Hat-stravaganza

(The lady who is organizing this trip to the Ukraine has been there before and this is a picture of some of the children at one of the facilities in Rivne.)

While I’ve been busily knitting hats – so far so good on the hat-a-day-in-May pace – others have been making hat plans and getting on the bandwagon with me. I am so thrilled! For those who’ve asked (and for those who want to know but haven’t asked yet) here are the particulars on the Hat Quest:

Total Hats Needed: 300

Deadline: I am leaving California September 20 but I am asking that all hats be to me by September 5 so I can figure out exactly how much space they are going to take up and then, by some miracle, figure out how I am going to get them all to the Ukraine. (Anybody have one of those bottomless Mary Poppins bags?)

Sizes: There are children of all ages, from infants to early teens, so all sizes in that range will work. We need the least of the infant sizes, so if you can aim a bit larger (school-aged kid size) that would be perfect. (Plus, if we end up with too many bigger-kid size hats, they can be rolled at the brim or otherwise maneuvered to fit small kids but baby hats can’t be made to fit bigger heads….in case you are interested in my logic.)

Patterns: Any pattern is great. Do you have a hat you’ve always wanted to knit but no appropriate recipient? Now’s the perfect time! The only caveat on that is it would be best to steer clear of any lettering on the hats (for all you crazy colorwork knitters) since it is unlikely that any of these children speak English.

Yarn: Wool, animal fibers or wool/animal fiber blends are preferred. It gets very cold there and, I’m told, electricity availability is spotty so 1) even inside, winter is quite cold for these kids and 2) these hats aren’t likely to go through any sort of vigorous hot water washing that might cause accidental felting. Please note: If you can’t knit wool or other animal fibers, that’s ok. Knit a different fiber and I’m sure that your cotton-linen-mircrofiber-hemp-corn-nylon-something-else hat will be much loved. (I’m talking to you Carissa, who I met on Saturday who has run out of people to knit for. It was so nice to meet you – I hope the pets are all well.)

Mailing: When you are ready to mail your hat, email me at crickitleigh(at)hotmail(dot)com and I will give you the address. I’ve heard from several people who live near other knitters and they are planning to accumulate hats and mail them all together, which I think is an excellent plan.

Other good things I know about this Hat Knitting Quest:

RC is planning to run a contest to go along with this. For this, I am eternally grateful since 1) I love a contest 2) I am dreadful at managing contests and 3) Knitting at least one had every day, having a job, a husband, a home and two dogs to attend to doesn’t leave enough time for doing a contest too. I’ll post a link when RC posts the rules and prizes on the contest. In the mean time, watch her blog.

Kaylee, the ever lovely proprietress of my LYS (aka Hooks & Needles), has signed on to be the Official Yarn Store of my hat quest. Which means that for local knitters, if you buy your hat yarn/needles from Hooks & Needles, you’ll get a 10% discount and if you are a faraway knitter, you can order yarn from her and she will ship it to you for free. Her full-fledged website is still in the works but in the meantime, you can visit the shop’s blog and call or email in your order. Also, she’ll be donating a prize to RC’s contest

SIDENOTE: I have a serious knitter-crush on the Autunno that Hooks & Needles carries. One ball makes one hat (and a pretty quick one) with plenty left over for combining on another hat or making a massive pom-pom. I’ve been knitting it on 10 or 10 ½ needles, 60 stitches, K2P2 and this works up great for me. (Remember, though, that I am a tight knitter.) And oh the softness! At $7 a ball, you really can’t go wrong. She has lots of other great stuff, too. The Teseo is great, too, and the same price.

I think that is it for now. I’ll put up a link to this post in the sidebar in case you need to check back later or if you want to refer a friend. I’ve gathered up the hats I have so far and I’m going to take pictures at Girls’ Night Out at the yarn store tonight of the progress.

Thanks again to everyone for their enthusiasm. I’m starting to believe that 300 isn’t such a big number after all. Unless, of course, we are talking cockroaches or rats or tarantulas….then 300 is most certainly a big number. Luckily, we’re talking hats.

Today’s Quote

“In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” -Albert Schweitzer