May donations

May was the last meeting of the year for the Madison Knitters' Guild and the last chance for donations for the annual Charity Knitting Challenge. Seventy five items were donated, in addition to 36 hats for mailing to Guatemala. This brings the annual total to 761, exceeding our goal by 50%. Charity knitters, give yourselves a pat on the back!

In addition to a pat on the back, a special door prize drawing was held for all those who brought charity items at the May meeting. Thank you to Judy Pruski for 10 sets of hand made stitch markers, to Blackberry Ridge for a beautiful vest kit with sheep on the pockets, to Gail for specially made knitting project bag and to the Guild for an autographed copy of the latest book by none other than the Yarn Harlot herself, Stephanie Pearl McFee.

The items collected at the May meeting were:
11 blankets (two chaild sized, 7 baby and 2 adult)
1 shawl
4 baby sweaters
24 baby hats
4 pair booties
1 pair adult socks
18 scarves
3 chemo hats
7 kids hats
2 adult hats
36 baby hats for Guatemala

These items will be saved for distribution in the fall, when the weather is warmer.



Cute premie hats and booties.

Stylish baby berets!!

Baby sweaters and jackets!
Lots of scarves, warm and frilly and fuzzy.

Hats, hats, hats.


Stuffed animals with hand knit clothing.
Blankets,
and more blankets.

And more blankets.

Thank you to everyone who participated! People in Dane County will be warm and cozy because of your efforts!

April Donations

April was another star-studded month for charity donations. A total of 61 items were donated, including 1 adult sweater, 1 baby sweater, 5 baby blankets, 5 larger blankets, 6 scaves, one hat and scarf set, one hat and bootie set, 7 hats, 7 baby hats, 6 premie hats, 9 pair of booties, and 12 chemo hats.

This brought the donation total for the year to 650 items, 150 in excess of our annual goal!!

In addition, the Guild received a substantial donation of synthetic fiber yarn for use in charity knitting. The yarn had been "stashed" by Fran Walls, a prolific crocheter, who died in December. Her husband, Larry, donated the yarn to the Guild. A photo below shows some of the yarn that was made available to Guild members and others for charity knitting.

Here is a photo of some of the many donations.
On the wall, you can see our scarf "thermometer" used to tally the donations.

this photo shows some of he blankets and hats produced!
This is a photo of some of the hundreds of skeins of yarn made available by Larry Walls, in memory of his wife, Fran. Thank you Larry and family. Your donation will make a difference to many, many people.

Our unending thanks to Pat, without whom all of the charity knitting would be for naught. Pat finds homes for all these knitted items making sure that people in need receive them. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Total from March

Although I posted photos of items collected at the March meeting, I did not give the tally. You MKG knitters, you always amaze me.

Blankets: 10 (these are big things to make!)
Shawls: 2 (these are also big!)
Scarves: 6
Hats: 7
Chemo hats: 10
Headbands: 2
Baby Sweaters: 5
Bootie and hat set: 1

Grand total: 43 for March

April Kids' Hats

For the April charity challenge, we have selected children's hats--to get a head start on next winter. Kids need hats as soon as the chill fall weather starts, so what better time to knit hats than spring?? We will save them for distribution in the fall--kids' ears won't get cold waiting for us to knit hats.

Kids hats patterns abound. The Guild library has many books about hats. But, consider these on the internet.

This is the raspberry baby tart hat from Knitty. Find it here.


Or, how about a hat that lets piggy tales hang out? Find it here.

This is darling for a little kid who likes cars! Find it here.

Knitting pattern central has dozens of kids hat patterns here.

Happy knitting. Remember, even though we hope flowers will be sprouting in April, kids will need hats in the fall. We are Knitting Ahead for next year!

Remember: every month is "knitters' choice."

March Madness Photos

The knitters guild members were generous again in the month of March. Baby blankets and comfort blankets or shawls were the theme. But, because every month is "knitters choice" there were lots of other wonderful items.

For example, here are two little Baby Surprise Jackets, made by someone who could not knit the baby sweaters in a previous month, but who made them for March.
A soft blue blanket.
Two green blankets; one in a traditional design.
A four color soft machine knitted blanket.
More sweters displayed on the blanket.
A warm shawl or scarf with ruffled edges.
Some of the hats!
Multi colored hats and a headband.

A scarf, a "flying saucer" hat and a head/ear band.
A scalloped feather and fan blanket.
A multicolored slip-stitch blanket.
A mitered square four piece green blanket.
A subtle shawl.
And a bright, cheery crocheted blanket for some lucky person!
More hats and some booties.
More hats.
More hats, including a toboggan-noggin' and some slippers.
A hat to keep the ears warm and braids!
The intricate "Shedir" pattern from Knitty.com

Thanks to everyone who made these items and others for the March charity collection!

February donations

Once again, the knitters of the Madison Knitters Guild have proven themselves to be generous and prolific. Can you believe it--68 more items were donated at the February meeting. This means we have exceeded our annual goal!! Way to go, knitters. You rock!!
Although February was chemo caps month, one member kept crocheting and crocheting and made a large blanket! Beautiful.
Soft fuzzy chemo hats in a rainbow of colors.
Soft and tailored scarves to keep people warm in this cold, cold winter.
Pastel hats and
bright patterned hats.
Baby sweaters and more soft hats.
Another sweater and a soft chemo hat.
Someone made an entire layette set of blanket, sweater, hat and booties.

Hats, and hats, and more hats!
And more and more....
A knitted log cabin blanket to keep someone cozy.
And little hats for preemies!

Thank you, thank you, thank you....