Knit A Hat

Worldwide Knit in Public Day DC Style

2011-06-07T04:26:00.000-07:00

I received an email this morning with this information attached for Worldwide Knit in Public Day. I always giggle when I think about an event centered around knitting in public, when it's something that I do almost every day. As one fabulous fellow knitter once quipped, "If you have seen me, you have seen me knitting." I may swing by this event 'cause it sounds like fun. Hope to see you there!

World Wide Knit in Public Day
June 11, 2011

Join us as we knit with hundreds of other knitters around the world on the same day!
Where: Marketplace at Woodridge

A Year Round Farmers, Artists and Quality Craft Market
1915 Rhode Island Avenue, NE Washington, DC

When: 10am to 1pm
Bring: A chair, drinking water and your knitting
World Wide Knit in Public Day was created in 2005 - and is the world largest knitter event.

To find out more about WWKiP Day – please visit http://www.wwkipday.com.

Crochet For Knitters Class To Benefit Disaster Relief

2011-04-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

To help support the disaster-relief aide so desperately needed in Japan, and other parts of the world, Aylin Bener and Claire Wudowsky will teach a Crochet For Knitters class on Sunday, April 17 from 1 pm to 4 pm at Aylin’s Woolgatherer (directions can be found at the end of this note) 100% of the proceeds from this class will go to Doctors Without Borders.

Do you have a fear of knitting patterns that include a few crochet stitches? If so, this class is for you. In this class you will learn basic crochet stitches and edgings, and how to use crochet to embellish necklines, button bands, and edges of garments. Once you try it, you’ll never be afraid of crocheting again. The cost of this class is $50.00/student.

If you cannot attend on that date and you would like to donate to this amazing organization; you are welcome to send a check to the shop and we’ll provide you with a copy of the handouts from this class.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) http://http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
From the MSF website:
“MSF has sent medical teams to support the government-led earthquake and tsunami response in Japan. Our teams are running mobile clinics and conducting needs assessments, which will determine the full scope of MSF’s response.
At this point, MSF USA is drawing on unrestricted donations given to MSF to fund our efforts, and MSF USA is not accepting donations specifically earmarked for recovery efforts in Japan.”
Therefore, the proceeds from this class will go to the MSF general fund.

Aylin’s Woolgatherer http://www.aylins-wool.com
Aylin’s Woolgatherer
7245 Arlington Blvd., Suite 318
Falls Church, VA 22042
703-573-1900

Directions from Washington, DC:
Take Rt. 50 into Northern Virginia approximately 8 miles to Graham Rd.(Next stop light after Annandale Rd.) Turn left and make the next right into Loehman’s Plaza shopping center. Go to the 3rd floor of “7-11 building” in the middle of the center.

Directions from the Capitol Beltway (I-495):
Go to Northern Virginia. Exit onto Rt. 50 East. Proceed just under a mile to Graham Rd. (4th traffic light after the Beltway) and turn right. Make the first right turn into Loehman’s Plaza shopping center. Go to the 3rd floor of “7-11 building” in the middle of the center.

More Tiny Baby Caps, Please?

2011-01-01T05:49:00.000-08:00

I received an email in December from Save the Children requesting my participation in their 'Caps for Good' program, which is just like their previous 'Caps to the Capitol' program where they were requesting the donation of very small hand knit and crochet caps to be sent to developing nations where newborns die simply because they are too small to maintain their own body heat. At any age, our bodies vent heat off of the tops of our heads. Putting one of these caps on a newborn's head helps their little body retain that precious body heat so that they can stay alive.

I have been thrilled to knit up these little life-saving caps to send off to save babies. They are a breeze to whip up--I can finish one hat while watching a movie, bind off and start another before the movie ends--and they are just incredibly adorable. And I have to admit, as a mother, it pulls on my maternal instincts. If there is something that I can do to help other mothers around the world keep their babies alive, healthy and warm I want to do it.

So, I am putting the word out once again here on my blog and in the Knitters and Crocheters Care group on Ravelry, and also for my local DC knitting peeps I will be putting together a charity event in order to spread the word and get more baby caps made.

