Project of the Week: July 31st, 2013

Hi Everyone!

This week’s Project of the Week is a size 8 sweater for World Vision’s Knit for Kids Project. For this sweater I am using a skein of Caron One Pound yarn in Sunflower and a bit of Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Shocking Pink in the front sleeves.

I really like the texture of the Caron One Pound skeins of yarn, they are thicker and softer than the Red Heart yarn, yet cost more, at the store where I typically buy my yarn. As for the Red Heart yarn I am using, I love the color, but it is a thinner rougher skein of yarn. I know I mentioned last week that it is hit and miss with the texture of Red Heart yarn, and this skein is a “miss”.

Today has been overcast pretty much all day. It feels more like Mid – September than the end of July. But that is fine by me, I prefer the cooler weather with overcast skies. It makes for  better knitting weather.

Beings as I got the front sleeves started yesterday, I have been working on the sleeves today, and I am working toward getting the done today, we’ll see how I do on accomplishing that, as I would like to have this project done this week.

I have also been thinking about projects for the near future and what yarn I want to use for what sizes. I am thinking about once I get this sweater done making a size 6 sweater, so that I will finally made at least 10 of each size.

Those of you who have “liked” my Facebook Page, and have been following my blog for any length of time, will have figured out, is that I have been making a lot more of the bigger sizes because I had knit up a ton, well not a ton, but primarily a bunch of size 4 sweaters tailed by size 2 sweaters, and I have been working on getting an equal amount of each size knit up, so that there is not this huge disparity between how many of the smaller sizes I have knit up and how many of the bigger sizes I have knit up. Honestly if I were to have another disparity between the sizes, I would prefer it to be that I had way more size 8’s and size 10’s than size 2’s and size 4’s. The smaller sizes are fun because they knit up quickly, and use less yarn, which is why I had made so many of them in the beginning, but as I have gotten older, it has dawned on me that there are older and bigger kids, that really need sweaters too. I also wonder how many people do knit up primarily the smaller sizes because they are quick, easy and cute.

I also took a little time to update the pictures of the sweaters from 2011 and 2012 on my Facebook page, so they are labelled with the size and the date they were completed.

That’s all for this week’s, Project of the Week update. Thanks for reading my Posts, and if you haven’t “Liked” my Facebook page, and you have a Facebook account, I’d greatly appreciate getting more likes on my page. Thanks!

Knitting for Kids: An Explanation

I have been posting pictures of the projects I have knit up for children in need in various means of sharing what I have been doing for more than a year now. In that time I have been told by various sources that I should knit items up to sell. I have nothing against those who go into such ventures, but it is not for me. What good would all the money in the world be, when even just one child had to be cold, and does not have adequate clothing. I am no saint by any means, and I full well know that I am need of a job, which are hard to come by these days.

Yes, the thought has crossed my mind on multiple occasions to knit for my own profit, but I cannot bring myself to be so selfish, when I could be using that time to actually do some good in the world and in the lives of children. That is where my heart is, in helping children in need. A sweater or a hat is a little thing, but what a difference that can make. The fact that some stranger loved them enough to knit that item just for them without even knowing that they would get it, and without asking anything in return. I also like the idea that what I make will be put to very good use, and that I have done a good thing in helping with something bigger than myself.

I realize that knitting is a talent that God gave me, and I know that knitting hats and sweaters for children in need, is something he has called me to do with my life. This is something I am passionate about, and love doing for the Lord. I know that it would be a misuse of the talent God gave me, if I didn’t use it for him, and his glory.

I should also mention that I did not major in business for a reason, I have no real interest in being in business for myself.

That folks, is why I chose, and will continue to choose to knit warm sweaters and hats for children in need.

New Project System

Ok, since I have had four projects in the works for ages, and I want to get the two personal projects I have in the works complete I have come up with a new system for getting my projects worked own until I am back down to one main project and a purse project again.

My new system is: during the week I will work primarily on what ever project I have in the works for donation purposes, and on the weekends working on my personal projects. Easy enough huh? Its a good plan I know. I will continue doing my Project of the Week on Wednesdays, to talk to you guys about what project for Charity I am working on each week.

What is a Purse Project you may ask, Well a Purse Project is a small project such as a dishcloth that I keep in my purse for when I am out somewhere and have time to kill. Examples of being out somewhere with time to kill: When I was doing roadshows, the time between when I got to the costco and when I needed to go in to start my shift, or being at the doctors office, or dentist waiting room. I got started keeping a project in my purse while I was working at the daycare about 2 years go, because I needed something to do to kill time when I go there early, and on my hour long lunch break, so what better way to kill the time than by knitting.

Project of the Week: July 24th 2013

Hi Everyone!

Today on Project of the Week the project I am working on is a Child Size Hat for a child in India.

