2010 Charity Projects

This year's charity team is Diane Martini, Shawn Cody and Joanna Weis. If you know of a worthy organization that we should include in our September Charity meeting, please contact us with your suggestions.

This year we are working to extend our charity focus to the whole year. We have selected some old favorite charities and we are adding a couple of new ones. Charity Night at the guild is Tuesday September 21, 2010.

Information about our charities will be published in our newsletters as well as here.

If you need yarn contact Diane Martini (drmartini@onshore.net) and we can find yarn for you to use for charity items. If you want to donate yarn contact Diane, and we will try to match up those with yarn with those with a desire to provide items. Some charities also accept yarn donations, so you may bring them in to a guild meeting.

2010 Featured Charities

• The Crafty Angels: - http://www.crafty-angels.blogspot.com/
  The Crafty Angels began in 2001 by Rev. Christine Pokorny of Edgebrook Covenant Church. Christine formed the Crafty Angels charity knitting group and invited women of all ages who had the desire to use their knitting skills to help others. Together, these angels help the Conerstone Community Outreach, the Good News Community Kitchen, the Swedish Covenant Hospital, and Parenting
  Progress.
  
  Always needed are warm hats, scarves, and mittens in a variety of sizes for the families the Crafty Angels serve at Cornerstone Community Outreach. Community outreach is a homeless shelter and these items are much appreciated by the families who have fallen on hard times.
  
  The men at the Good News Community Kitchen love the warm hats and both the Swedish Covenant Hospital and Parenting Progress groups love the mittens, hats, and baby sweaters.
  
  The angels are also happy to accept donations of yarn and knitting supplies. To see pictures of past items donated by angels visit The Crafty Angel knitting for charity website. All the lovely baby sweaters, mittens, and toboggans will inspire you.


• Halos of Hope - http://www.halosofhope.org/
  “Halos of Hope is a not-for-profit organization committed to providing in-need chemo patients with crafted hats donated by caring volunteers.” Founded in 2007 by a breast cancer survivor, Halos of Hope has grown quickly and is providing caps to chemo patients in Chicago and all across the country. Their website includes testimonials, background, patterns.


• Forefront Stitchers at the University of Chicago - http://forefrontstitchers.blogspot.com/
  We worked with Jane McAtee and her group last year for the first time, making prosthetic breasts. For those who didn’t hear about it last year, prothetic breasts are expensive, and may be uncomfortable. The hand-knit version is both comfortable and fun, as well as fun to make. The pattern calls for dpns – so sock knitters will love these. Last year we collected quite a few, and had a lot of fun, so we put them back on the list this year. The link to the pattern for the “tit-bit” is posted below under Knit A Tit Bit.


• Project Linus Blankets - http://www.projectlinus.org/
  Member Sharon Kurth is deeply involved in a local chapter of Project Linus, who’s motto is “Make a blanket, hug a child.” Project Linus welcomes blankets of all styles, including quilts, tied comforters, fleece blankets, crocheted or knitted afghans, in child-friendly colors. Blankets must be new, handmade and washable. You don't have to be an expert to create a blanket that is beautiful to a child. Blankets MUST be smoke free, chemical free (no strong detergents, softeners or fabric sheets), and of good quality. Cotton, flannel and fleece are acceptable materials. As we donate blankets to children ages 0-18, we prefer blankets at least 30”x30” on up to approximately 45”x72”. Patterns can be found at the Project Linus website.


• Mercy Blankets
  This is an ongoing request sponsored by member Peg Rauhut. Mercy Hospital's OB department requests knit blankets for deceased babies. This is one way to give some love to grieving families, as the infants are wrapped in a blanket when given to the parents. The blankets need only be 24" by 24", in soft fiber and preferably "baby colors". Please contact Peg Rauhut if you have questions. Contact Peg if you have questions: mgtroz@sbcglobal.net.


• Stitches from the Heart - www.stitchesfromtheheart.org/
  See the March 2009 newsletter for an article about Stitches from the Heart, a charity focused on preemies and newborns. Stitches from the Heart accepts hand knit and crochet hats, booties, blankets, and sweaters for newborn and premature babies. They also accept yarn and supplies to pass along to seniors who want to contribute but financially are unable to afford yarn and supplies.

