Buy a New Phone Case for a Great Cause

If you have fiber-fanatic friends to shop for this holiday season, or you just want to get a little something for yourself to support a great cause, check out the cell phone cases that will be on sale from November 30 through December 7.

The cases feature all sorts of fiber arts, which makes sense because they’re being sold as a fundraiser for the Needle Arts Mentoring Program. The program provides kits to teach kids about knitting, crochet, cross stitch, needlepoint, spinning and weaving. The kits include instructions and materials to get started and complete a project or two.

The cases will be available for 31 different phone models, and a portion of the proceeds from each $20 sale will go toward buying supplies to make the kits.

You can also help out by donating cash or supplies (check out their current needs), or helping out with or starting a program to teach kids where you live.

Have you ever taught someone a yarn craft? It’s a great thing to do with young ones around the holidays!

[Photo via the Needle Arts Mentoring Program.]

Next Pattern:

I know it’s too early to be thinking about warm weather in the northern hemisphere as I write this, but something about this Luxurious Knit Shawl from Yarnspirations has me in the mind of spring.

It’s probably that pretty green color (which the pattern says is Caron Simply Me, a bulky weight acrylic, nylon and wool blend, in color Malachite). Or the combination of squishy warm garter stitch with a wide border of lace that makes me think of sunnier days ahead.

You could wear it with the garter stitch portion dominating while it’s colder outside, and turn it so the lace is more prominent when it’s warmer out. (Check the pictures on the pattern page to see how this works.)

The design is a pretty simple right angle triangle, but the pattern is rated intermediate because of the lace. Still, working lace stitches in bulky yarn is a great way to learn the ins and out of lace knitting without having to deal with tiny knitting needles at the same time.

The project comes out to about 28.5 by 65 inches, or 72.5 by 165 cm. Pattern instructions include a chart and row by row instructions for knitting the lace portion if you aren’t comfortable with knitting from the chart. But this pattern isn’t too difficult once you get the hang of it that you could try working from the chart and using the written instructions to check your work.

Because the garter stitch section is worked first, you could use any weight of yarn you like and make it any size you want, so long as you end up with a multiple of 14 plus 8 stitches for the lace pattern.

This looks like a fun one that would give you a little practice with lace and a lot of mindless TV knitting at the same time.

You can grab the free pattern from Yarnspirations.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

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