Thursday, September 25, 2008

Return of the Mad Hat Knitter, for charity

Recently I realized I had at least two opportunities coming up to send items to the US for snail-mailing, and so I decided to do some charity knitting.

This time, I decided to use up my wool yarn, which I had bought at bargain prices a few years ago in Divisoria when I was just a beginner in knitting. Some charity groups prefer woolen items for donation, since they warm the body well.

I checked the Warm Woolies group which, like my previous beneficiary, Dulaan, send woolen items to Mongolia, particularly for kids and teens. They prefer knitted and crocheted items that can be worn, like vests and sweaters, and hats!

And here are my first two creations:

Right, a mostly pink head-hugger hat, using four strands of yarn--2 strands of 100% wool in pastel pink, 1 strand of 85%wool and rayon in pale yellow and 1 strand of the same yarn, in bright pink.

Left, a 2x2 ribbed hat in bright orange and bright pink (85%wool and rayon).

The mostly pink headhugger is sized for a teenager. I just used the free Warm Woollies hat patterns as guidelines, since they were designed for knitting from the bottom up, whereas I knit my hats from the top down.

Here's a close-up of the pink headhugger, done entirely in stockinette, and will have a rolled brim. I can't wait to bind it off sometime today and start another one:



Here's a close up of the cheery ribbed hat which is sized for a kid up to maybe 11 or 12 yrs old:


I'm planning to knit up at least 6 pieces, for now, in various colors and sizes. Need to email first those who'll be bringing them to the US for me, and check if they have space in their return luggage...