Hello everyone:
My name is The.Knitter and I am the organizer of the Canadian Division of the Oddball Baby Blanket KAL at KnittingHelp.com. Here is what our group does:
I have a list of names and suggestions for blankets that we use when deciding what blanket to start.
One of our members chooses and starts a blanket by casting on 130 stitches with soft worsted weight yarn onto a US Size 9 - 29" circular knitting needle. They also start a small journal and write in it to tell the child and their family the date, and what journey the blanket travelled to get to their child. The member then knits three rows of garter stitch. After that they knit six inches of whatever pattern they have chosen to use, keeping the first and last three stitches in garter stitch to use as a border. When they have finished their knitting, they contact me and I give them the name and address of the next knitter and mark them finished on my spreadsheet. They mail the blanket to the next knitter. The next knitter then has two weeks to knit his/her six inches and then mail it to the next knitter. This goes on until there are thirty six inches knit. The blanket is then mailed back to me. Each time I have six blankets, I will hand deliver them to The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario.
Please note: This is a charity. Each knitter is responsible for paying for the yarn they use, the postage they use and whatever stickers they use in the journal. If a member starts a blanket and requires their needles to be returned, please contact me and I will make sure that the next time I sent them a package, their needles are included in that package.
Also please note: Some of us like to include small gifts that we send on to the next knitter, with the blanket, when it travels. These are usually knitting related gifts and are always small. This is
NOT mandatory but is a nice treat for the next knitter. If you do choose to send the next knitter a small gift, please
DO NOT include perishable food items because they may leak into the box and damage our blanket.
The hospital has a few requirements that we
MUST meet or they will not accept the blankets!
1. We
MUST NOT use green or yellow yarn because they feel that this makes sick babies look more ill.
2. The blankets should be 36" X 36" because that size fits perfectly over the isolette to protect the baby from light so that it can sleep during the daytime when all the lights are on in the nursery.
3. There must be
NO religious comments written in the journal because some families have different religious beliefs and we would not want to upset anyone if their beliefs are different to the knitter's.
4. There must be
NO get well wishes written into the journal because some of these children will never get well.
We have not made a delivery yet, but we are getting closer and closer to that each day. We have eight blankets in production as of this week. I think this is fantastic considering we only started this project a month ago!!!
Three cheers for our devoted members!
Here's the list of blankets we have in production so far.
Powder Puff: The.Knitter - finished knitting - white
knitgal - finished knitting - lavendar
sue in canada - finished knitting - pink
MommaG - waiting for the mailman - grey
Sajomaro - on waiting list - peach
The.Knitter - on waiting list to finish blanket - white
Flower Garden:The.Knitter - finished knitting - brown/beige/pink
Gina V - knitting
Dangles - next in line
knitgal - on waiting list
sue in canada - on waiting list
The.Knitter - on waiting list to finish blanket
Mud Pie:
sue in canada - finished knitting - brown
knitgal - knitting - brown
MommaG - next in line
Dangles - on waiting list
Sajomaro - on waiting list
The.Knitter - on waiting list to finish blanket
Sky Blue:knitgal - finished knitting - blue
Sajomaro - waiting for mailman
Dangles - next in line
MommaG - on waiting list
sue in canada - on waiting list
The.Knitter - on waiting list to finish blanket
Soft Hugs:khaosx5 - finished knitting - pink
Tinkerbell - finished knitting - pink
Mary - knitting - pink
There are three more Mary Maxim employees that will knit on this blanket before I pick it up. The good news about picking the blanket up is that I get to shop in Mary Maxim at the same time. This is a huge bonus for me!
Fluffy Clouds: khaosx5 - finished knitting - white
Renate - knitting - white
There are four more Mary Maxim employees that will knit on this blanket before I pick it up.
Canadian Flag:Donna - waiting for her online purchase of yarn to arrive - red
Shirley - next in line - white
There are four more Wasaga Pines residents that will knit on this blanket before Donna mails it to me.
Bold is Beautiful:Sajomaro - knitting - red
There will be five more knitters working on this blanket. I have not had time to organize this one yet, but I will be doing it within the next few days.
Life's a Beach:On hold for the Wasaga Pines residents!
Candy Store:On hold. If one of the members would like to start work on this blanket, feel free to get in touch with me and I will get you started. This blanket is going to be any candy colour (except yellow and green) including chocolate.
That is our list so far! I am so pleased with all of these blankets and with all the hard work each of our members has put into our project. We are all having so much fun and getting a really warm and fuzzy feeling working on blankets that will help a small baby to be more comfortable.
I want to thank all our members for helping me with suggestions, names for blankets, knitting, encouragement, setting up the blog and agreeing to knit quickly so that our first delivery of blankets can happen as soon as possible. I want to thank Shandeh (US organizer for Oddball Baby Blanket KAL) for helping me to get this Canadian project up and running. I want to thank the Hospital for Sick Children for agreeing to accept these blankets for the babies. The enthusiasm and excitement this project has generated is wonderful and restores my belief that there truly are good people in this world, people who expect nothing in return when they do something to help someone. This is the way I was raised and I am so happy to be associated with other people who feel the same way that I do.
Keep up the good work Ladies. We are doing so very well, and I am proud to be watching as this project grows. I think we will find life long friends within our circle and I am so happy to be a part of this!
I will post pictures as soon as I can get someone to show me how to do that on here....
Now, is there anyone that wants to start Candy Store? LOL! Can't blame a girl for trying to get a little free advertising now can you?
Thanks again everyone,
Christine
