Knitting for Others

I was recently asked by Patricia, a hospice nurse and customer, if I might know anyone interested in knitting or crocheting hats and cowls for cancer patients at OHSU. She has a nursing friend there working in Oncology, Brandy, who is concerned that there are patients going home that have nothing to cover their heads!

Brandy says "We are looking for hand knit or crocheted hats that are SOFT.  There seems to be a shortage in particular of the smaller and larger sizes. We do have several young children in treatment at any given time, usually 10 months to 5 years.  We also get older children, but they don't seem to come through as often." 

Let's show these 2 lovely ladies just how much we care, and knit or crochet some amazing hats and cowls!  Remember, all sizes are welcome, for both adults and children.

Drop off your finished hats and cowls at The Naked Sheep. 

FREE Pattern! The Andalien Cowl

Knit up this soft and sparkly cowl using just 2 skeins of Andalien!  I used a size 10-24 inch circular needle and got a gauge of 3.5 stitches to the inch.  Here’s what I did…

Using long tail method, cast on 84 stitches, place marker and join into the round.

Next round:      Purl.

Next round:      Knit.

Next round:      Purl.

Next round:      Knit.

Next round:      Purl.

Next round:      Knit 1, purl 1; repeat to end

of the round.

Next round:      Knit.

Next round:      Knit 1, purl 1; repeat to end

of the round.

Repeat the last 2 rounds to desired length of cowl.  I went about 7 inches from cast on edge.

Next round:      Purl.

Next round:      Knit.

Next round:      Purl.

Next round:      Knit.

Bind-off loosely purlwise.  Weave in ends and enjoy!  J

Yarn for Henry Schmidt

By now, you may have heard about the young man who was hit and left for dead while walking his bike home from work along SW Barbur Blvd earlier this month, Henry Schmidt. After his family pleaded for the driver to surrender to the police, a woman finally turned herself in. A woman whose driving record contains 4 suspension and a dozen driving citations.

What you may not have heard, is that Henry's a knitter. A couple of my friends and I decided to collect some yarn for Henry. When Mary Mooney from the Oregonian got involved, our small project began growing into something really big and wonderful!

So far, the response has been AMAZING! I've received calls and packages from Chicago, New York, California and Florida...just to name a few. Cascade Yarns and Lantern Moon stepped up with fabulous donations! I've been so touched by people's generosity and concern for this young man. Fiber artists are so tightly knit together, and we take care of our own!

We'll continue collecting items for Henry through September. I'll be making the first delivery to him soon! In addition to all the wonderful yarns, needles and books, I'm going to offer Henry some free classes at The Naked Sheep Knit Shop.  He just might need a little help working through some of this!

The goal was to show Henry some support, to let him know that we care, and to make his recovery time a little more enjoyable. I believe we've done just that! THANKS!!!

The Most Delicious Red Wine Sangria!

Ingredients

2 bottles of dry red wine

1 cup brandy

1/2 cup triple sec

1 cup orange juice

1 cup pomegranate juice

1 orange, sliced 

1 apple, sliced 

1 cup blackberries 

Directions

In a large container or pitcher, mix all the ingredients together, seal it and let it stand for at least 24 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Enjoy with friends!

New Patterns...Easy Baby Blankets!

New eBook available soon at The Naked Sheep's online store! Buy the patterns individually, or as a set. Stay tuned!

3 in 3 Challenge

Well, my 3 in 3 Challenge is complete; and I almost did it!

I completed The Age of Brass and Steam in the gorgeous Puelo, 100% alpaca; a total joy to knit with. I also got it blocked!

I completed The Droplet Scarf using Droplet, a fun cotton blend, complete with beads!

And I half completed Pimpelliese using Huasco, a new, super soft, fingering weight merino wool.

I also completed my "plus 1", Elis using Cotton Supreme Sequins.  This is on the new fall class schedule at The Naked Sheep Knit Shop.  Super fun to knit!

A very lovely weekend of knitting. I also managed to squeeze in breakfast out at Podnah's Pit with my sweetie, a little wine on the deck, and Michael Franti and Spearhead out at Edgefield with friends,,,

I'd say it was a pretty AWESOME weekend!

3 skeins, 3 scarves, 3 days

Ok, so I've given myself a pretty crazy goal. I'm going to knit 3 different one-skein scarves in 3 days. I have 3 skeins of 3 different new yarns that I want to use to knit shop models for The Naked Sheep Knit Shop.

Droplet, which I already have a tiny head start on. I'm making a one skein scarf that is a free pattern from their website.

Huasco, the beautiful blue, extrafine merino wool, fingering weight yarn. Still searching for the right pattern. Maybe The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief?

And Puelo, a luscious 100% alpaca that is coming soon to The Naked Sheep Knit Shop. Knitting Fever shared a pattern idea on their blog, and I think it will be fun to knit!

Oh yeah...and I have to finish up my Elis Cowl. I'll be teaching this as a class this September at the shop.

Saturday - Sunday - Monday...Can I do it? I'll start tomorrow, and keep you posted!