Friday, February 27, 2009

Colors of Spring


Well, it appears I am on a roll with the color block sweater pattern. I really like it as a project because it is portable and each piece can be made very quickly.  To be specific the sweater pattern is called "Kid's Color Block Cardigan" from the Oneskein book by Leigh Radford.  I used some metal flower buttons and then decided they needed a couple of leaves. So note the close up.  I love the I-cord trim.  This sweater pattern is like a blank canvas. There are lots of places to get creative.  I was just thinking the I-cord could transform into a long flower stem or snake. Try the pattern it is a lot of fun to make.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Thanks to Phylis













Tuesday I was honored to accept two beautiful sweaters from a dear friend, Phylis Bates. Phylis is a fabulous knitter and one of the first knit friends I met in San Diego. I want to let all of you know, as well as Phylis, I am very appreciative of her contribution to 44 Sweater Project. I am getting more and more excited about the project.





Saturday, February 14, 2009

Knit On

I am very thankful that friends have offered to help me with this project. I can't wait to post your projects on the blog.

I have been attending the Jewish Film festival this last week and of course I am taking my current knitting project with me. In the last few weeks I made a few sweaters that I haven't posted here. One from Knitty and two from the One Skein book. This project gives me a chance to try out all the adorable baby and kids patterns that I think are cute. Since they are all pretty small, they make up fast. I would like to keep a notebook of all the sweaters, patterns and yarns used, but I don't know if I can be that disciplined.


From the One Skein book I made the baby Shrug and a Color Block sweater. The baby shrug is for a newborn so I don't think it is really that practical. It has a little lace detail on the back.


The Color block sweater is one of my favorites. It has very simple shaping and lots of style. I find it an ideal portable project. I love putting together the colors and the i-cord trim ties all the colors together. I have quite a collection of buttons and although the sweater takes only two buttons I have visions of using up buttons from my stash. I am now working on making this sweater again. I wouldn't mind having a version of this for myself.



The sweater I made from Knitty turned out wonderful. I was very
pleased with the pattern. The instructions had one small error, but the sweater made up just perfectly. The instructions for putting on the binding were detailed and created a band without puckers. It really looks more like a coat.


Monday, February 9, 2009

44 Sweaters in Honor of our 44th President Barack Obama

So.... in honor of our 44th President, Barack Obama, and his call to public and community service I decided to make 44 hand knit sweaters for babies and children and donating them to a local charity. This is the commitment I made to honor him and the amazing hope he has inspired in the American people.

Of course I started to panic a bit when I later documented my commitment at Starbucks. They ran a promotion here in San Diego to offer a free coffee to anyone committing to do 5 hours of community service. 44 sweaters will definitely take more than five hours. Now I am on the hook or should I say on the needles.

I am totally prepared to knit every one of the sweaters myself, but I decided I might like to engage others to participate in my project. I have mentioned the project to friends and other knitters and have had some enthusiastic support. One of my friends from college queried why I was only making 44 why not 44,000 she asked. It's a good question. I would have to have some help for that. Perhaps as the project gets going I will inspire others to do a like project in their area and the number of children wrapped in loving warmth will actually grow as she mused.

One friend asked me when the deadline would be for collection of the sweaters. Well, I hadn't thought of that. My first response was Mother's Day. Then when I thought a little more about it I realized it might be unrealistic. So, I decided on Labor Day 2009.

In my blog I hope to document the progress and include pictures of the sweaters as I progress. I imagine that it will be a little bit of three steps forward and one step back. Why you may ask. Well, what am I to do when a family member or friend is expecting a new grandchild or a young friend is having a baby?

I would love to have help and give each and every one of you that may read this the opportunity to do this service with me. I have some plans to create a tag for each sweater with the name of the knitter, a title for the piece, a greeting and that it is one of 44 Sweaters made in the honor of our 44th President, Barack Obama.