The caps, along with any monetary donation you'd like to make, get sent to Save the Children. You can download the free baby cap pattern to knit or crochet at the CYC Warm Up America website.

Now that you are all done with Christmas knitting, you can get those needles all warmed up again and crank out a few tiny caps and save a few babies. It's fun and it really feels good.

Sit and Knit & Crochet at the Prayer Shawl Ministry at Washington Hospital Center Cancer Center

2010-08-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

I have been knitting up a blue streak this summer as quiet as it's been kept. My freelance writing practice has really taken off, so I've been doing a lot of writing for clients and not enough for my own blogs.

But one thing that helps to keep me sane and centered is knitting prayer shawls for the Cancer Center at the Washington Hospital Center. We gather on the fourth Monday of each month and knit (actually, there are more crocheters than knitters in our group) prayer shawls to give to the women and men who are cancer patients at the hospital. I think it's been almost a year since I joined this group, and it has been a wonderfully rewarding experience for me.

Each month I knit a shawl to be donated to one of the cancer patients. We don't really get a chance to meet these people, so we are knitting anonymous gifts to bless people we don't know and most likely will never meet. As we knit or crochet the shawls we hold the recipient in prayer, and so the making of the shawl becomes not unlike a devotional in and of itself. As I knit each stitch I might silently repeat a mantra or whisper a prayer or just focus on feeling good so that the resulting shawl will be imbued with positive, healing, uplifting energy.

At each meeting as the shawls are given, they are blessed with a special prayer. I really enjoy going to the meetings because I enjoy the fellowship with the other women and because it is a time in my life where I set aside all of my other obligations and focus on this simple offering.

We work with yarn that gets donated by lots of generous crafts women, and for the most part we get acrylic and other man-made fiber yarns to create our shawls with. Being the unabashed yarn snob that I am, it has been challenging for me to work with these yarns. Well, a few months back we got a generous donation of some really nice, natural fiber yarns. I found a big bag of Rowan DK weight yarn in a soft, olive green. I grabbed it up and knit the Woodland Shawl http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/woodland-shawl on size 9US needles, and then instead of putting a fringe on it, I added single leaves coming out of an I-cord, as found in Nicky Epstein's, Knitting on the Edge: Ribs*Ruffles*Lace*Fringes*Flora*Points & Picots

Chris Vinh, the group's organizer, snapped this photo at the meeting:

With the leftover yarn I knit up a Damson shawl, which, when knit with fingering weight yarn works up to be a shoulderette shawl, came out to be a full sized shawl because I used the DK weight and size 9US needles. I think it looked spectacular, but it did not get as big a reaction as the Woodland Shawl. That shawl came out quite nice.

So, if you are a DC Metro area knitter and you are free on the fourth Monday of the month from noon-2pm, come join us at the Prayer Shawl Ministry. I get far more than I give from attending this ministry.

I'll Be Speed Stitching for Charity on Sunday!

2010-04-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

They are holding a 'Speed Knitting for Charity' event at Fibre Space in Alexandria, which is turning out to be my new fave LYS. I plan to be there on Sunday to participate, so I'm encouraging/laying down the gauntlet for all of my local D.C. knitting peeps to come on over to Fiber Space and whip up a hat for charity and a bit of good, clean fun.

The money for the entry fee will go to support Michelle, who is raising money to participate in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. If you can't make it, but still want to make a hat to donate to the Washington Hospital Center Cancer Institute, visit the Fibre Space website to get all of the details.

The Homespun Yarn Party in Savage Mill--A New Local Fiber Tradition

2010-03-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended the Homespun Yarn Party, which took place at the historic Savage Mill in Savage, Maryland. It was about a 40 minute drive for me from D.C., but it was well worth the schlep.

This mini-fiber festival took place in a Civil War era textile mill, which has been converted to a marketplace with a bunch of adorable little shops.

The yarn party was held in the great room, which was packed to the gills with yarn, fiber and happy shoppers. It was about 72 degrees outside, and the room seemed to be about 80.

