Author Archive

Hey everyone,

I see that the blog is still getting some visitors, and I wanted to let you know that I for one plan to be back soon-ish. I’ll be out of the country during August, but September seems like a good time to pick up the scarf projects again.

Sometime recently I read, though, that the Red Scarf Project may have had TOO MANY scarves this year… so we’ll see how that goes, but if anyone is interested in initiating another project, you can post here or email me with the details and we’ll get it going.

I may have an interesting project for you all in the near future as well. Stay tuned.

I thought about assigning everyone random numbers and using a random number generator, but in the end I used the tried and true draw from a hat method!

Here are the winners, and here is what you won (photos in previous posts):
1. NORO from me
2. Alpaca with a Twist from Priscilla
3. Great Adirondack Sireno from Susan (momsue84)
4. same as above

[Susan = momsue84, Sue = Sue C. with no blog!]

Congratulations!

Please email me (heatherknits at gmail) your mailing address and I will circulate it to the proper person. Thank you Priscilla and Susan for contributing to the prize pot.

I have four prizes to give away, and I have no emails in my inbox yet - if you would like to be entered into the drawing, send me photos of the scarves you sent in to the Red Scarf Project and I will put one slip in the hat for each scarf.

If I mailed off your scarves, you are exempt from this requirement!

You are also welcome to email me a link to your blog, but please do send it to my inbox: heatherknits at gmail.

DEADLINE IS SATURDAY AT MIDNIGHT, I WILL DO THE DRAWING ON SUNDAY AND POST WINNERS HERE.

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 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?

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.

Last week at SnB, Margaret (no blog, sadly!) endowed me with her donation to the Red Scarf Project - a felted wool scarf in stripes. Thanks Margaret!

How is everyone else doing?

I am almost done with the ribbing and then I’ll do the second tail.

Next scarf might be simpler, so I can finish faster!

I found a ribbed red scarf that I made last year and never did anything (haven’t even sewn in the tails), so I think I’m going to add it to my batch. I like the multi-stranded scarf over at Mason-Dixon Knitting [actually, there are two there that I like - “The Eric” that can be worked from stash, and My So-Called Scarf, which calls for delicious Manos del Uruguay…

Mary, looks like you are also in the clear! Norma left a comment for Krista/chamomilek that said the following:

Annalisa, the director of the care package program, tells me that the volunteers make every effort to separate the scarves into piles, “unisex,” “definitely male,” “definitely female,” so don’t feel constrained. Unisex is optimum, but not essential.

Can’t wait to see your heartstrings scarf and Krista’s lacy goodness!

Hey everyone, don’t forget to email Norma with a photo of your finished product. She is adding it to the gallery on her Red Scarf Project 2007 site.

I saw some progress on Susan’s scarf on her blog over here:

Knitfix’s red scarf.

And it was three times as long at SnB tonight.

Meanwhile, I’ve finished one part of mine and it’s time to go back and pick up the provisional stitches to knit the neck ribbing.

In other news, I haven’t had a chance to listen in yet, but I received an email from the Unwound people and it looks like the Red Scarf Project has been featured. I was told there was a mention of the KAL, so I’ll have a listen tomorrow. Go on over and have a listen yourself, and tell me what you think!

I do have a post with a photo coming up, but since it is late, let me just say that I am happy that we now have 10 members, and I hope more people will join us as January approaches.

Thanks to Sue (momsue84 - since we have 2 Sues and a Susan!), we have some more free pattern links that look like fun. Check them out, they are listed in the sidebar.

If anyone else has pattern links that you would like me to post, feel free to comment here or send me an email.

Hi participants, I listed you all as Contributors but Priscilla told me that you probably need to have Author status to post, so now you are all Authors! Post away!

I’ve been unpacking boxes and arranging furniture and babysitting overnight, but finally I am in my own place and semi-functional, which gives me more time to concentrate on the important things in life.

I wound 3 skeins of a nice red alpaca from Classic Elite

and searched high and low for my needle cases, dug out a crochet needle and some Sugar ‘n Cream for waste yarn for the provisional cast-on, and finally started my “Matt” scarf.

So far so good - I am enjoying it, except for the fact that the chart is not in a format that I am used to. It charts the front side on one line and the back side on another line, rather than charting only the front side. I get confused because I can’t envision as easily what it should look like, but I am getting the hang of it.

So far, there is ribbing, seed stitch, and double seed stitch appearing in the first inch. This pattern will definitely keep my attention, because in the next inch, the checkerboard of patterns all switch…

I had an inquiry about where to mail scarves. There is an address listed on the Red Scarf Project site, but as one of the hosts of this knitalong, I would welcome receiving scarves and sending in one batch if you would prefer. To mail to me, contact me directly and we can make arrangements.

So, I have several skeins of a nice cherry red Inca Alpaca that has been languishing and was going to be maybe a scarf, then maybe a shawl, then maybe a sweater. I am changing gears and pulling some of it out of the stash to knit one of the two patterns found here:

Scarf for Matthew and Scarf for Matt

[I'll link to these in the side bar as well.]

The pattern is two variations based on the same structure, and has options for multiple weights of yarn. Plus, I like the fact that they were designed and circulated as a symbol of acceptance. Maybe I’ll include a note with my scarf explaining the symbolism.

So here is the introductory post - I love red, I love scarves, but I don’t need any more of either. The other day, I realized that the Red Scarf Project has been happening for some time now, so I might as well keep knitting and designing red scarves, and send them somewhere that they can be used.

I have no yarn yet, only a vague idea of a design, and I haven’t decided whether I’ll use someone else’s pattern or create my own.

But please join us - I would love to see all your creations.