Happy Holidays!

Just to let everyone know that we are starting to hear back about the hats we sent to the USS Ingraham and USS Patriot.  Our Facebook page is busy and we are also putting those messages up on Ravelry so everyone in that group can read them as well.

More Hats in the Mail

The next shipment of 113 hats is on their way to the USS Patriot! 

The Hats Are In The Mail

The hats were mailed yesterday to the USS Ingraham!

Packing

Lynne and I have packed up 230 of the hats to be delivered to the USS Ingraham!  They are in the boxes and ready to go out tomorrow.  Thank you so much to all of the terrific people who donated hats to this project.  You are absolutely amazing!!!

Memorial Day, May 28, 2012

We are trying to make our deadlines easy to remember.  So from now until further notice, we will have two deadlines.  The spring deadline will be Memorial Day and the fall deadline will be Veteran's Day.  Our spring deadline for 2012 will be May 28th.  The fall deadline will always be on November 11th.

 

Goal Exceeded!!!

Thank you to everyone!  We have 337 hats ready for the next ship!!!  That far exceeded our goal of 250 so thank you so much.  So many beautiful hats...

Watch Shanti's blog for the latest news on the winner of the gift certificate and which ship we will be supplying.  I will also post that information here after the news breaks.

MORE PRIZES have been donated!  Lynne has donated several bags of yarn and we will be awarding those in a few days after the last few hats trickle in.

So many people to thank.  Thank you so much to Signature Needle Arts for donating the $25 gift certificate.  Thank you to every single knitter and crocheter who happily donated their time and money.  You are all so nice and wonderful to correspond with.  Thank you to Lynne for the yarn and all the time and effort she has put into this from the very beginning.  Thank you to Shanti for having this idea and getting the ball rolling.   And finally, we all do this to say thank you to our Sailors.

Keep knitting we will let you know when the spring deadline is for our next ship.

NOVEMBER 7TH

It is amazing what one email from Lynne (Shanti's Mom) can do!  We have been mentioned in several blogs (thank you to all of them) including Wendy Knits and Signature Needle Arts .  All the publicity and the word of mouth has dramatically increased the interest in Hats for Sailors.  As of this moment we have 434 members in our Ravelry group and I have been very busy happily answering email requests.  This is so fantastic that now I feel fairly confident (fingers crossed) that we'll meet our goal and be able to supply at least one ship with hats this year.

I know everyone knits hats in support of our sailors, but it is also wonderful when Signature Needle Arts offers something special for one who does.  Signature Needle Arts is offering a $50 gift certificate to the winner of a random drawing of anyone who sends a hat to our project!  This will apply to every hat sent in since we last supplied Shanti's ship.  Each hat offers one chance to win the gift certificate.   Their needles are amazing and it will be a wonderful treat for one of our knitters.

I also thought I'd post answers to the FAQ's for those of you who are new or if you have been around awhile but want a refresher course.

Are crocheted hats ok?
YES!  YES!  Absolutely YES!

Is there a particular pattern or color the hats are required to be?
No, you are free to knit any pattern or any color that you like.  Your creativity is welcome and appreciated.

Is there a particular yarn I should use?
Yes,  we ask for 100% washable wool.

It is important that the hat not be flammable or melt in a fire.  Wool is not flammable.  Sometimes people use a different natural fiber but we always ask that you do a burn test first to make sure that particular yarn is not flammable.  If you would like us to do the burn test, just send us a sample and we will be happy to do it.

The reason we ask for washable is that we are fairly certain the hat will end up in the wash at some point and we wouldn't want your hat to be ruined and the sailor to be disappointed.

Is there a deadline?
Our current deadline is November 7th, 2011.  We are an ongoing program and if you can't make it this time, stay tuned because there will be another opportunity.

What do I do with my hat when it is finished?
Email me at hatsforsailors@gmail.com  and I will answer back with my address.  If you already have Sandra's address in California, that is the right place to send it.  Feel free to pass it along to your friends.  I just prefer that my address not be posted on the internet.  (Another email has been posted on some blogs for me and that will work as well).

Anything else I should know before I mail my hat?
Feel free to include a note to the sailor who receives your hat.  I enjoy letting people know when their hat(s) arrive safely so if you include your email or Ravelry name I will send you a message when it does.

Any final words?
We know how much time, effort and money goes into a hand knit or crocheted hat and we appreciate SO much what you are doing.  We can not possibly say thank you enough.