I stood in line for about 15 minutes before I was able to get into the space. I ran into several of my knit blogging buddies including CiCi from http://sistahsthatknit.blogspot.com/, and lots of other Ravelery peeps as well.

I didn't really buy anything as I saving my cash for my annual pilgrimage to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival that takes place on the first weekend in May (my birthday is May 3, so I like to pretend it's all for my Bday ;-) ) at the Howard County Fairgrounds.

My friend Claire was there with Knitters and Crocheters Care, a non-profit group that acts as a clearinghouse for collecting charity knitting and crochet items and distributing them to local charities, and they also collect donated yarn and disperse it to knitters and crocheters in the area who create the items that get donated.

But if you live in the area and you love yarn, knitting, spinning, or weaving there was lots of fun to be had by all. I ran into an acquaintance that I've not seen for years. She and a friend will be hosting the fabulous Shirley Paden for a special class in June. I will post more details on this as they become available. I just love Shirly Paden's designs because I love cables. I became a fan way back in the 90's when she designed one of the squares for the Great American Afghan that Interweave published a few squares at a time in their magazine.

So, now I'm adding the Homespun Yarn Party to my list of local fibery traditions. It's a wonderful warm-up for the MDS&W, and a great opportunity to meet up with folks that I usually only interact with online.

March is National Craft Month: What Are You Making or Doing to Celebrate?

2010-03-04T15:52:00.000-08:00

OK, so I'm aware that this is a knitting blog, but since I'm the boss if it, I get to decide what gets covered. I'm a hard-core crafter, and March is National Craft Month, so I'll be highlighting some of the crafts that I find enjoyable in addition to knitting.

Here's a fun video with some crafty ideas to inspire you:

I love doing crafts because it's something that my mom used to do with my siblings and me when we were growing up. My mom is also a knitter, but she also did crochet, macrame, she made hand-crafted books, did Calligraphy and drawing. We learned how to hand-carved rubber stamps, we did sewing, dollmaking, quilting and collage.

Being crafty and creative is a wonderful way to express yourself, it's just a ton of fun and a good way for parents and kids to spend, wait for it. . . quality time with their children. My kids love to use their crafty skills to make gifts for family members, and oy you should see my refrigerator and my office. That's our de facto 'gallery' where my girls hang their art pieces.

So, stick around and you'll get exposed to a few cool crafty ideas and projects.

Little Dresses for Africa

2010-03-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

I was on Twitter on Sunday afternoon and I saw a tweet about a swap-bot.com swap involving 'Little Dresses for Africa.' Intrigued by the title, I clicked through and followed the link to find a wonderful website with pictures of beautiful African children wearing these adorable dresses. Each one is hand made with love and attention, and those little girls look so happy to be wearing new dresses that were made just for them.

So, I joined the swap and immediately went on an excursion to see if I had anything suitable in my fabric stash to whip up some little dresses. I did not really have enough pretty fabric, so I took a quick trip to Hancock fabrics, which is down the road from me in the Penn/Branch Shopping Center. They were having a sale, so I was able to get enough adorable cotton print fabrics to make 12 dresses for $34. Well, almost because that price does not include the thread and the elastic, but when I total it up, I think the cost for each dress will be about $3.50 each. Not bad.

My girls were thrilled and they wanted to help. We measured and cut the dresses on Sunday, and then yesterday, since Jordan had the day off from school, she and I made three dresses so that I could work the kinks out of the process. The next nine will be made in assembly-line fashion. It will be a fun, creative project.

As I was working on the first three samples, I thought how nice it would be to also send them to Haiti. I learned on Saturday from an interview I heard on XMradio between Deepak Chopra and Wyclef Jean, that 61% of the population of Haiti is under the age of 21. That's a lot of children, and the girls will need dresses. Leila quickly noticed that we should also be making boy clothes as well, on our next trip we'll get suitable fabric for britches for boys.

We had been feeling like we wanted to have more of an impact on helping the people of Haiti and showing them our love other than just sending money. Now, we have a way to send our love in a tangible way to the little children in Malawi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and soon Haiti, that we love them, we want to see them smile and we want them to have hope and a future.

