Wyoming Breezes

This pair of wool socks will eventually find its way to Afghanistan and will warm the feet and soul of a child. This summer hundreds socks have found their way into the hands of Afghans through a campaign by afghans for Afghans. The campaign runs through September. Please knit a pair of wool socks for a child or woman and mail them before the end of the month. Your gift will make a positive impact on the life of a child. To see the need for these small comforts, I recommend reading  Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson , a book illustrating how one person can make a huge difference in the lives of others. Greg has helped build schools in Pakistan in the most rural and isolated corners of the country for several years and formed a non-profit organization,  Central Asia Institute . Three Cups of Tea will inspire you and will help you understand the struggles of the common people and to understand the political situation in the region a bit better. By supporting the efforts...

Once I knit the gusset, I can cruise and finish a pair of socks in little time. The cuff is the slowest part for me to knit because of the ribbing. Pictured on two different size blockers (small and medium), they are really an adult medium. It is time to focus on another project since have completed five vests, one pair of mittens, and three pairs of socks for the afghans for Afghans Youth Campaign.

When I have a deadline for knitting socks, I often knit on both socks. For this pair, I knit one cuff and changed yarn for the heel and started the other cuff. Once the heels were turned, one sock was knit from the center of the yarn cake and one from the outside. Knitting this way helps me keep motivated and also allows me to knit nearly identical twin socks. The socks are being knit with Lambs Pride Superwash (Riff Blue) worsted wool on size 5 needles. The winter white is an oddball from my scrap bag. I purchased the Lambs Pride several years ago from a small yarn shop that was selling my rugs on consignment. I'll be sending three pair of socks to San Francisco next week to the afghans for Afghans collection center.

These socks for afghans for Afghans youth campaign will contain everything but the kitchen sink! I realize they are not the most attractive socks (I used oddballs of scrap sock yarn), but they will keep a child's feet warm.

I continue knitting for the afghans for Afghans youth campaign. This pair of socks was knit with some sport-weight wool in my stash. I'm sure it was a thrift shop purchase a couple of years ago.

Monday night I finished a fifth vest of the afghans for Afghans youth campaign. This one is smaller than the other four vests because I thought I would not have enough yarn for the larger size.

The last bit of the green lambswool was used for this sweater vest and hat for afghans for Afghans . Now, I am trying to use all of the rust wool for another vest, my last for the Youth Campaign.

Three youth vests and a pair of mittens are on their way to the afghans for Afghans Collection Center in San Francisco. My original goal was one or two vests, but I had more time to knit than I first thought. The mittens were knit in December. Hopefully, I can finish at least one more vest before the March deadline.

I'm finished with another vest for the afghans for Afghans Youth Campaign. I'm definitely getting better at corralling the yarn bits and resting needles: this time I'm using a safety pin through the adjustment hole in my Knit Picks interchangeable needles to keep them from flopping around. The vest was finished last night. I am going to make one more vest for this campaign.

This wool vest is for the afghans for Afghans youth campaign . I hope to make at least two more of the vests before the March deadline. The vest option is at the end of the  Steppe Sweater  pattern. I knit the vest on size 10 needles, using two strands of worsted weight wool.

It's only one pair of socks, but at least I finished them in time for the afghans for Afghans Youth Campaign's October 29th deadline. A new goal is to stockpile socks in various sizes for these special campaigns that appear from time to time.

Graphic from LionBrand I did not plan to make most of the items listed below. The Lord provided the time to do them and an abundance of materials through donations from strangers, from thrift shop bargains, and from long forgotten items in my own closet, so I used those supplies to knit and to sew. Most items were made for charities and a few for gifts and personal use. Charity items are indicated by a *. While I did not keep track of the amount of yarn that I used for these projects, it would be interesting to calculate. I am in awe of the generosity of those who donated the yarn. It is not uncommon for me to come home and find one or two bags of yarn on my doorstep. I have no idea who leaves most of the bags. I feel knitting items for charity is something the Lord wants me to do. I am humbled by this call. January 2008 * Burp cloths (20 for Abba's House) * Cotton bib (for Baby Pack Project) * Guidepost Sweaters (2) * Receiving blankets (18 for Abba's House) * Receiving blank...

I knit for others and rarely for myself. Charity knitting gives me a warm glow that is long-lasting. Today, I received an e-mail from afghans for Afghans that included this link , showing the success of a recent campaign. It truly warms my heart to know that the sweaters, socks, and hats that I made have gone to such a wonderful cause. If you want to get involved here is your chance: ** afghans for Afghans Needs 300 Pairs of Mittens By November 20! ** We have just been presented with this special opportunity to send more mittens through Roots of Peace and participate at their upcoming program at the U.S. State Department. Time is short, but we know we can do it ... let's give it our best ... as always ... mittens can be knit up in a week and easily popped in an envelope. Our mittens will first travel to Washington, DC, where Roots of Peace is honoring Afghan Ambassador Jawad for his service to his homeland. Roots of Peace would like to show our mittens to all the dignitaries as ...

I intended to make another sweater for the afghans for Afghans youth campaign, but I didn't think I would have enough time to finish it. When I saw Reed's finished projects , I decided to make a vest instead of a sweater.

September and cooler temperatures blew into Wyoming last night. The house shuddered from the wind gusts, and this morning the lawn was littered with fallen leaves and branches. A light rain fell periodically all day, and now the sun is shining. I knit my way through the dreary day and listened to Tall Grass by Sandra Dallas, a book that I highly recommend. The reader (or listener) feels like a member of the Stroud family. I was drawn in by the description of the farmhouse and the surrounding fields. It brought back memories of my childhood and my family home. The narrator is a young girl that the dad calls, Squirt. She is much like Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird . Tall Grass shows how a Japanese internment camp brings out the best and worst in its community. Wyoming also had an internment camp during World War II, and I am sure the communities surrounding Heart Mountain went through the same struggles as those in the community in this book. This page gives you an idea of ...

Just like many other knitters, I have been spending my time in front of the TV marveling at the accomplishments of the athletes from around the world and making good use of my time by knitting. Of course, I do some mindless knitting because I get too caught up in the events to concentrate on a pattern. I rescued some small balls of yarn from my scrap bag and knit some garter stitch 12 inch squares. I'll send them to a woman who joins them to make lap robes for nursing homes. It always amazes me how the squares turn out. I am partial to the one I have on the needles right now, as the rich colors look good together. I am nearly finished with a wool sweater for the afghans for Afghans Youth Campaign. For some reason the garter stitch on the sleeve portion seems to take forever to see any progress, compared to the garter stitch squares that take no time at all. At any rate, by the time the Olympics is over, I should have a finished sweater, a pile of 12 inch squares, and a lighter scra...

This afternoon I finished a second pair of socks for the afghans for Afghans Youth Campaign . The socks knit up fairly quickly using worsted weight yarn and size 5 needles. I have some more yarn suitable for this project, so I hope to complete at least two more pair before the campaign deadline. Won't you join me in making some socks, mittens, sweaters, or other items named in the campaign information? You can make the difference in the life of a child.