Dear All the Mamas

Last winter, several ladies from our Mittens for Akkol knitting group got the brilliant idea of writing an ebook. This book would contain patterns that we've created and used to make woolies for "our" kids in Kazakhstan and would be a fundraiser for buying other items for the kids. When Nanci goes and delivers our handknit goodies, she also buys lots of items for the kids. Things that we might consider basic, like their own blanket and shampoo, to things like oranges and nuts for their party, to shoes for the babies. This will help her with all those items.

Well, time has passed,the ladies have put in countless hours of work and it's now ready for purchase!


Dear All the Mamas; Knitting for the Orphans of Kazakhstan is available for a donation of $15.95 to the Motherless Child Foundation through Ravelry. ALL proceeds flow directly to this 501(C)(3) nonprofit public charity to help fund our work for the children in orphanages in Kazakhstan.

Not only does this 70-page eBook feature a collection of 21 PATTERNS, but the knitters of the Mittens For Akkol Yahoo group also have shared our knowledge and experience about knitting for extremely cold weather. We have included several stories about the children and experiences in Kazakhstan, sizing charts, and information for all knitters who enjoy working in wool and providing warm items for others.

To purchase, you can click on the title above, or you can click on this "buy it now" button.


I actually have 2 patterns in the ebook. The first is called "Pick-a-pattern" where you can pick from several 4 st patterns to make socks. Different designers contributed the stitch patterns and I included the coffee bean st.

The other pattern is "Diana socks" that I wrote when knitting socks for Diana, one of the grads from a year or two ago. It's been on my blog for awhile, but I've taken it out and now it will be available only in the ebook.

This is the first time that my patterns have been anything other than self-published and it's all for a good cause.

 Don't you want a copy???

Now back to knitting some socks....

Stitch Surfer

A finished object! These are the Stitch Surfer from Knitty.  They would look much better modelled on some feet, but they're too small for any at my house.  Check out the pattern for a better idea of how they look.

They're made by knitting half a row in each color and then doing a wrap and turn and then purling back that row.  Increases and decreases are made in each knit row to get the pattern surfing to the left, and then surfing to the right.

The hardest part is really doing the purling on the way back, and that's just time consuming and not really hard.

They were really quite fun and will be going to M4A on their way to Kazakhstan for their fall sock challenge.  I have time to do one or two more pairs, but this time I think I'll make them plain vanilla.

Homecoming

Here are a couple of quick pictures of tonight's Homecoming.

This is DS#2 and his date. First time going to homecoming, and first time with a pink tie!  It matches the sparkles on his date's dress.

This is DD#2's senior year and her last Homecoming. (Her dress is really navy blue, even though it doesn't show up that way.)

Her corsage was on her left arm and deserved to be shown, so here it is: