Infant Hats and Christmas Gifts

In between working on the Christmas gifts that I am working on, that are a bit more complex, and require more attention I have also had some infant hats going at the same time. I have plenty of baby yarn left over from other projects that I am wanting to get used up for a good cause, so I have been using the balls I have sitting over here for infant hats. I currently have 10 infant hats complete. I am looking into charities that get the hats to hospitals and birthing centers in the high poverty areas here in the US. One that I know of – Bundles of Joy, is a group that donates their time and hats to infants born in the Pine Ridge Reservation OB Ward. The reservation is located in South Dakota.

The fact that there are areas within the US where unemployment is over 75%, and whole communities live without electricity, indoor plumbing, sewage systems, and telephones. Seeing infants born into this system where the infant mortality rate is around 5 times the national average is heart breaking. That is why I like using the talent I have been given, in knitting to give back to those who are much less fortunate than I am.

Some may ask, why I do it, when these infants will grow up and are roughly 4 times more likely to commit suicide as a teenager, or join a gang, and if they grow into adulthood 3/4 if not more of them will be unemployed for their entire adult lives, and be alcoholics, and if the alcohol doesn’t get them, another health condition related to the alcohol or poor diet will. While this argument is very valid, My answer is yes, that is all true, but there is also that small fraction of a population that will make a better life for themselves. Do you want to deprive those the opportunity to be able to contribute, or make a difference by letting them die as infants do to not being kept warm? That is why I knit for the infants, and I would love to see each of the infants born into poverty receive a handmade blanket and hat, knowing full well that few of them will be able to rise above the generational poverty.

As for the Christmas gifts I am working on, I am making progress on both the falling leaves wrap and the six strand braided cable scarf. The scarf is knitting up faster than the wrap because it is not as intricate of a pattern, so I am able to work on it while watching YouTube videos, or shows on hulu, or working on other things on the computer. The falling leaves wrap requires more focused concentration, and I can only have music playing while working on it. Both of these will be done before Christmas.

Shifting Short Term Focus

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Over the next few months for my charity projects, I will be working on hats for kids and infants in need. They are small and don’t take much time to knit up. 

I have come to the conclusion that Hats would be a good choice to work on as I have balls of baby yarn in my craft area that I would like to get used up before I move on to other projects needing larger quantities of yarn. That coupled with the fact that it is already September which means I am already starting to think about Christmas gifts I want to get knit up, in time for the holiday, in addition to finishing up a personal project for myself. 

I love making projects for kids in need, I am just taking some time to focus my priorities elsewhere for a bit, as the last couple of years I have been knitting hats and sweaters like crazy. I am taking a step back to breathe, doing some projects for myself, family and friends then come back with renewed energy to knitting for kids in need. My focus is currently on projects of a personal nature for myself and friends I am not completely going without knitting something for the kids. 

Charity Knitting Monday Is Back!

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I am excited to be bringing back Charity Project Monday, and Personal Project Tuesday posts. August was a busy month for me, and I needed the break from regular blogs to focus on a couple last minute baby gifts for a friend, as well as Vacation Bible School and Jury Duty. Now that those are done, and Summer is officially over in terms of the activities beings that it is labor day weekend and where I am school starts for the kids this week, summer vacation is over. That means I am back to looking for a job, and back to knitting regularly and blogging about it. 

This week for Charity Project Monday, I wanted to let you know that I completed the size 10 sweater that i have been working on for close to two months. That is the longest a sweater has taken me in the past few years. For this sweater I used Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn in Pastel Green. I used a ribbed pattern up the front to tell it apart from the back. 

Now that I have this sweater done, I am switching gears to use up the baby yarn i have sitting next to me for some charity projects. I am going to be making infant hats, that I plan to send to a reputable cause here within the U.S. for Infants born into poverty here within my own country. I love helping kids around the world, the children here in my own country who live in areas where extreme poverty is prevalent breaks my heart. These infants did not ask to be born into the conditions they were born into, and they are helpless, and that breaks my heart. While a hat at the very beginning may be a little thing, it could mean the difference between them making it. 

