Can't remember.) I felt SO bad that she had been so stressed about this, but as God works it out, we ended up having some really good laugh therapy over the whole thing - alot of which was centered around my new reputation as a stern taskmaster - ha! (please don't ask my kids to chime in on this one). The evening was another reminder for me that we are not just ministering to those we bless with our handmade goods, but to each other.
In attendance (if I remember correctly!) Debbie, Linda, Sandy, Joan, Carol, Kate, Connie, Jeannette, Pam.
GREAT JOB!! Many (adult) hats were turned in on the 7th, and lap blankets have been started too - this is wonderful! It was decided that we would donate these items to two VA facilities - one in San Jose and one in Palo Alto. Kate has been in touch with both places - thanks Kate!
We collected $9 in overhead monies and the sidebar has been updated.
We cleared up a "little" misunderstanding about delegation of projects. Sweet Sandy, bless her heart, thought that she was responsible for making all the lap blankets (someone mentioned 50 at one point? Can't remember.) I felt SO bad that she had been so stressed about this, but as God works it out, we ended up having some really good laugh therapy over the whole thing - alot of which was centered around my new reputation as a stern taskmaster - ha! (please don't ask my kids to chime in on this one). The evening was another reminder for me that we are not just ministering to those we bless with our handmade goods, but to each other.
In attendance (if I remember correctly!) Debbie, Linda, Sandy, Joan, Carol, Kate, Connie, Jeannette, Pam.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Meeting Notes Jan 24th
Well. Wow. Hmmm. GOD IS GOOD! We had a record number of attendees tonight - 16! Further evidence that knitting is cool: Jeanette's daughter Braiden brought three of her friends who wanted to learn how to knit. Are you sitting down? Two of them were guys. High school guys. What a hoot! They all did very well I might add. I even took their picture....;-)
We had another new face join us tonight (Kate). She found us through the SVCC website and we're happy to have her join us! And would you believe it? Another person (Nicole) actually came back after I taught her to knit last time. I didn't scare her off - praise God!
A comment about COMMENTS. You were all having trouble posting comments to the blog (including me) because ~ahem~ I had the comments settings wrong. *egg on face* You should be able to comment now. At tonight's meeting I decided just to turn them off so it wouldn't frustrate people and when I was attempting to figure out how to do that just now I noticed my original error. I am still planning to create a Yahoo Group for us, so we can email freely within the group and no one will miss any emails.
I am putting together a Contact List for the group and since tonight's attendance was so powerful (yes we are powerful!) I pretty much have everyone's info. I will email the missing persons and then send out the list. I'm feeling so much more organized, aren't you?
CURRENT PROJECT: Adult hats and lap blankets to be given to shelters/nursing homes. It warms my heart that a few of you used the hat pattern I posted and we have a few hats done already - great job! If you're making a hat and want to be able to fold it over to make a double layer over the ears, just knit 4" of ribbing instead of 2", the rest is the same. If you want the pattern "translated" for knitting in the round let me know and I'll post it.
Lap blankets: please make them 34" x 40", or as close to that as possible. Use worsted weight yarn (or double yarn of a lighter weight) that is washable.
We have not made the final decision about where these hats and blankets will be donated. Please email your suggestions - I certainly am not familiar with every shelter and nursing home in the area by any means. Let's start a list.
PIGGY BANK: We asked for $1 from each person. There were 16 people tonight. We have $40. This is God's Math. Thank you to those who over-gave...:-) Please note in the sidebar that I started a tally of what's in our coffers. Keep me accountable folks!
If I've left anything out give me a holler! Blessings all around, and lots of knitting time to all!
Attendees: Debbie, Linda, Jeanette, Pam, Joan, Sandy, Connie, Debie, Nicole, Kate, Bobbie, Janet, Braiden, Heather, Trevor and Taylor
A comment about COMMENTS. You were all having trouble posting comments to the blog (including me) because ~ahem~ I had the comments settings wrong. *egg on face* You should be able to comment now. At tonight's meeting I decided just to turn them off so it wouldn't frustrate people and when I was attempting to figure out how to do that just now I noticed my original error. I am still planning to create a Yahoo Group for us, so we can email freely within the group and no one will miss any emails.
I am putting together a Contact List for the group and since tonight's attendance was so powerful (yes we are powerful!) I pretty much have everyone's info. I will email the missing persons and then send out the list. I'm feeling so much more organized, aren't you?
CURRENT PROJECT: Adult hats and lap blankets to be given to shelters/nursing homes. It warms my heart that a few of you used the hat pattern I posted and we have a few hats done already - great job! If you're making a hat and want to be able to fold it over to make a double layer over the ears, just knit 4" of ribbing instead of 2", the rest is the same. If you want the pattern "translated" for knitting in the round let me know and I'll post it.
Lap blankets: please make them 34" x 40", or as close to that as possible. Use worsted weight yarn (or double yarn of a lighter weight) that is washable.
We have not made the final decision about where these hats and blankets will be donated. Please email your suggestions - I certainly am not familiar with every shelter and nursing home in the area by any means. Let's start a list.
PIGGY BANK: We asked for $1 from each person. There were 16 people tonight. We have $40. This is God's Math. Thank you to those who over-gave...:-) Please note in the sidebar that I started a tally of what's in our coffers. Keep me accountable folks!
If I've left anything out give me a holler! Blessings all around, and lots of knitting time to all!
Attendees: Debbie, Linda, Jeanette, Pam, Joan, Sandy, Connie, Debie, Nicole, Kate, Bobbie, Janet, Braiden, Heather, Trevor and Taylor
Monday, January 15, 2007
Quick Hat
In case you're hunting for an easy hat pattern, here's a really easy one I made up tonight. I was surprised how fast it knit up. It would be even faster if it was just striped - the rows with the broken color took twice as long as a regular row. This is just a basic hat recipe, and it's knit flat and seamed. This size (CO of 64 st) fits me, so it should be made bigger for an adult male. We should make an assortment of sizes anyway. The pattern:
Size 10 1/2 needles
Gauge = 4 st per inch
CO on 64(72, 80, 88) st
Knit 2" of K2, P2 ribbing (7-8 rows)
Knit 4" of stockinette - change colors for stripes if you want (always change color on RS and use that color for an even number of rows)
Decrease for crown:
K6, K2tog, repeat to end of row
Purl across
K5, K2tog, repeat to end of row
Purl across
K4, K2tog, repeat to end of row
Purl across
K3, K2tog, repeat to end of row
Purl across
K2, K2tog, repeat to end of row
Purl across
K1, K2tog, repeat to end of row
Purl across
K2tog across
Purl across
K2tog across
Cut yarn, leaving enough length to use for seaming
Thread darning needle through remaining stitches, pull off needle and cinch tight
Weave in any ends
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