Any comments, questions or ideas, please let us know at hatsforsailors@gmail.com

A Circle of Turn A Square

I feel so lucky that I get to see so many beautiful hats and I greatly appreciate the time, expense and effort that goes in to each one of them.  I thought some of you would also like to see these hats.  This is the first in a series to display your creativity.

Without a doubt, Turn A Square by Jared Flood is the most popular pattern.  It is fun to see it in so many different yarns and colors.  Here is a sampling of the beauty I have found in my mailbox.

August Prizes and Finished?

August Prizes


We think we may have a couple of more prizes in September and if we do, we will extend the campaign until September 30th, so check back next month.  We have two prizes in the month of August.

The first prize is a set of Pattern Tamers.

These are great magnetic row markers to use to keep track of where you are on your knitting charts or patterns.  There are 3 different lengths.  

The second prize are these stitch markers and carrying case from Hiya.  There are cute markers with a pretty case to keep them in.

Finished?

These are the two hats I knitted that I think qualify for finished in the month of July.  The striped one on the left is the second one I knit and it is off the needles, ends woven and washed.  It's still wet, but that is a mere technicality as far as I'm concerned.  It is my own pattern and I used Mission Falls 1824.  The hat to the right is turn-a-square pattern from Jared Flood.  It is a favorite in this group.  It is easy to remember, goes quickly and looks great!  I used Rhythm yarn by Jojoland. 

I have received so many beautiful hats, I think I will start publishing some pictures this month so you can share in my admiration for others creativity and talent!

July Winners & Finishing

Winners
Our two winners for July are Linda in Texas who won the knitting light and Melanie in Arizona who won the bag and puppy snips.  Congratulations to both of them!!!  We will have the August prizes on the blog in the next few days so keep tuned in.

Finishing
If you read the  blog last month, you know that my goal was to finish two hats this month.  It took me three weeks to finish the first hat.  I knew I had to pick up my game to reach my goal by today, July 31st.  I was focused, I was making progress, everything seemed to be going my way...and then I hit a number of minor roadblocks.  I couldn't find my double pointed needles when decreasing for the crown.  I ran out of the yarn I was using and had to make a design change.  Then I couldn't find the yarn I wanted to use to replace it.  Then my kitchen sink stopped up.  Yikes!

Now my question is, when is a hat finished?  Is it finished when it is off the needles?  When the tails are woven in?  When it is washed, but still drying?  Or my fear is that it is only finished when it is off the needles, tails woven, clean AND dry.

None of that will matter if I don't at least get it off the needles by midnight.  Let's hope my luck has improved.

July Already?

I can't believe how fast the summer is flying by.  When I first wrote about the summer campaign for hats, I had imagined myself knitting hats everywhere I went.  They are such a portable project that I knew they would be flying off my needles!  So far, it hasn't worked out that way.  Even though I have knitted for a long time and completed a lot of projects, I have two ways of thinking that work against me.  I always over estimate the amount of time I will have to knit and grossly under estimate the amount of time it will take to complete a project.  Maybe I'm just an optimist!

So keeping that in mind, I am sure that I will complete at least two hats in the month of July (I have not completed any this summer).  Do you think I can do it?

June Winners


The two winners of the Madeline Tosh skeins are Hila from New York and Sharon from South Carolina.  Congratulations to both of them!

July Prizes


We have two prizes for July.

The first prize is a lovely knitted bag that you can use either as a purse or to carry your knitting projects.  Inside the bag is a pair of little scissors called puppy snips that look like a dog attached to a small chain.  They are great to carry along with any project.

The second prize is a knit light.  I have heard that they are really handy when you want to knit but are in a situation with poor lighting.  Maybe if I had one, I could knit under the blankets late at night?  or on a plane when my overhead light doesn't work?  or during a thunderstorm when we lose power?  You get the idea.  Sorry about the poor quality of the picture.

Our goal is to receive another 210 hats by the end of August!  I hope we make good progress towards that goal this month.  Thank you to everyone who is participating and check back on August 1st to see who the winners are for July and what our August prizes will be.

May Winner

Congratulations to Debbie of New York who is the May winner of the knitting options box!

JUNE PRIZES

Announcing........... our June Prizes!


This month there are two.  They are beautiful skeins of Madeline Tosh Vintage yarn.  They are superwash merino wool and worsted weight.  They are beautiful colors and lovely to knit with.

The colorway of the first one is called lichen.

The second is called duchess.

You could win one of these skeins of yarn!  All you need to do is knit a hat for a sailor using 100% washable wool with the color and design of your choosing and send it to me so that I receive it between June 1st and June 30th, 2011.  Each hat you knit and we receive gives you one chance at winning one of the skeins.

