Stitch for the Stocking and a Chance to Win $5,000

You might remember last year when I told you about the effort at Yarnspirations to knit the world’s largest Christmas stocking — which is really individual squares measuring 3 feet across — in support of the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation.

The yarn being used on the project, Caron United, supports that foundation with 15 cents from each skein sold, and when the stocking is done the squares will be assembled into blankets that will be donated to military charities.

To encourage more people to help, Yarnspirations is running a contest from April 20 to June 22 in which people who send in squares will have a chance to win $5,000.

Each square you send during the contest period gets you another entry, so the more you stitch the more you give and the better chance you have of receiving a little something back as well.

You can learn all about the stocking, the contest and the foundation at the Yarnspirations website. And if you officially sign up as a stitcher you’ll also get 25 percent off your purchase of Caron United, which makes giving even easier.

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use.

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make.

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!).

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn.

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart.

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern.

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.

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