charity

In 2011 I knit a lot of scarves for charity. In spring, I learned a new stitch, the "half patent" as it is called in Germany and I guess it's called brioche stitch in English. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

Anyhow, I got bitten by the scarf bug and I made scarf after scarf with this new stitch, plowing through my stash of woolen, warm yarns in different weights. Last year I had donated some scarves and hats to the homeless in a nearby city, and exactly these homeless people I had in mind right from the beginning.

Remember my 17 mice from last year? Well, I made 8 more this year! They are selling so well that I may have to make a few more soon.

I used one ball of handdyed-with-KoolAid Marks&Kattens Eco Ull for these mice. They were all knit on 6mm needles. I made them all smaller than the original instructions call for, as my gauge is much bigger.

In August, I took on the challenge to make 25 squares for Knit a Square by the end of 2011.

Today I proudly present my (most likely the) last squares for 2011 which bring my tally up to 42 squares! I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself. I've sent the first patch of squares to South Africa already and my second package is ready for sending, too.

Two more charity knits to my tally (closing in on 50!). These are very simple preemie blankets, knit with 100% cotton I bought from a friend earlier this year.

It's been a month since my last confession... no, I mean my last Knit a Squillion square posting! I haven't been as busy a bee as I was in August, but I've met my goal and passed it!

I am still working on scarves for charity, using up my supply of single balls of wool (blends) and half balls left from other projects. I haven't made much progress this summer, but here are three. That's better than none, no?

The first one is made with local German sheep's wool (orange), Finnish wool (grey) and industrial made green vintage German yarn called Tiffany, which I used in a scarf I made in May, too.

Motivation is really a funny thing. Once something really gets you moving, there's no stopping it. If you have two motivators pushing you towards the same goal, you can accomplish anything.

Like 16 squares in a week.

Although I haven't been blogging much, I've been a busy bee - I signed up to a gym to try it out for this month, so I have been going there pretty much daily. I also have finished my first six squares for the Knit a Squillion action, for which I committed to knit 25 squares this year.

I was reading Minimalist Knitter's (aka Robyn's) site as I often do and came across her newest charity endeavour: participating in Knit a Squillion action by Knit a Square.

Their ambitious plan is to to send 1,2 million squares to South Africa by July 10, 2012.

I mean: wow. 1,2 million squares will make blankets for 36.000 children in need. I thought: I want to participate in this!