The collecting will continue until the January Guild meeting. There is still time to finish any hats you may have on the needles or start a few more and get them done by the end of this year.

Our plan is to donate 100 hats to the four Hope Lodges of the American Cancer Society in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, and Duluth. It looks like we will be able to meet this goal if we can get just 21 hats donated at the next two meetings!

There will be prizes given at the January Guild meeting for the members who have donated the most hats for the second half of 2011.

Hope you can help us reach the goal by knitting a hat (or two) and bringing it to a meeting.

Here are a couple of hats we’ve collected:

This pattern is available at headhuggers.org and is knitting pattern #25 Spiral Knit Cap (2nd Version) and uses worsted weight yarn.

We have also seen some touching examples of not only the kindness of knitters, but of helping hands from those who have been in similar situations:

Thank you for giving of your time and your talents to help those who are in need.

We still have a long way to go to reach our goal of 400, but there’s plenty of time to turn in your completed chemo caps – so keep knitting!

I apologize for any confusion!

The patterns use Cascade Fixation, and there are two sets: Boys Stripes and Squiggles Hat with matching booties, and Girls Ruffles and Ribbons Hat with matching booties. All patterns are on the same pdf file. Direct link is here, and also in the sidebar on the right.

The patterns are for Guild use, for the service project. Thank you, Steven and the Yarn Garage, for the free use of this pattern!

Chemo caps are important to the cancer patient – both for protection as well as allowing them to avoid unwelcome stares and feel like themselves again. Caps should cover the entire head and be as attractive as possible. Patterns specifically designed for chemo caps are preferred, as normal cap patterns often leave space at the back of the head uncovered. In addition, a close-fitting hat is usually preferred, and chemo caps tend to be slightly smaller than regular hats, as the wearer has no hair. Remember that newly bald heads tend to be very sensitive.

Guidelines for Chemo Caps:

• Hat should completely cover head. Avoid lacy designs as the baldness shows through, and they can be drafty.
• Hat should be seamless. Avoid “lumpy” patterns.
• NO wool content. Wool can be harmful to some cancer patients.
• Softer yarns (like cotton) are more comfortable. Elann.com Esprit, Cascade Fixation, Caron Simply Soft, and Lion Brand Microspun are typical of recommended yarns. Machine wash & dry are a plus. “Baby” yarns are also a good choice.
• Adult and children’s sizes are welcome.

We will be knitting chemo caps in honor of our Guild Secretary, Carrie Bartz, who passed away last June.

We will be featuring a few of the various chemo cap patterns that are available online. Some of these require (free) registration for the sites that host the patterns. Our first pattern is from the elann.com site, which is one that requires registration. There are a small number of printed copies available at the Guild meeting for those without internet access (provided with permission by elann.com). The pattern is the Pi Topper Chemo Cap.

The recommended yarn is 1 ball of elann.com Esprit (98.3% cotton, 1.7% elastic, 100 yards per 5–gram ball). Cascade Fixation is a good substitute, if needed. This hat was knitted/donated by Joyce Fitzgerald.

We will be collecting completed hats at every monthly Guild meeting. We will also have a collection at the Yarnover this year – an easy way to drop off your hats! There will be 2 prizes awarded for the most hats submitted, with the totals tallied in both July and December. We encourage you to challenge yourself with a goal, perhaps like Judy Berland (see story, winter Cable Gram) who knitted 65 hats for charity for her 65th birthday. The service committee has set a goal for the Guild to submit 400 hats – 100 each for the 4 cities (Duluth, Minneapolis, Rochester, and St. Paul) we’ve chosen to be recipients of our knitting this year. We are working with the American Cancer Society to donate the chemo caps. The ACS will be handing out the caps at their local offices, their sponsored Hope Lodges (Rochester & Minneapolis) and SMDC in Duluth, HCMC in Minneapolis, Mayo Clinic in Rochester and United in St. Paul.

Each month the hats will be collected and progress towards our goal of 400 hats will be noted!

You are not required to knit a specific pattern! Listed below are some links to websites that have a variety of chemo hat patterns. You may knit any pattern you choose, but please follow the guidelines listed above. If you have a favorite chemo hat pattern, or have designed one, you are encouraged to leave a comment here on the blog with the link or source of the pattern, and we will post it if possible. Please keep copyright restrictions in mind!

Check out these links for more patterns:

Bev’s Country Cottage

Headhuggers.org  (this site has kid’s patterns, too)

Elann.com

Chemocaps.com

One of our member/shop owners, Steven Berg, has graciously offered a 40% discount on Cascade Fixation or any viable chemo cap yarn for the Guild’s charity hat project. There are no limits as long as the yarn is used for this chemo cap project, and the offer is good to Guild members for the entire year. You will need to identify yourself as a Guild member when purchasing this yarn, and the offer is good at both of Steven’s locations:

StevenBe, 3448 Chicago Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55407

612-259-7525   http://www.stevenbe.com

The Yarn Garage, 2980 145th St. West, Rosemount, MN 55068

651-423-2590  http://www.yarngarage.com

Any questions regarding the project should be directed to Michele Germanson, michminn AT yahoo DOT com

Here are a couple of patterns I’ve recently found – they are quick knits, too!