Here's a picture of Jordan modeling one of the dresses that for a much smaller girl:

So, if you're a member of swap-bot, join the 'Little Dresses for Africa' swap with me. If you are not a member, visit the Little Dresses for Africa website and contribute a few dresses or send in your donation to support this amazing organization.

My Interview in the New Infinite Field Magazine

2010-02-24T17:53:00.000-08:00

I was interviewed by Synolve Craft, the editor of the Infinite Field magazine, about my passion for knitting. Take a look at the February edition, which is absolutely lovely. My interview is the last story in that issue.

http://theinfinitefieldmagazine.com/current-issue/

Snowed In But Still Knitting!

2010-02-07T05:17:00.001-08:00

Here in the Mid-Atlantic we were slammed by a huge snowstorm yesterday. I don't watch TV, so I'm not sure exactly how many inches we got, but I'm thinking we got around 24." I'm thankful that we were all safe at home, but now we're actually snowed in as I live on a secondary road, which does not seem to be a priority for the plows. . .

It made me think back to my childhood days when I lived through the Blizzard of '78. In that storm the snow drifts were so high they completely covered our front door. In order for my dad to get out of the house he had to climb out of a second-story window (in my bedroom) which was right above the roof over the front porch. He climbed out on to the roof, slid down the roof and on to the snow below. I was afraid as I watched the top of his head disappear that the snow would swallow him up.

But, of course he was fine and he set to digging out our front door and then our cars. We were out of school for two weeks. It was lots of fun for me because I was a little kid then.

So, yesterday we watched movies and I finished up some of my writing work and I got a bit of knitting done on my Totally Autumn blanket that was in knitty.com a few issues back.

I've never been much of a blanket knitter beyond making baby blankets, but earlier this winter our furnace broke down and we had no heat for a few days. That caused me to scramble around to find every blanket I could. That little experience inspired me to get some Fisherman's wool and knit a blanket. It's now getting so big that I usually work on it in bed where I can spread it out, or when I'm watching a movie.

Since we'll probably stuck in this house again today, I'm going to make a hat from some of my newbie hand spun yarn. I've been saving this precious yarn because it's the first yarn I made when I got my wheel, but I think it's time to use it. This yarn is a hot mess of thick and thin because I was just getting the hang of spinning. I will hold two strands together to make a heavy worsted, not quite bulky weight yarn. Take a look, but please don't laugh:

I know that my spinning skills will improve with time. For now I will enjoy the fruits of my labor and knit myself a hat made with yarn I made myself!

Crafters Unite for Haiti Relief

2010-01-23T14:45:00.000-08:00

I am so proud of the way my fellow crafters have joined forces to raise money for our sisters and brothers in Haiti who have been devastated by last week's earthquake.

I've collected some links for ways that we as crafters can help the relief effort in Haiti.

Crafters for Haiti Relief:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6404143&page=19
A bunch of etsy.com artists have joined together and are donating a portion of their proceeds for Haitian relief.

The Indie Fixx blog is running a silent auction where 100% of proceeds will go to Haitian relief:
http://indiefixx.com/2010/01/14/haiti-relief-fundraiser/

Ravelry.com, one of my fave knitting websites ever, has a growing selection of items where a portion of proceeds go to Hatian relief. Look for the little 'help for Haiti' tag.

http://www.ravelry.com

Finally, here is CNN's handy list of ways to help Haiti now:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/impact/

So, do what you can and keep Haiti in your prayers.

A Shout-Out to My Swap-Bot Peeps!

2010-01-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

I'm a member of Swap-bot.com, a website where creative, crafty people get together and swap stuff that we make. Since I'm a knitter I usually swap knitted items, but I also enjoy making ATCs and Dottee dolls and swapping them with people all over the world.

I'm currently in a Blogger followers swap. So we all agree to visit each others blogs, follow them and leave a nice comment. Last night I visited about 20 of the most fabulous blogs and found a few gems that I may never have found otherwise.

