Monthly Archive

Today I finally made it to the post office - I was a lazy bum on Saturday and never went. But I tagged everything and packed it off to the PO, and thought I would shove all 8 scarves that I was mailing in a flat-rate Priority box and get it there on time.

Well…. All 8 would not fit. So I asked for not only the $8.00 flat rate box but also the $4.05 flat rate box. It was questionable whether it would all fit in these two even.

But Ms Postal Worker, helping me at 10 minutes before closing, recommended a BIGGER Priority box and that I not ship it by flat rate but by weight.

Wouldn’tcha know, all told, it cost me less than $6.00!

Here is the haul that I sent in, with contributions from Sue, Margaret, Liz, and me:

Aahhh - now I can sit back, relax, and… start a fun fur cap?

Or perhaps children’s hats for Afghans for Afghans for a special circus event?

Start planning if you think you might like to knit socks for students as well. [Note: I do not know anything more than this obscure reference on their site, but I assume they are asking for socks for ... Afghani students? They are calling for other items as well, so don't feel left out if you don't do socks!]

PSA: I could try to go through the blog posts to update the scarf tally, which I may get to tomorrow, but in the mean time, post your scarf tally and I’ll update the count in the sidebar. We have new prizes from Susan, info below, and also a photo of the Noro Kureyon.

Here are three scarves that Sue gave me last night. I’ll be mailing them in with my two and two from Margaret.

PRIZE UPDATE

Here is the Noro, sorry I forgot the color number! I think it is 110…

And Susan has contributed two 625 yard skeins of Great Adirondack Sireno (50 silk, 50 wool) in the Maple Leaf colorway. We’ll do drawings for these as two prizes; one skein would make a lovely triangular shawl.

Good luck in the home stretch, and get those scarves in!

I got busy this weekend, and I was able to finish 2 red scarves. I hope to have them in the mail in a day or two. The one on the left is knitted and the one on the right is crocheted. I have more details up on my blog.

Also, looking ahead, there was a post up over at 25 Things for Charity yesterday about a new drive to collect hats for children that Afghans for Afghans is organizing. They are looking for hats in primary colors. I don’t know how much press this has gotten so far, so I thought I would let you all know about it.

I am in the home stretch of my red scarf - I’ve been particularly negligent in taking photos recently, but I’ll have one up soon.

Scarves are accepted throughout the month of January, so I am interpreting this to mean that they should be received by Orphan.org by January 31. I am planning to send those that I have collected by this Wednesday, January 24.

Don’t forget to email me by Feb 10 a photo or link to your blog of the scarf or scarves that you have sent in to be eligible to win a prize (one entry per scarf):

1. a lovely peach skein of laceweight Alpaca with a Twist thanks to Priscilla

2. two skeins of Noro Kureyon with a scarf pattern (not the same pink colorway though…)

3. let’s see what else I come up with in the next couple of weeks!

How is everyone progressing?

Last week or so, Heather asked for ideas for future projects for this group, and when I answered her in the comments, Project Spectrum jumped into my head for a couple of reasons. First, I thought “well, we are the Red Scarf KAL”, so Project Spectrum seemed like a natural fit.

I had also just been following some links to cancer and awareness ribbon colors, and seeing all the colors and causes listed here, here and here also made me think of Project Spectrum and kind of got the creative juices flowing.

Anyway, Heather and I are thinking that it might be interesting to follow the Project Spectrum guidelines as we create for various charities throughout the year. Who knows where it might lead us? Any thoughts?

but knitting like mad to catch up and finish a scarf in a shifting sands pattern made with Rowan Felted Tweed.

This is my first KAL, although I have been knitting for about eight years. It wasn’t until I started co-authoring a knitting blog with a friend that I discovered the incredible online community of knitters.

Outside of knitting, I am currently in university majoring in creative writing and performance studies. I can be interested in anything and everything, but particularly good fiction and opera.

Progress updates to come soon!

I got one of my two blocked. Check it on my blog at Paper, Sticks, and String.

I finished my red scarf last night, and I really like how it came out. Although it is not really reflected in the picture, I love the beautiful red color. I will be sending it off this afternoon. I really enjoyed being in this knitalong. Thanks!

Here’s a photo of the three scarves I sent off last week to OFA. More info on my blog. Count me in on any future projects, too. And I intend to keep knitting scarves for OFA all year long. This has been just great!
http://www.mommysusieknits.blogspot.com

Hey there! I’m Jill and glad to be part of the knit-a-long also. I’ve got two red scarves finished (will get pictures up soon) and one more planned before sending them all of together. It’s such a great idea and will be a project I plan to participate in yearly.

Hey gang,
My name is Jessica, and I just joined the red scarf knitalong. Luckily I already have a red scarf on needles about 1/3 finished, whose recipient had not yet been chosen. So I thought this was perfect. Thanks for letting me join and thanks for starting up this great project.

Dear Red Scarf KAL participants,

I hope you had a restful holiday and are ready for a great new year. For any newcomers, we’ll be going strong on the Red Scarf Project through the end of this month. Please feel free to join up. After this month, I am going to maintain the site for next year, but in the next few months the focus may change. Let me know if you have any projects in mind that you’d like to post.

Since it’s January already, it’s time to gear up to finish all of our projects! As a reminder, scarves should be sent to the Orphan Foundation of America any time this month. Here is the address:

Red Scarf Project
21351 Gentry Drive, Unit 130
Sterling, VA 20166

To ensure that your scarf arrives this month, you may want to plan to send it by January 25th.

The site also indicates:
For the personal touch, attach a tag saying “Handmade for You” with your first name, city, and group affiliation, if any. Donors have also included washing instructions, messages of encouragement, and gift cards/burger bucks/book of stamps.

I have been working on my scarf the past couple of days, and I have another one that I am going to contribute. Hopefully I can knit a third before the end of the month.

So I can update the tally on the left, leave me a comment here with how many scarves you have finished. I’ll ask for a final update later in the month.

Prizes: Don’t forget that I told you there would be prizes! Priscilla has generously contributed a gorgeous skein of yarn, peach colored Alpaca With a Twist’s baby alpaca/silk blend (100g/875yd of laceweight lusciousness), which you can see here.

I have two skeins of Noro Kureyon that I am going to give away. I also said that I would give away some handspun, which at the moment I can’t promise, but I’ll try! I spun some last night and I have a wicked crick in my neck…

I’ll do a drawing in early February for all participants. You’ll get one entry for each scarf that you sent in. Send me a photo of the scarf or scarves that you sent in by Feb 10, and I will draw the winners and contact you via email for your address.

Future projects: And last but not least, what comes next? Here are some ideas that interest me, but let me know if you have others.

Project Linus
The Dulaan Project
Afghans for Afghans

And Donna Druchunas, a knitting designer, has an entire blog dedicated to charity knitting. I am going to try to keep up with her entries and post periodically for those of you who might want to participate.