A Few Changes

We have been making a few changes at Hats for Sailors.  You have probably noticed.  Our banners have changed, both here and on Ravelry.

We have a new logo that we are using in lots of places including a button.  You may have noticed the button in a picture of yarn from last week's blog.

There is a lot of discussion on Ravelry.  And a lot of inspiration in both our WIP and FO discussions.  I have a lot of new ideas for my 100 hat patterns and others feel the same.  So if you haven't been there for awhile, check out Ravelry.

We also have medals on Ravelry for 2013 that people can put on their Ravelry pages.

If you have any ideas or suggestions about promoting Hats for Sailors, let us know.  You can comment here, on Ravelry or Facebook or send us an email at hatsforsailors@gmail.com

More November Prizes

Here is a preview to the prizes we will be highlighting on Ravelry and Facebook this week.  This is the last installment of November prizes.  All of this yarn was donated by Lynne and Shanti!

Three skeins of Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb which is 50% silk and 50% wool and approximate 205 yards per skein.  The color is Tahoe.

Joslyn's Fiber Farm Shine which is 50% fine silk and 50% fine wool.  It is about 1900 yards of lace weight yarn.  The color is Real Red.

From Cherry Tree Hill one skein of Possum lace which is 40% merino/40% possum/20% silk.  It is 480 yards with a gauge of 7stitches per inch on size 4 needles.  The color is Northern Lights.  The other skein is Supersock Solids which is 100% merino fingering weight yarn with 370 yards per skein.  The color is Violet.

The top skein is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock which is 80% Superwash Wool/20% Nylon with approximately 215 yards and the color is Purple Iris.  The other skein is Koigu Wool Premium Merino with 175 yards.

This is two skeins of Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran which is 55% merino/35% mircrofiber and 10% cashmere.  It is 83 yards per skein and gauge is 4 stitches per inch on size 8 needles.  The other one is a lace scarf kit with 300 meters of Pansy Yarn from Artisan Lace.

And the GRAND PRIZE is 12 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Yarn which is 55% Merino wool/33% Microfibre/12% cashmere.  There is 90meters in each skein and the color is Evergreen.

WOW!  What great yarn and a huge thank you to Lynne and Shanti!!!

November Prizes

Over the next few weeks, we will be announcing some prizes to be given away in November.  You will have one chance to win a prize for every hat you have donated for a Sailor since our deadline in November, 2012.

One of our members Pat (plynn on Ravelry) has donated some lovely bags from Thirty-One Gifts.  These are great project and notion bags.

This would be a perfect project bag that will fit a larger project, like a sweater.  Your project could easily fit inside the bag with extra skeins of yarn.  The side pockets are perfect for all those notions we need!

This is a smaller bag than the one above, but is a great size for a hat or similar sized project.  You can easily fit a hat and and extra skein of yarn in this bag and then toss it inside your tote bag.

These are smaller pouches, perfect for storing all your notions!

Every one of these would be a great bag to have and help you organize your knitting or crochet!

Medals

If you haven't taken a look at our Ravelry discussion group lately, go take a look.  We now have medals that you can download from our Flickr page .  Here is an example.

Just a small way to recognize everyone's hard work!

More prizes to be announced next week!

Cables

These are the last hats in the current installment of  the "hats I would knit again" series.  I will revisit it when I get closer to the end of the 100 different patterns.  I currently have #38 on the needles and it is a cabled pattern.  I love the way the hat is turning out but it is aran weight yarn on smaller needles and it is hard on my hands so I am limiting the time I spend on it each day.

Cables are a very personal thing.  Individual preference is stronger when it comes to cables.  I love cables.  I love the way they look and feel and I enjoy knitting them and moving stitches around.  I looked through the patterns with cables I have already knit and decided I would knit them all again.  That post would be too long so I am focusing on a couple of standouts.

I am back to Jared Flood again and his pattern Koolhaas.  It is a fussy pattern and takes some concentration and lots of stitch manipulation.  It does have logic and it starts to make sense once you get in the rhythm.  I enjoyed knitting it and I love the way it looks, feels and fits.  I have made it twice already.  Both hats were made before I started my 100 hat project, so I imagine I will repeat it again in the coming months.  Here is a picture of one of my previous versions.

The other hat I really enjoyed is Brambles Beret by Amanda Muscha.  I first saw this when Orli (tinyplasticmeat on Ravelry) knitted it as a hat rather than a beret.  Somehow it had never occurred to me to make the minor adjustments to convert a beret to a hat.  It opened up all kinds of new possibilities and the first one was Brambles Beret.  I loved Orli's version and I loved the hat I made as well.  More simple and easier to follow than Koolhaas and more traditional in the look.  Here is my version.

Our November deadline is approaching.  The buildup will begin next week when we will start revealing some of the November prizes!

We Interrupt This Blog....

For my regular life..

August did not turn out the way I expected it to.  My weekly blog posts and my posts on Ravelry and Facebook took a back seat to another priority.

I had a couple of opportunities to spend time with my adult daughter and I didn't want to pass it up.  I have three grown children.  Both of my sons live in the area and I see them frequently.  My daughter has not lived near us since she headed off to college six years ago.  She is currently attending school in Europe but was in Chicago working for the summer.  I had the chance, at the last minute, to go to Chicago for two weeks in August and I took it!  I only had a few days back at home before she arrived.  She spent 4 days with all of us before heading back to school.

She is energetic and talented and full of ideas.  She knits and sews.  She wanted to make a quilt in four days.  Neither one of us are experienced quilters.  I took a class years ago and have made two quilts.  She has made one.  She chose a simple Amy Butler pattern and she thought we could do it.  How could I say no?  She did all the sewing and I did the cutting and pinning.  And amazingly we finished, with a few hours to spare!  The quilt is beautiful and now adorning her bed in Europe.  I love quilts.  I wish she had another four days at home so she could make one for me!  I took this picture late at night, in bad lighting just before it was finished.  My apologies for the poor quality.

Not a great excuse for ignoring my Hats for Sailors duties, but one I enjoyed tremendously!

Catching Up

Sharon from California is the winner of the Liberty Wool!  Congratulations!!!  She is so patient as I did not get her package in the mail until the quilt was finished!

This month the giveaway is even better.  We not only have the 2 skeins of Liberty Wool we are giving away on Ravelry but we also have a skein of Sunrise Fiber Company Freedom!  So you have an extra chance to win a great skein!

November Reminder

We have a few prizes for the annual giveaway in November and will be revealing those shortly.  Our big deadline is November 11th!!!