Lots of Charity Knitting News

Somehow I missed doing a knitting in the news roundup last week, and now I’ve got a bunch, so we’re going to do it lightning round style. Knitters are doing awesome things all over the place!

Like the Mad Hatters of Suffolk, New York, who have been knitting hats for cancer patients for 12 years and have donated more than 2,700 to the offices of Eastern Long Island Hematology and Oncology.

Knitters on Cape Cod have been stitching up nests that are used by various animals in wildlife rescues until animals are big enough to be released into the wild, while Florida knitters and crocheters are making teddy bears for kids affected by HIV/AIDS through the Mother Bear Project.

A Scottish knitter who has been selling scarves, pillows and other knit items has raised more than £12,000 for an autism charity founded by her daughter, which helps get early intervention therapies for kids with autism and developmental delays.

A group of British knitters have been making hats and wrist warmers that will be distributed to kids in Nepal, while a group in California has knit more than 30 blankets for babies.

Hooray for knitters!

[Photo by Barbaraellen Koch via the Suffolk Times.]

Looking for more Knitting patterns for Teddy Bears? Check it out here.

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Knitwear designers can get inspiration from almost anything when it comes to re-creating a color scheme, an image or a texture in stitches. Sometimes the inspiration isn’t always obvious in the finished project, but sometimes it’s more literal.

That’s the way it is with the Tin Ceiling Blanket from Purl Soho. Not just because the inspiration is in the name, but if you’ve ever seen one of these old ceilings you can see that the design of the blanket is quite similar to the pattern of the tin tiles.

This is also a good example of the idea that you don’t have to use fancy stitch patterns or lots of color to make a big impact with your knits. This single-color blanket (designed by Gianna Mueller and inspired by a washcloth and towel set designed by Sandi Rosner) is made completely with knits and purls, other than slipped stitches at the beginning of rows to make neater edges.

The pattern is written out row by row, but there’s also a chart, which means this project is a great opportunity to practice reading a chart where you can check your work against the written pattern if you need to.

It comes in two sizes, a crib blanket and a throw. The yarn used in the sample is an organic cotton sold by the cone, which is a great way to get a large quantity of yarn and have fewer ends to weave in. In fact, you can knit either size of the blanket with just one cone of yarn, which isn’t inexpensive but makes you a great, sturdy, heirloom quality but still washable blanket you’ll use for years to come. (Of course you can use any sport weight yarn you like to make this blanket.)

Check out all the details and grab the free pattern from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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