This is the Ella Rose’s Pixie Bonnet - a lovely, free pattern using sport weight yarn, and can be knit in 0-12 mo. or 12-24 mo. size. No fancy stitches and easy to knit while watching TV or at your knit group.

These are the Plait Cable Mittens.  Another free pattern! These work up very quickly in worsted weight yarn.

If you are unable to make it to the December meeting, please contact Michele Germanson at michminn AT yahoo DOT com to arrange delivery of your finished projects.

We’ll be announcing the 2011 charity knitting project soon – and sharing photos of the finished items collected for 2010, so stay tuned!

Members and non-members can knit hats, scarves and mittens or any combination of these and donate the items at any of the monthly meetings this year. Each quarter at a meeting (March, June, October and December) the items that were knit that quarter will be shown at the meetings so people can look at/touch them and get inspired to knit more for the charities. (I hope to get photos to share on the blog, so if you miss a meeting you can still see the fabulous knits that have been donated.)

The charities this year are Parents In Community Action, Inc (PICA) which is a private, non-profit agency designated by the federal government to operate Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Hennepin County. The agency was founded in 1969 by Head Start parents. Today PICA serves nearly 2,500 children and families and offers a variety of programs and services for children and families in addition to Head Start and Early Head Start. To learn more, see their website www.picaheadstart.org

The other charity is the White Earth Reservation Community, which is near Detroit Lakes, Bemidji and Park Rapids. The reservation was established March 19, 1867 with the Mississippi Band. The White Earth Band of Ojibwa has 19,506 enrolled members. To learn more see their website www.whiteearth.com

When knitting for PICA you are knitting for kids, ages 0-5. Any type of yarn and any color are OK.

When knitting for White Earth you can knit for kids, teens or the elderly. They would like items in washable wool or wool/acrylic. They would really like warm felted mittens. It gets cold up there (recorded temps range to minus 51 and the frost can penetrate to a depth of greater than 8 feet).

Questions? Contact Michele Germanson at michminn AT yahoo DOT com.

Here’s a few more photos to inspire you:

Springy Ring Mittens

(Sorry – it’s a terrible photo.)

Spiral Mittens

Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf

I made this one with the “alternate” ending to make the ends symmetrical. This one is great for self-striping yarns.

Please remember to label your donations with fiber content and washing instructions.

I look forward to next month’s meeting (June 15) so I can see your beautiful knits! Remember that these projects are easy to take along and are good ‘summer’ knitting (no big projects in your lap)!

Our community knitting project for 2010 is hats, mittens, and/or scarves. The recipients are still being determined, but are expected to include some of the reservations in the 5 state area.

Any size is acceptable – children and adult.

Please label all donations as to fiber content and washing instructions!

Preferred fiber is 100% superwash wool, however hand wash wool as well as acrylics and wool blends can be used and will be sorted by the recipients’ needs.

Any pattern is acceptable. We will post patterns or links to patterns here, hopefully to inspire you! We also had listings of free patterns that we distributed during our “Get Set for Winter” campaign (late 2008) – and those lists along with a few additions are posted as pdf files on the right margin.

Remember that Ravelry is another source for many free patterns – and a chance to check what fibers and colors others used for those patterns!

Our first mitten pattern suggestion is “Mittens for All” a free pattern from Coats & Clark. These can be knit plain or add stripes.

Another easy pattern that has a little more interest is Cabobble mittens. These have an afterthought thumb, cables and a few easy bobbles. Here’s a photo of the (unblocked) pair I’ve made:

I only have a few hat patterns that I’ve actually knit, and they were not free patterns – so I don’t have any photos to go with any of the hat patterns.   However, there appears to be quite a few easy hat patterns on our list. Perhaps you’d like to try Tychus

Scarves can be easy, on-the-go knitting. The Yarn Harlot’s One Row Handspun Scarf is easily memorized and results in a reversible, unisex scarf:

More details to come as they are determined, and we’ll highlight some of the other patterns we’ve tried!

The project isn’t over in December — we’ll be sewing the squares together at our January meeting. Please make a note to bring your darning needle (and an extra or two if you can, for those who forget!) to the January meeting. The squares will already be pre-sorted so we’ll be ready to start sewing! (Thanks, Michele, for taking time during this busy season to sort these for us!)

Thanks for your participation in our project!

Keep knitting those squares! We’d love to have many afghans for donation! We will be collecting completed squares through our Guild meeting on December 15th. Please have all your squares submitted by the December meeting as they will be pre-sorted into afghan combinations, ready for joining at our January meeting.

Please mark your calendars for the meeting on January 19, 2010 – we’ll need many hands to put all these squares together! We’ll post photos of the completed afghans after our January meeting.