Featured Patterns

Knit A Tit Bit

Link here to get a free pattern from Knitty.com -- http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTbits.html
Also see: http://www.titbits.ca/

Knit-A-Square

INSTRUCTIONS:
100 g 3.5 oz ball wool, wool blend, 8 ply worsted
Size 10 US needles
Cast on 32 stitches and knit an 8 x 8 inch square.
You can do knit and purl but looks like most are just garter stitch knit.

Leave a long tail so they can use that to sew the blocks together.

Christine’s Baby Blanket Pattern

Here is a pattern for baby blanket that Christine Montet designed for her grandson. She has donated it to the Windy City Knitting Guild for use in Charity projects.

Measurements: approximately 27 by 34 inches with size 6 needles, and sport weight yarn- varies with gauge. Preemies are very small and do not require a large blanket, so do not worry that you are making one too small. Please use hypo-allergenic machine washable yarns such as microfiber, mercerized cotton, or soft synthetics to avoid irritating tender baby skin. Also be aware that many dies can trigger allergic reactions. This is one case where inexpensive yarns are the best choice.

The blanket is done in squares of 32 stitches and 36 rows each, in stockinette and reverse stockinette, alternating so that it ends up looking like a checkerboard. Embellish with shapes, letters etc – Try cut out felted shapes like circles or squares, knitted or crocheted shapes, sewing them on to alternate squares when finished.

Try using duplicate stitch or embroidery to embellish the squares. The adventurous can use intarsia to knit-in the shapes or create different colored squares.

1. Cast on 138 stitches and knit in garter stitch for one inch.
2. Begin Pattern: Row 1 - Knit 5 stitches, place marker (pm) purl 32 pm, k32 pm, p32 pm, k32, pm K5. (Because this is an even number of blocks, the pattern the same on both sides – repeat this row, keeping 5 edge stitches in garter until 36 rows are completed, then switch –
3. Row 37 of pattern -K5, K32, p32, k32, p32, k5 repeat until 36 rows are completed.
4. Repeat until 6 squares have been completed.
5. Finish with 1 inch of garter stitch then sew on shapes or decorate as you wish.

Pattern Resources

(Please keep in mind and respect copyright restrictions - some free patterns prohibit the sale of items even for charitable purposes.)

• www.bellaonline.com/subjects/207.asp
• www.dmoz.org/Arts/Crafts/Knitting/Patterns
• www.knittingpatterncentral.com
• www.bevscountrycottage.com
• www.knitting.about.com
• www.p2designs.com
• www.woolworks.org
• 5-hour baby sweater for premies - Jul. '06
• Animal "Snuggle" blanket - June '05
• Neonatal premie hat, Convertible Mittens, Shaker Stitch Slippers - May 2007
• Doll sweater - Dec. '05
• Ear flap hat - Aug. '06
• Felted bookweight - May '05
• Multidirectional Scarf - Dec. '04
• Premie burial bunting - June '05
• Premie hat - May '05
• Vintage doll sweater - July '05

Charities We've Contributed to in the Past

• Adopt-A-Native Elder - http://www.anelder.org/who.htm
• Charitable Crafters - http://www.charitablecrafters.org
• Chicago area neonatal hospital units (preemie items)
• Forefront Stitchers at the University of Chicago Hospital - http://forefrontstitchers.blogspot.com/2009/01/who-we-are.html
• Graceful Stitches - http://www.gracefulstitches.org/GS/default.aspx
• Guideposts Knit for Kids - http://www.dailyguideposts.com/help/knitforkids.asp
• Helmet liners for U.S. troops - http://www.geocities.com/helmetliner/
• Hugs for Homeless Animals - http://www.h4ha.org
• Marillac House - www.marillachouse.org/ Read more about Marillac
• The Mother Bear Project - www.motherbearproject.org/
• The Peapod Project - www.peapodfoundation.org/
• The Santa Train - http://www.kingsportchamber.org/portal/santaframe.htm
• Stitches from the Heart - www.stitchesfromtheheart.org/
• Threads of Compassion - threadsofcompassion.blogspot.com/
• Tree House Animal Foundation - http://www.treehouseanimals.org/index.html
• Warm Up America! - http://www.warmupamerica.com
• Warming Families - http://www.warmingfamilies.org