Craft-a-thon

Friday, February 8, 2007
8:00 AM – 10:00 PM
University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics
Pappajohn Pavillion Lobby (near Elevator “I”)

Day Long Marathon Crafting for PreemiesJoin us in support of critically ill infants at the UIHC! Bring your favorite preemie project or purchase supplies at the event. See our exciting schedule of events below, including visits from former NICU families, NICU nurses and special guest Betty ChristiansenDrop-In Knitting LessonsVolunteers will be on hand to give knitting lessons throughout the day (Starter kits will be available for $5).Clothing and Diaper DriveWe will be accepting donations of newborn sized clothing and diapers for donation to the UIHC NICU social services program.Special Crafting Technique SessionsCrazy Girl Yarn Shop and other local craft stores will be teaching special classes during the day. Click here for session and registration information.

Crafting for Preemies ContestBe sure to enter the Crafting for Preemies Contest for a chance to win one of the wonderful prizes donated by our generous sponsors. Click here for contest guidelines and the official entry form.

Book Sale Sponsored by Wild Rose Books!Wild Rose Books will be selling craft books. Wild Rose Books has generously offered to donate 10% of all craft book sales on February 8th to The Preemie Project (TPP). This means that 10% of sales at the Craft-a-thon and 10% of all craft book sales in Wild Rose Books on Feb. 8th will be donated to TPP. Thank you Wild Rose Books!

Special Guest Betty ChristiansenWe are thrilled to announce that Betty Christiansen, author of Knitting for Peace, will be attending our event. We hope you will attend her trunk show, talk and book signing. Wild Rose Books will be providing copies of Knitting for Peace for sale! Again, 10% of the proceeds from the sales of Knitting for Peace will be donated to The Preemie Project.

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn.

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small.

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches.

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come.

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you.

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?).

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry.

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns.

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]

Have you read?