So, I know this is a bit late, but "Hi!" to all my swap-bot people. ;-)

Inspiration from Shirley Paden

2010-01-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

I am a knitter who loves cables and lace, so I've been a fan of Shirley Paden's for many years. Today I was thrilled to see her upcoming book being highlighted on Interweave's Knitting Daily email message.

Here's a quick video that gives you an insight into some of the designs from her book and her overall approach to design:

This book comes out on February 15th and I'm looking forward to grabbing a copy to add to my vast collection of knitting books. I will publish a review once I've gotten my hands on a copy.

500 Tiny Hats for Infant Mortality Awareness!

2009-09-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

I spoke to Claudia Booker of DC Birthing Hands on Wednesday to find out how the hat project is going. She was leaving one birth and was on her way to another, but she told me that she has received 500 hats so far. She did mention that many of them were far too big for the tiny newborns whose heads are often the size of an orange, so she is going to donate the bigger hats to the local childrens hospital.

Here are the hats that I have completed so far:

You all were so generous in knitting up these little hats to warm the heads of our tiniest neighbors. I plan to continue to knit these hats because she is giving them to the new mothers when their babies are born.

I want to thank everyone who participated in the contest. When we figure out who the winner is, I will post it here.

Infant Mortality Awareness Project Update

2009-09-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

I've been talking up the contest to encourage my readers to knit up a bunch of baby caps for the 'Heads Up on Infant Mortality' project. The goal of this project is to raise awareness about the high infant mortality rate in this country. The hats will be presented at a special event and there will be one hat for each newborn who died last year. The caps will then be donated to new moms for their new babies.

Two generous Ravelers, Michelle and Katharine have kicked in with a generous donation of two skeins of everyone's favorite Cascade 220 in purple and pink, and a skein of recycled silk. Here is a picture from the color card:

I have knit ten baby caps so far and my friend Claire has crocheted ten caps, but she is not participating in the contest. I just want to remind everyone that the project deadline is looming. The hats need to be delivered to Birthing Hands of DC by Friday, September 18th, so if you are working on some hats and want to take part in the contest, please send them in and let me know how many you made.

Announcing a Contest to Encourage Donations to the 'Heads Up for Infant Mortality' Project in D.C.

2009-08-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

OK, so I think I might have gotten just a teensy bit obsessed with this 'Heads Up for Infant Mortality' project. I'm thinking it's because I love babies so much and I really can't believe that in Washington, D.C.--our nation's capitol, the rate of infant mortality is like that of a third world country! (or should I say developing nation) Anyway, I'm working on my fifth little baby cap since I heard about the project last week. I wrote a blog post about it last week, and I have been knitting the caps in public and telling everyone who will listen about the project.

So, I'm doing my part to raise awareness. Now I want to inspire you all to take some action. The only thing of value that I have right now to give away is my time. I have decided to create a contest where I will give 1 hour of knitting instruction to the person who donates the most baby caps to this project. I am an expert knitter with about 30 years of experience. I have taught knitting classes at the Knit-Out on the National Mall, and several other venues over the years. My specialties include lace and socks, but I can teach you pretty much anything you'd like to learn about knitting. I usually charge $40. per hour for private instruction, so that's the value of this prize.

In order to win, knit up as many infant caps as you can between now and September 15, 2009. Take a photo of the caps before you send them off to Claudia, and send it to me. When she verifies with me that she has indeed received your caps, I will contact you right away to schedule your lesson. The lesson must be taken between the end of September and December 1, 2009.

Keep those pointy sticks clicking and whip up some caps for the tiny babies and you could get a free, private lesson in the bargain. Go to http://www.birthinghandsdc.com for the free hat patterns. These hats take me about an hour to whip up. I hear that crocheting them is even faster.

Here's where to send them:

Birthing Hands, D.C.
106 Michigan Avenue, NE #D-44
Washington, DC 20017

birthinghandsdc (AT) aol.com

You can reach me at:
ebb567 (AT) gmail.com

If you plan to participate, please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks in advance for all that you are doing to help our tiniest citizens have a healthy start in this world.

