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....

March--Blankets and Comfort Shawls

The Charity item for the month of March is small blankets, such as baby blankets or small cuddle blankets, or comfort shawls. Charities appreciate baby blankets for mothers who don't have anything in which to wrap their babies.

Pat also points out that blankets for children need not be large enough to sleep under. Children undergoing painful medical procedures sometimes need a small blanket as a “lovey” to hug while in the hospital. Use machine washable yarn that is soft. You can find children’s blanket patterns all over the internet and in pattern books. One of the easiest, that also knits up quickly, is the Diagonal baby blanket pattern from Lion Brand. The pattern is all garter stitch and you can use big needles. Either use bulky but soft yarn, or hold two or three strands of soft lighter yarn together. Pattern is below.

Comfort shawls and the prayer shall ministries have proven to be popular projects for many church knitting groups. Because the shawls are for people in distress, physical or emotional, using machine washable yarn is important. Again, Lion Brand Yarn has a basic prayer or comfort shawl pattern, using a K 3, P 3 motif.

If you don’t think you can finish a blanket or shawl by yourself, Ask a friend to join in the knitting. Use the same or complementary yarn. Knit strips of a pre-determined length. Get together for coffee, tea, wine, etc., and sew the strips together! You will comfort yourself with friendship and with the knowledge that some unknown recipient will also be comforted.

See you at the March meeting!!

Knitting Retreat

This entry is a break from the normal routine of announcing the Charity Knitting Challenge pattern of the month.

The Madison Knitters' Guild held a very successful Knitting Retreat in New Glarus, attended by approximately 31 knitters!! Twenty five of the knitters stayed overnight on Friday, February 1 and/or Saturday, February 2. The knitters knit, ate fresh bakery, laughed, made new friends, ate cookies and treats, had a beer/wine/drink or two, ate apples and clementines, cast-on, bound-off, and generally had a wonderful time.

Here are some of the hardworking hands of the Knitting Retreat Participants!!

Great beginnings!
Picking up stitches along the edge of a band for a hat.
The rowdy table!
View from our knitting room.
Decoration on the stairway.

Making socks to match a store-bought sweater!
Socks for a son.

More beginnings.
Must be for a little girl!
Thin mohair alternated with thick wool.
There is colorwork at the bottom.
The knitting matches the sweater.
Some sewing up work.
Looks warm!
This shawl begins with a gazillion stitches for the ruffle.
Some of the last of the Tiur is being made into a pullover.
Believe it or not, this three stranded project is being made with paper yarn.
The warmth of this project was appropriate for the cold, snowy weekend!