December “easy” pattern:  Center Stitches in Middle Diagonal, submitted by Paula Knutzen

Source: Vivan Hoxbro’s Domino Knitting

Materials: worsted weight yarn

Size US 7 needles

Cast on 71 sts.

Row 1 (WS): Knit to last st, P1. Mark the center st.

Row 2 (RS):  Sl 1 Kwise, knit to 1 st before center st, Sl 1 Kwise, K2tog, PSSO, knit to last st, P1.

Note:  the center st is the one that is “buried” the K2tog and a new center st is created. These center sts will line up in the middle of the diagonal of this square.

Row 3 and all wrong side rows: Sl 1 Kwise, K to last st, P1.

Row 4:  Sl 1 Kwise, K to 1 st before center, Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO, mark new center st, K to last st, P1.

You will have one less st on each side of the center st after each double centered decrease. Continue in this manner until 3 sts remain.

Next Row (WS): Sl 1 Kwise, K1, P1.

Last Row: Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO.

Cut yarn and pull through last stitch. Weave in yarn tails and block if needed.

December “challenge” pattern:  Garterlac Dishcloth by Dave at Criminy Jickets (with permission)

Note: This pattern was written to create a dishcloth, however the result is an approximately 8″ x 8″ square. There is no gauge on the pattern as an exact size is not usually needed for a dishcloth. The designer calls for dishcloth cotton, which is a worsted weight yarn. The above square was knitted with worsted weight acrylic yarn and size US 7 needles.

Abbreviations:

K-Knit

K2tog – Knit two stitches together

K-FB – Knit into the front of the next stitch and, before removing it from the needle, knit into the back of the same stitch.

SKP – Slip one stitch knit-wise, knit 1 stitch, pass slipped stitch over

Turn – Put the stuff in your right hand into your left hand and the stuff that used to be in your left hand into your right hand

Pick up – Insert right hand needle from front to back into side of previous layer between two garter bumps, wrap the yarn around the needle and pull a stitch through

Materials: 1 ball dishcloth cotton and appropriate needle.

Directions:

Very loosely, cast on 24 stitches.

Bottom Triangle:

K1, turn, K1, turn.

K2, turn, K2, turn.

K3, turn, K3, turn.

K4, turn, K4, turn.

K5, turn, K5, turn.

K6, turn, K6, turn.

K7, turn, K7, turn.

K8, do not turn.

Repeat the directions for the Bottom Triangle twice more – three triangles in total. They look a little twisted right now. Don’t worry; they’ll sort themselves out as you go along. Turn and make an Increasing Side Triangle.

Increasing Side Triangle:

K1, turn, K-FB, turn.

K1, SKP, turn, K-FB, K1, turn.

K2, SKP, turn, K1, K-FB, K1, turn.

K3, SKP, turn, K2, K-FB, K1, turn.

K4, SKP, turn, K3, K-FB, K1, turn.

K5, SKP, turn, K4, K-FB, K1, turn.

K6, SKP, turn, K5, K-FB, K1, turn.

K7, SKP, do not turn.

Now make a Square.

Square:

Pick up 8 stitches along the side of the previous row, turn.

*K8, turn, K7, SKP, turn*

Repeat between the *s another seven times, but do not turn at the end of the eighth repeat. Make another Square, and then a Decreasing Side Triangle.

Decreasing Side Triangle:

Pick up 8 stitches along the side of the previous row, turn, K8, turn.

K6, K2tog, turn, K7, turn.

K5, K2tog, turn, K6, turn.

K4, K2tog, turn, K5, turn.

K3, K2tog, turn, K4, turn.

K2, K2tog, turn, K3, turn.

K1, K2tog, turn, K2, turn.

K2tog, turn.

You are left with one stitch on the left hand needle. Transfer it to the right-hand needle. Pick up a further 7 stitches down the side of the previous row so you have 8 stitches in total, turn, and continue with the directions for Square. Make two more Squares.

Continue adding layers in a similar manner. The next layer will be Increasing Triangle, two Squares, then Decreasing Triangle. The next layer will be three Squares. The next series will be Increasing Triangle, two Squares, then Decreasing Triangle. Now it is time to make triangles along the top. Transfer the remaining stitch to your right hand needle and proceed with Top Triangle.

Top Triangle:

Pick up 7 stitches along the side of the previous row, turn.

K6, K2tog, turn, K6, SKP, turn.

K5, K2tog, turn, K5, SKP, turn.

K4, K2tog, turn, K4, SKP, turn.

K3, K2tog, turn, K3, SKP, turn.

K2, K2tog, turn, K2, SKP, turn.

K1, K2tog, turn, K1, SKP, turn.

K2tog, turn, SKP. K1 and pass the second stitch on the right-hand needle over the first.

You are left with one stitch on the right-hand needle. Make 2 more Top Triangles, and fasten off last stitch and weave in ends.

http://criminyjickets.blogspot.com

This pattern is also available through Ravelry. The pattern page has links to help for a stretchy cast on, a “no cast on” edge, and a tutorial for the placement of the squares.