Heads Up on Infant Mortality: Knit a Baby Cap to Raise Awareness About Infant Mortality

2009-08-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

As an African American mother of three healthy girls the issue of infant mortality in the Black community is one that concerns me greatly. I was perusing the dc/md/va fiber arts group on Ravelry.com and I saw this article about the alarming rate of infant mortality for minority infants in the DC/MD/VA area.

I was glad to step in and help with the "Caps to the Capital" program that had the goal of knitting thousands of infant caps to keep newborns warm in developing countries. It was a way of raising awareness about infant mortality in developing countries, but when I heard about how many newborns are dying here in the DC area I jumped at the chance to do my part to raise awareness and get involved.

Please join me and knit up a few hats to help raise awareness about infant mortality in urban areas, and then the hats will be donated to newborns in local hospitals.

Here is the article with all of the details about the project.

“Heads Up on Infant Mortality”.

This project is to promote public awareness regarding the huge numbers of babies who do not reach their first birthday by knitting or crocheting infant hats in remembrance of them. This project is being done in Chicago, Florida, New Mexico, Richmond Virginia, and DC by me. We hope to present these infant hats to our local elected officials during the last week in September. At the end of the public awareness project the DC hats will be given to infants as “Going Home” gifts when they live the local NICU units. We need as many infant hats as we can get!!!!

A client of mine told me how her heart was touched by the hats and blankets her preemie twin daughter received as a gift when they left the Washington Hospital Center NICU.

The patterns are on my web site www.BirthingHandsDC.com. Infant hats should be sent to me by September 15th. Recently WPFW Radio did an interview on this project and I hope to get more press attention.

I need help getting these infant hats made by the September 15th deadline. More would be better. I would like to flood local NICUs with these hats as “Going Home” gifts of their babies.

Can you help spread the word and get folks knitting and crocheting?

Claudia Booker,
CD (DONA) (ICTC), CCCE, LLI BPC and BPCPA

Did you Know?

In the District of Columbia during 2004 - 2006:

Live Births:

Of the live births, 57.9% were African American, 25.4% were white, 14.1% were Hispanic, 2.2% were Asian, and .1% where Native American.

In 2005, there were 109 infants who died before reaching their first birthdays. Of that number 17.2% were African American, 7.2% were Hispanic and 3.4% were white. African American babies were 5 times more likely as white babies to die during their first year.

Pre Term Births:

In 2006, 16% of the infants born (1, 3860) were born preterm.

During 2004 – 2006, preterm birth rates were highest for African American infants (18.5%), followed by Hispanics (13.6%), Asians (11.0%) and whites (9.7%). African American babies were twice as likely to be born preterm as white babies.
Low Birth Weight:

In 2006 1 of 9 babies (11.5% of the live births) were low birth weight.

Low birth weight rates were highest for Native American infants (21.7%), followed by African American infants (13.2%), Hispanic infants (13.6%), Asians (9.4%) and whites (6.9%). Native American babies were three times as likely to be born preterm as white babies.

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival 2009--Big Fun Despite the Rain

2009-05-04T18:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. This is my fifth year in a row attending this festival. It's my way of celebrating my birthday in a big way. It's a hug collection of some of my favorite things all in one place. I also enjoy catching up with friends that I rarely get to see.

This year was fun because I met a new friend. Loren and I met online on Ravlery.com and we've been emailing back and forth because we found that we share a lot in common. She caught a bus from Philadelphia to come down to the festival and we met at the front gate. We walked around the festival grounds shopping and chatting and having a great time despite the off and on drizzle and overcast sky.

We stopped at the Ravelry.com meetup at the Rabbit Barn and caught up with our Ravelry peeps. For some reason I did not really take any pictures on Saturday, but when I got home I took pictures of the hand-dyed, fingering weight Merino yarn from Maple Creek Farm. I will use it to make a small summer lacy shawl. The greens, yellows and blues just reminded me of spring, so I had to have it.

The last thing that we did was watch the sheepdog trials, which was just fascinating. Those little dogs are so smart the sheep just don't stand a chance.

