Love.Yarn.Shop.

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35  No matter what your religious or political affiliation, giving can bring you a sense of worth and fill you with gratitude for what you do have.  As Winston Churchill once stated, “We make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give.”  As knitters and crocheters, we have a “one-up” on some people, because not only can we make something useful for someone else, but there are many outlets for our talents.  We don’t have to look around and say, “What can I do?”  No matter what the cause, hand-made items are in demand and often the knitter or crocheter has to look no further than the stash in the closet to find the yarn needed.

There are a number of charitable knits we are doing at Love.Yarn.Shop. that you can jump in any time to contribute:

CHaD:  We starting two years ago pairing children’s books with knitted animals.  This has been so popular with the tutors at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth that we have been asked to continue.  The tutors take the book and animal to a long-term child in the hospital for a reading lesson and then the child gets to keep both the book and the toy.

Purple Baby Hats:  Littleton Regional Hospital is calling for purple baby hats to be given to new parents as part of their education about Shaken Baby Syndrome.  These are quick and easy.

Chemo Hats:  The Oncology Department at Littleton Regional Hospital has a basket for chemo hats.  Patients can pick up a hat from the basket.  These are always needed and I hate to see that basket empty when I know many knitters and crocheters are asking themselves, “What should I knit next?”  While thinking about your next project, make a hat.

Welcome Blankets:  The Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago is calling for 40” x 40” blankets for a display of warm welcome to equal and counter the 2000 miles of wall Trump wants to build along the border.  The blankets will be distributed through refugee organizations after the display is taken down.

Knitting and crocheting charities abound at both the local, national, and international level.  Feeling guilty about how much yarn you have?  Get those needles out and knit a hat, or two, or ten!

As the petals of the hydrangea blush into pink and the leaves on the maple pop orange overnight, the call of wool tugs knitters and crocheters into the yarn store to sniff out their next project.  They squeeze skeins and flip through magazines in search of the perfect fall project to ease them into winter.  The Fall Interweave Knits issue is just the magazine for them.  It has twelve patterns for pullovers and cardigans, all of which are interesting, modern, and beckon to the knitter.  I had a hard time deciding which ones to highlight, but two weaknesses intervened:  fair isle and men.  The Prairie Wind Cardigan by Amy Gunderson is a knit-in-the-round, steeked hoodie, a perfect blend of traditional and modern.  The Nelson Pullover by Irina Anikeeva takes its queue from athletic wear with a drawstring tie on a cowl neck.  The Whiskey Creek Pullover by Amy Christoffers has a shawl collar which is reminiscent of the military pullovers of the 40’s and 50’s.  All are worsted weight and knit in the round for the majority of the body, which is my preference when knitting sweaters.  Come in and take a look!