Love helping children

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I have made a bit of progress on my size 10 knit for kids sweater. I am about 3 inches away from casting on sleeves on the front of my sweater.

I still love knitting garments for kids in need, that has not changed. The kids I knit for are important to me. This year I have been working on more personal projects, because I also want cute knitwear for myself. If you have been reading my blog for any length of time now you will know I knit almost as many sweaters last year as I did in the first decade I had made sweaters. Helping children living in poverty is something I love doing, it is right up there with being outdoors and going on adventures.

Spreading my Knitting Around

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In addition to working on the size 10 knit for kids sweater I talked about last week, I have also been working on hats for children in need over the weekend. I am trying to get some more infant hats knit up for the Bundles of Joy project, which oversees baby items that are made for babies born on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

I have mentioned in the past that I enjoy making items for children in need, especially for children within my own country.

Having so much baby yarn as it is, makes knitting infant hats all that much easier. While I try to use the big skeins for blankets first, once I have gotten blankets made, then I will often use what is left over for hats for infants or children in need.

Hats are also an important item to knit and donate because they help keep children’s heads warm when it is cold. In some areas kids receive coats but they don’t get hats as well unless someone or some group comes together to make these children hats.

Finding the Time to complete a Project

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This past week I finished up the size 8 sweater I has been working on, using a Caron one pound skein in Rose. I finished that sweater on Thursday, and shortly there after started a size 10 sweater using Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn in Pastel Green.

For the size ten I am working on I am using a pattern that puts garter stitch ribbing up the front of the sweater.

I am happy that I got the size 8 sweater done with how busy I have been the past two and a half weeks. Very Little knitting actually got done in that time period.

This is the size 8 sweater, using a Caron one pound skein of yarn in Rose that I completed this past Thursday.

Making Some Progress

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I have been making some progress on my sweater this past week. I am on the back sleeves, and they are slowly but surely being added to. It is nice to have an easy project to pick up and work on during the day when I just want something to work on for a few minutes before having to go out again.

The past week has been incredibly busy, so being able to knit a little bit on my sweater here and there has been nice. Not having to think about what I am doing every time I pick it up is great.

Getting this project done by the end of the week is high on my list, as I have today, most of tomorrow, and most of Thursday to work on it, I have 16 rows to get knocked out, and I know I can do it.

Just sitting

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I made it to the back sleeves of my size 8 knit for kids sweater.

This sweater has given me something to work on when I don’t want to focus on my current personal project.

This past week has been a busy one, and has kept me on my toes. The next two weeks will continue to keep me busy.

Rose Sweater

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This week I have continued working on the size 8 sweater I am working on using a Caron one pound skein of yarn in Rose. As of writing this post I am about half way up working on the sleeves of the front. I am continuing the braided cable up into the sleeves, and it will go until about 5 rows from the top.

I know that the order of what sizes I have been making don’t make a lot of sense. I am mainly trying to knit up a lot more size 6, 8 and 10 sweaters, because I currently only have 12 size 6 sweaters complete, and 11 of each size 8 and 10 sweaters complete where as I have 14 of each size 2 and 4 complete (these numbers are from when I started knitting sweaters until now). I am trying to get my total numbers of each size evened out, so then from there I can make sets (for which there would be one of each size).

For those of you who read my blog regularly, would you be interested in seeing a video on YouTube (in addition to the weekly charity knitting Monday blog post) about each sweater once I get it completed?

Started a New Sweater

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I completed the size 6 sweater that I had spent all of last week, and a bit of the week before working. I completed that this past Friday night. After having finished that I started a size 8 sweater.

For the size 8 sweater that I am working on I am using a Caron one pound skein in Rose that I had picked up at Joann fabric and craft a couple months back. I chose to use this skein for this particular sweater, as I am still working the complicated scarf. Working with one color, and having a big skein mean that I don’t have to think about changing skeins, and changing colors. It makes things fairly easy while I spend more time working on my personal project.

Beings that I am using a solid color I am putting a braid up the middle. I know I posted the pattern just this past Thursday. That is a coincidence that I had scheduled that post a while back, and then a few days after it went up, I start using it in a sweater. (so yes, as for some of my patterns I wrote the post and scheduled it ahead of time).