Meeting up with Loren was just delightful, and the festival was a fun way to lead up to my birthday. Once again, CiCi took some awesome pictures of both me and Loren and all the other cool Ravelry peeps and posted them on their blog, 2Sistahs Knit Together.

I'm Dreaming About Flower Child

2009-04-30T06:24:00.000-07:00

It all started very innocently. I am halfway through knitting a Brea bag for my mom for Mother's day. I misplaced the pattern and went to the Berrocco site to print off another copy when something caught my little eye. There was a snippet of a photo of Norah Gaughan's Flower Child knit top and it took my breath away. I clicked on the button and saw the full photo of this lovely sweater. This is going to be my Spring into summer knitting project. I just love Norah Gaughan's designs and this one's a peach. I do love the soft green color, but I might choose one of the pinks or coral colors. The Pure Pima cotton yarn from Berrocco is $6. per skein at Webs, so this will be a $60-70. little top. Quite a splurge, but I can tell already that this is going to be a favorite project.

Countdown to Maryland Sheep and Wool!!!

2009-03-17T04:39:00.000-07:00

As a knitter living in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., nothing (um, not many things) thrills me more than the anticipation leading up to the annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. The MD Sheep and Wool is the largest fiber festival in the eastern U.S. On the first weekend in May each year vendors, farmers and crafts people all gather at the Howard County Fairgrounds and collectively celebrate our love for all things related to wool (and other fibers), knitting, spinning, crochet and other fiber-related crafty pursuits. This will be my sixth consecutive year of attending this festival. Obsessed knitter and yarn addict that I am, these are my high holy days--especially because the fest usually ends up being on my birthday--as it is this year. I am already squirreling away some cash so that I will be able to buy some new yarn. I need to go through my queue in ravelry.com to see which projects I will look for yarn for.

One of my favorite parts of my annual pilgrimage to the festival is the impromptu picnic lunch that we have on the lawn. A group of us local D.C. knitters usually all meet together at that spot and eat our lunches, rest form the morning's excitement and show and share the purchases we've made, and plan our strategy for going after the other items on our 'must have' lists.

Last year I attended the Ravelry and met up with a bunch of peeps that I've only ever corresponded with online. Cici took pics and you can see them on her blog.

I live a pretty chilled-out life that's largely devoid of excitement, but I am excited about driving up to Howard county, getting stuck in the looooong line of traffic, hanging out with my peeps--and oh yeah, buying lots and lots of yarn. See you there!

Making More Mittens!

2009-01-17T05:17:00.000-08:00

When this current cold snap courtesy of an Alberta Clipper was forecast and I heard that we'd be enjoying temps close to zero, when our typical temps here in the D.C. area are usually in the mid to upper 30's to low 40's in the winter, I knew that my girls would be needing some mittens to keep their little fingers warm.

For Jordan, I found a small amount of pretty purple wool, which was enough for the cuffs, and a ball of leftover Noro Kureyon in pinks and purples for the hand. I held a strand of Baby Ull to add extra warmth and softness to the Noro, which tends to be a bit scratchy. I knit her up a pair of basic mittens and they came out cute. Here she is showing them off:

For Leila, I used some leftover Knitpicks worsted superwash Merino the Camel Heather colorway, and some random green worsted yarn to add stripes to the cuff. In my hurry to finish them in time for her to wear them to school (don't ask me why I didn't make her mittens as well) I've not yet taken a picture of her gloves, so I'll add one later.

Now I'm working on a pair of mittens using Norah Gaughn's Target Wave Mittens pattern that was included as a book excerpt in the Fall 2006 issue of Interweave Knits. I'm using Lemongrass Heather Swish Superwash from Knitpicks, and some chocolate brown Lion Brand worsted weight wool.

I have enough of the Noro left over to make another pair of these mittens, so I'll cast on for them when I'm done with the second mitten. These will both be donated along with some scarves and hats that I have made to a homeless shelter.

Saturday Knitting Club

2009-01-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday afternoon was the first meeting of the Saturday knitting group at the Eastern Market branch of the library. We began because the librarian is a knitter, and one afternoon a few weeks back a knitter friend of mine and I ran into each other in Eastern Market and decided to go sit and knit at the library while we waited until it was time to pick our girls up from school. The librarian brought her knitting and came over and sat with us and we cooked up the idea to have a regular group on Saturday afternoons.