Our goal is to receive at least 250 hats by August 31, 2011.  We are off to a slow start, so I think it is going to be an ambitious goal.  So keep knitting the gorgeous hats for sailors, mail them in and encourage your friends to do the same.  There are so many of you out there, I know we can reach our goal!

Any questions or if you need the address to mail them, just email us at hatsforsailors@gmail.com.

I am still trying to reach the winner of our May prize and will let you know who it as as soon as I hear back.

Check back on July 1st to see what our July prizes will be!

Summer, Hats, Prizes and Deadlines

Summer has arrived here in California!  When the weather is warm and I am busy traveling and running to picnics and games, I look for a project that is small and portable.  I think a hat for a Sailor is the perfect project for summer and I am hoping you feel the same way.  With that in mind, we are announcing an exciting summer campaign!

The campaign deadline is August 31, 2011 with prizes to be given away each month until then - starting this month!  Each hand-knit or crocheted hat will enter one chance to win the prize in the month it is received.  The winner will be randomly selected after I receive the mail on the last day of the month.

THE MAY PRIZE

KNIT/CROCHET NOTIONS BOX

I knit with a group of lovely women at our local library every week and after one of our knitters purchased this box at a local store, it became a group favorite and I think the winner of this box will love it as much as I do.

Small enough to be portable and big enough to hold those important items, it is about 2" deep and approximately  4" x 5 1/2".

The top section has 8 little compartments that open separately, perfect for stitch markers.

The bottom section is not divided and ideal for those bigger items.

Included with the box are soft ring stitch markers, locking stitch ring markers, a tape measure, small scissors, post-it notes and a bent tip chibi needle.

MAY DRAWING
I need to RECEIVE your hat by May 31st, to be eligible for this prize.  Everyone who has sent a hat to Sandra since the creation of our Ravelry group in December 2010, will be included in the May drawing.

REMINDERS 
There are a few things that bear repeating.  Hats are currently being mailed to Sandra, so if you don't have my address, please email me at hatsforsailors@gmail.com and I will send it to you.  If you include your email address or Ravelry name with your hat, I will send you a message when I receive it so you know it arrived safely.  If you would like to include a note to the Sailor who receives your hat, please feel free to do so and we will make sure it goes along with the hat.

Hats for Sailors is an ongoing project and will not end in August with this campaign!  So please keep creating hats long after August.

READY, SET, GO!
While we are all working on hats, we, at campaign headquarters, will be working to select the first ship and the number of hats we receive will help guide us.  We will have more to say about the ship before the end of the summer.

So get your needles, crochet hooks and yarn ready to create and let's see how many hats we can finish by August 31st.  I am going to be so excited when my mail arrives every day this summer.  Just think a mailbox full of beautiful hand-knit and crocheted hats!!!

Check back at the beginning of June for the May winner and June prizes.  The June prizes will be awarded for hats received on and between June 1st and June 30th.  Here's a hint...beginning in June, there will be two prizes each month!

Quietly Knitting Along

I receive emails and see postings on Ravelry about the beautiful hats that people are working on, not to mention the lovely ones that have shown up in my mailbox.  I can't tell you how much we appreciate all the hard work that is going on right now.  But that doesn't provide much information to post on this blog, so I thought I would share what hats I've been working on.  Please feel free to comment on your current knitting or email me at hatsforsailors@gmail.com and I can share it in a future post.  I think it would be great to see some of your work and hear what your ideas are.

Of course the most important thing is knitting the hat for a sailor, but I'm also trying to accomplish two other things - knit from my stash and try new techniques.   I like knitting hats and I think they are the perfect size to try something new.

This idea happens to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Elizabeth Zimmerman's birth.  I must be the last knitter on earth not to know much about her, so I decided to Knit the Almanac.  I really enjoyed reading what she had written and I knitted the January project of an aran hat from a recently aquired addition to my stash (I don't think that counts as knitting from my stash).

I was intrigued by her knitting philosophy and have been reading a few more of her ideas.   I really liked one of them.  She kept two containers of yarn, one in light colors and one in dark colors.  She would knit a hat and randomly grab one yarn from alternating containers, so that the hat would have a dark stripe and then a light stripe.  Once a yarn had been used once, she would not use it again in the same hat.  I've decided that is what I am going to do with the leftover yarn from each hat I knit and when I have enough, I am going to try it.  Has anybody ever done this?

Sandra