Back in 2007, a group of ladies from the church I go to began knitting hats for those in India who had heard the message that my church preaches, and were in the process of becoming a part of our church, and setting up a branch in the area they were in (and all that entails with their own government, and then meeting the requirements set by the church in order to be affiliated with said church). Since that first shipment of hats, there has been at least two more shipments of hats made, one of which I was involved with making hats for. Since the last shipment was made around Thanksgiving time here in the States (late November), I have made some hats in between making sweaters, with yarn left over from the sweater or that I have had in my basket of yarn for hats that I have stuck yarn that is not enough to make a sweater out of, or is not the right weight of yarn for a sweater, so that I can get it used up into something productive to help a child in need. Since the last shipment of hats, I have just been putting the hats that I have knit up aside, and saving them for the next time there is a request/need for hats in India. I do not know when that will be, but I want to have as many as I possibly can knit up and ready to go, so that I can help keep more heads warm, and help meet a goal for hats if there is one.

This morning I finished up a child size hat, using Red Heart Yarn in Shocking Pink and Bon Bon Print, and the rest of the day I have spend knitting one up using what is left of the second skein of Caron One Pound yarn in Permission, and I will be putting Red Heart yarn in Aruba Sea and Real Teal with it for the second hat I have been working on today. The Permission, Aruba Sea and Real Teal I am using for my hat, are all balls that were left over from sweaters.

What I like about Red Heart yarn:

• Great Variety of Colors
• 100% Acrylic – it is sturdy and holds up well for knitting projects for kids
• Its made in the USA
• It is affordable, which is awesome
• I have not had much of a problem with the fibers splitting on me
• Even though it is acrylic, it knits up to be a warm garment, which is important
• Consistent colors, can buy yarn at two different points in time, months or even years apart and they match.

What I don’t like about Red Heart yarn:

• It is hit and miss for getting a “soft” skein of yarn

What I like about Caron One Pound skeins of yarn:

• Made in the USA
• Thicker and Soft
• Doesn’t split very easy
• 100% Acrylic so it is durable
• The fact that you do get 16 onces in one skein, so depending on what kind of project I am working on, I would be able to make an entire larger project out of one skein of yarn

What I don’t Like about Caron One Pound skeins of yarn

• Limited Color Selection
• Not as affordable as buying the solid colors of Red Heart, where I normally buy my yarn I can get three skeins of the seven ounce solid Red Heart Yarn for the same price as a one pound skein of this yarn.

Project of the Week Series

Hi Everyone!

It may just be me, but some of my posts seem a bit random, and all over the place. Not that there is anything wrong with that per se, but I am aiming toward getting some flow and continuity to my blog.

As of today, I am going to be starting a series of weekly blog posts, that I am aiming to publish each Wednesday, entitled “Project of the Week” where I talk about the project I have spent that particular Wednesday working on.

I am starting this series in part, because there are days when I want to write a post, but don’t know what exactly I should write about. This way I will have at least one post a week about something that I am working on, to keep you, my readers in the loop about what is going on behind the screen.

In each blog post, you can expect for me to talk about what project I am working on, the size I am making, the yarn I am using, what I like/don’t like about the yarn I am working with, and anything else that comes to mind that I want to mention about the project.

Stay Tuned for this week’s Project of the Week, which I will be writing here in a bit!

A Sweater and a Passion

I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I get a knitting project complete, especially when it is a larger project to start out with. I also feel a bit more accomplished when I finish a project that was knit up entire with yarn out of my stash, especially when I have had said yarn sitting in a plastic bucket for a few years. When I combine those two factors, completing a large project with yarn that I had picked up while I was in College, is a huge accomplishment. That means that what I have made will keep an older child (or petite adult) warm, and I just made some room for some more yarn that I pick up down the line. 

Today has been one of those “accomplished” days. I completed a size ten sweater (a picture of which can be found here), using yarn I have had for at least four years now. 

I’m impressed with the fact that I completed a size 10 sweater in less than two weeks, amid Camp Meeting, and three trips to the beach in the same time period. Pictures from the beach trips can be found here, and you can read more about it here. 

You may be wondering, why I keep referring you to my Facebook Page in order to see the pictures of my completed projects. That is because I have a limited storage capacity here on my blog, and I have a boat load more on Facebook, so rather than use up what limited space I have here, I am choosing to put all the pictures of my projects and such on Facebook, and just refer you there, especially since most people I know anyway, use Facebook. 

I learned how to knit during the period of time when knitting was seen as old fashioned and something only grandmother’s and old ladies did. I wanted to learn how to knit, so my grandmother taught me the summer of 1997. To say the least, I have been knitting for 3/5 of my life. Knowing how to knit is a skill that I take for granted. Any more I figure why should I buy knit hats and scarves for winter from the stores where I normally shop, when I can make a better quality product myself, with higher quality yarn, for much less than it costs in the store. 

As I have grown older, and spent more time knitting, I have come to realize that there was a bigger reason behind learning to knit, but it started with the fact that I was just bored on summer vacation. I have come to realize that it is a call that has been put on my life, to use this talent to help people less fortunate myself, and to inspire others with the projects I have completed. It has also blossomed into something that I am strongly passionate about, and I want to share it with others. 