Today when I arrived there was already a mom there with her daughter knitting a scarf for her doll, and an older woman working on an afghan square. Jordan was still trying to get the hang of the knit stitch, and Leila was browsing through the 'One Skein Wonders' book trying to decide what to knit. She settled on a ruffled scarf and went to work. I was working on a "Sweet Mary Jane' lacy bed jacket using lace weight yarn and size 6 circular needles. When the ladies saw me knitting and noticed that I was using the continental style or method of forming the stitches, they asked me to do an impromptu continental knitting lesson.

One of the reasons that I sort of drifted away from the knitting groups that I used attend regularly, is because I usually ended up teaching for most of the time and I did not get to work on my project. I like attending knitting groups for the fellowship of gathering together with other who share my love of knitting. But when I end up in essence becoming the teacher--fixing people's mistakes, teaching new techniques, answering questions it begins to feel too much like work. Even as I write this it sound whiney because I really love teaching. If it were a structured class and I had the intention of teaching, then of course it would not bother me at all.

We had a lovely time knitting and laughing and chatting inside while the cold rain and wind blew outside. We all talked about our plans for inauguration weekend--a time that will change all of our lives here in D.C. and around the country. We mostly agreed that we were both nervous and excited about what was going to happen. I'm thinking that change is definitely coming to D.C. and I can't wait to see it.

A Proud Auntie Moment

2008-12-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

Guess who this is??? ;-)

My sister Angela and her family live in Los Angeles, so I don't get to see them very often. On one of my visits there a few years ago, I taught my niece Olivia how to knit. Over the years she has knit up wonderful hats and scarves and sent them to me and my girls as gifts.

Now she has become a business woman and has opened her very own etsy shop to sell her lovely handknits. What a proud auntie I was to visit her etsy shop. She's made up some scarves, neckwarmers and legwarmers. Visit her shop and be sure to read her artist's profile. It's really pretty exciting, and I think she is inspiring me to open up an etsy shop of my own.

Knit One Save One: Knit a Tiny Hat & Save a Life

2008-12-17T07:35:00.000-08:00

Knit One Save One is a project of Save the Children. They are looking to collect 100,000 little hats to help keep newborns born around the world warm and save their lives. I was thrilled to take part in this project two years ago when it was called 'Caps to the Capitol.'

These tiny caps are quick, easy and fun to make. You can go the the Save the Children web site and download the free action kit, which includes patterns for knitters and crocheters of every skill level from just learning to expert.

I made a little video about it to help spread the word about the Knit One Save One project:

In these days of economic uncertainty around the world, here is a very simple thing that we can do to have a positive impact in the lives of precious newborns around the world.

So go to Knit One Save One and download the kit, make some caps and send in your letters and donations. It's a very easy thing to do, but it feels really good, and you will be doing your part to make this world a better place one tiny hat at a time.

Cabled Hat

2008-07-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

I have designed a basic cabled hat using Lion Wool on size 8 needles. It's a child size hat, and not that I have the pattern worked out I will make a larger size as well. I designed it on the needles, so I will need to knit another one so that I can transcribe the pattern.

Knit A Hat is Born!

2008-06-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my newest blog. I am a writer who loves to knit, so this blog was born out of my passion for both crafts. My vision for this site is that it would become your 'go-to' spot for everything to do with hat knitting. I will be shooting some video clips, posting free patterns, hosting knit-alongs, and coming in the fall we'll be unveiling the Hat Club, which will have hat kits made up of limited edition yarns and hat patterns that you will not be able to find anyplace else.

I'll be working with some indie dyers to offer you some unique yarns. I will have free knitting pattern links, and some hat patterns for sale, you will find knitting help when you need it, knitting videos that will show you how to knit as well as show you some pretty cool knitting tips, tricks and hacks to make your knitting time more enjoyable.

So, thanks for popping in to my new hat knitting blog. Stay tuned for some cool content coming up.