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.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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