Thinking up a New Project

Illnesses such as Cancer are hard enough to witness with loved ones, when the loved one is an adult, but it breaks my heart to see it happen in children. My heart and prayers goes out to these children, and their families who are having to go through this. Not only is it a financial hardship, but emotionally and physically as well. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to have a child who is in and out of the hospital for treatment, and wanting and needing to be there for them, and having other children at home who need you as well. The one thing I have to say, from what I have seen is that these kids are fighters, and maybe it is just because they are young and innocent, that most fight with a smile on their face, that isn’t forced.

I heard about Hazel via the news, when the story of her Pizza Party aired. Looking through the pictures had me in tears, which is hard to do.

Seeing her story makes me want to use the gift that God gave me to knit, to use in order to make gifts for the children battling life threatening illnesses and diseases. I have thought about comfort (or security) blankets. How exactly I am going to execute this project, is up to God, but I am willing to work on any project that the Lord calls me to do. This is one project I have had in the back of my mind, I just don’t know how it is going to be carried out, but I know the Lord has a plan for me, my life, this project, and for these amazing kiddo’s and their families.

What kind of a positive impact can one person have?

How big of a positive impact can just one person have on their community and on the world, just through something that comes naturally to them? 

That is the question I have been pondering here in the last few days. I always knew that each sweater and hat that I made would keep at least one child warm. When I started my Facebook Page, and I began blogging about these projects, I did it just because I felt like I was hiding something that I was meant to share with the world. When I started writing about, and posting pictures of the projects I have completed, I kind of thought “who would really care about someone who knits sweaters for children, besides my friends”, while at the same time I was hoping to inspire at least one person. 

This blog, and my Facebook Page are two things that I know the Lord has called for me to do, for what reason, other than to give him the glory and praise, I don’t know, and even for the reason I just gave is enough for me, to keep answering the call, and to keep me motivated to keep going with this project. 

I love knitting, It is my creative outlet. I also thoroughly enjoy working on projects for others. I enjoy getting to look at and use different colors and types of yarn, and then they get sent off to then be given to children, or to be given to someone I know who can use it.

Since I graduated from college three years ago, I have been looking for a job. Beings that I have had a fair amount of time on my hands I have spent a lot of that time working on sweaters and hats for children in need. It has been in the last three years that my passion and love for the projects I am involved with has really blossomed into what it is now. I find it mind boggling that I have knit up almost twice as many sweaters in the past three years than I had in the first ten years I was knitting sweaters. 

How do I stay inspired to keep knitting these projects? Each time I am going to start a new project I pick out colors that I want to work with, and sometimes, if I have had enough of working on sweaters and hats for kids, I will take a break from them and work on a personal project, and then come back after a week or two and start another one, when I feel like working on one again. 

To those of you who are already following my blog and my Facebook Page, I greatly appreciate your support. 

Being a Constructive Force in a Destructive World

It has been about a month since I completed my last sweater (big deal right?). What a busy month it has been. In that month I knit up a baby blanket for a friend who had just got a 8 week old foster baby. After that I started another sweater, in the mean time I have also had a church event going on, in which I was also helping a friend with what she needed to get done for overseas guests.

This Sweater had seemed to take a while to knit up, purely because of what else I had going on. I like how this sweater turned out in the end. I made this sweater because I had needed to purchase some more Permission to finish up my last sweater, so I had most of the One Pounds skein left, and just decided to make another sweater with it. Upon completing this sweater I have a bit of the Permission left over, which will be just enough to make a hat for a child in need. In the mean time I am moving on to different colors for my next sweater. 

 This sweater meets my quota for what I knew I could get done in a year, even at a slower pace. This is my 12th sweater a year (averaged out to one a month, if this were all I would be able to get done this year). It is hard to believe that I am more than half way to 100 sweaters now. (47 more to get to 100!). It is hard to believe that I have used close to 40.25 pounds of yarn, and nearly 20.25 miles of yarn for the 53 sweaters I have completed thus far. 

Anyone else who knits, crochets, or sew for charity love crafting so much to help those who benefit from whatever project you are involved in, that you can’t imagine what your life would be like if you hadn’t learned how to knit/crochet/sew?

Child Poverty

Ask anyone who has, and still is being effected by the recent “recession”, being able to provide for ourselves and our families isn’t always easy. Some are managing better than others, even while still being effected by the recession. Poverty, is still an issue for much of the country, especially in areas that were already hard hit with extreme poverty. World Vision recently published this article on children living in poverty.

It breaks my heart to see children lack the basic necessities that will help them succeed in life and in school. If you are able to, and feel compelled to do so, please help these children through a reputable organization such as World Vision. Every little bit helps, whether you are able to sponsor a child, make a one time donation, create hats, baby blankets, or sweaters, or even praying for those who are helping these children, everything helps.