Patricia of Toronto

Here are some great socks that Patricia sent in. I did a close-up of my favorite pair. Patricia, we are packing like crazy and will get these in the boxes.

Thanks!

Anita

Boots and Canadian Knitters

Before we get down to business, I wanted to show you this beautiful blanket that Lynn Walma of Scarborough sent in. Lynn, its as soft as it is beautiful.

My boy took this quick snap of a pile-up of the new boots we got to go along with the gorgeous knitties that you made.

Okay, Shirl the purl (Shirley Thomson of London) was one of our first Ravelry supporters - she's the one who taught me how to use it - okay Shirley, do I blame you for my Ravelcrack addiction? She made a bunch of fleece baby blankets, with a little crochet around them - I took a closeup of the baseball one because its so cute. Check out the rest of her stuff below:

Cute blankie, huh?

The socks above, and the tiny intarsia one are from the lovely Sheri Roy of Liverpool. Check out her blog to see more of these socks.

Below is Allison of Mount Pearl, who sent in 10 gorgeous pairs of mittens - read about her adventures in knitting here.

Above is a close-up of another one of Lynn's sweet blankets. Lynn, can you tell me how to get this pattern, because its crazy beautiful.

And here's another Lynn creation, below.

Finalement, voici les mignons mittaines et chaussures de la fabuleuse Danielle Tanguay. Merci, Danielle!

Kansas, Texas, Jeanine, Suzanne and Alexis

Heyyyy! I can see we're getting close to our first deadline, because we're getting lots of stuff. Just as an aside, we also managed to raise $1000 for new boots to go with those lovely warm knitties that you make. Each pair costs about $29.00 pre-shipping - its amazing how many people say, "yeah, I'll give you $29 for a pair of boots. So here's to you guys. Roll credits:

These come from the lovely Alexis Layton. She sent in 3 hats and 6 (!) blankets. Its hard to see here, but the blankets are kind of a half-circle design.

Suzanne Atkinson is a wonderful supporter - if you want to meet her, Wabisabi in Ottawa, is holding a charity knit-in for us and she is going to try to make it - we'd love to see you there in person. More details on the dates (some time this fall) soon.

Its the Ravelry blanket! For those of you not in the know, we have a very very very active ravelry group. You can see them here. We love our little gang, especially since we've got some easterners in there who post on the weather and what's happening in Labrador. Suzanne asked ravellers to send in squares, which she neatly assembled into a blanket. Lotsa love in those squares...

And here's some more from Suzanne. Suzanne, I do a patchwork blanket too, by knitting blocks together, but I think your assembly is alot neater than mine, by casting on the long side then garter stitching. I'm going to do that next time.

Anne Kahle, love your blankies. Very thick and warm. But girl, you're our first from Kansas and I just can't resist the Dorothy cliches. I will try to stop myself, but I can't promise anything.

Here's Jeannine Turcotte, the sheep-lady. I have always loved her stuff. J, since you asked, the sizes that you did for the hats, mitts and socks are perfect. We're targetting alot of 7 to 14 year olds this time, so these work well. Blankets, will, as usual, go to the clinic, so that works well too.

Jeannine, I love this little sweater. The details on it are amazing, and the zip front is very very cute. Innu kids are born on the biggish side, so I think it will fit a 2 year old.

Did you know that Carrollton, Texas is the home of Vanilla Ice Ice Baby? But much more importantly, its the home of the amazing Kelly Craven, who made these four blankets. Kelly, we have the same taste, because I love the gemtone colour choices.

And last but not least, its the wonderful May Chow of the 31 hats. May, you will warm many a head this winter.

Guys, we love getting your stuff, and you're all entered in the Oceanwinds draw. Whether you send in one thing or many, every little piece is much appreciated. Your hears are huge!

Anita

Janet, Kathleen and Ms. Minnesota

So we're renovating the kitchen, which means 5 guys yelling at each-other downstairs at 5am each morning, while Anita, half-naked (and not my good half), yells at the kids upstairs each morning. Let me just say, that your little parcels are keeping me from killing somebody. That's kind of nice, eh? You warm and Innu and you keep Anita from committing electrician-homicide. You guys just keep on giving...

First, we have Knitter of StPaul Minnesota. Knitter, I'm putting you in the draw - the hats are incredibly detailed and beautiful. My daughter modeled the green one for me - love it, and I'm guessing that you folks know cold, too.


The next two are from sweet Janet of Fredricton. Janet, I did a close-up of these little mittens because I loved the yarn, but I have to say, thank you for knitting into the larger sizes. Apparently, the kids will wear the socks you knit to bed to keep their tootsies warm at night, so they are much appreciated! I will put you in the raffle 14-fold.

Kathleen of Bedford, Nova Scotia knit the two sweaters below and (wait for it) 17 more items. You got your socks, your hats, your mittens...its all great. Thank you so much!

The Draw this Year - Oceanwind Knits

We're having another raffle! This year, we're raffling a kit from Oceanwind Knits. It came in the mail today and its beautiful and knittable and hand-dyed but I'm not giving away the store. So it could be this:

Or like this:

Or maybe this:

And maybe you could make this with it:



So the rules are the same this year: Knit something, send it to us along with your name or ravelcrack link, and we'll put you in the draw. Knit 2 things and you get 2 entries in the draw. We'll draw in March and one lucky winner will get it. But you're all winners - you know that.

The Knit Cafe

Okay, I just wanted to write a little bit about our first LYS in Toronto - the Knit Cafe is owned by the lovely and talented Iwona - say hi when you go in. It was amazing from the very start - the first time I called, they let me blather on for 10 minutes, then said calmly "no problem" to being our first drop off point.

The store is adorable - have a cupcake during Sunday high team.

The yarn is great though: they carry fleece artist, and you know I love me some fleece artist.

Here's what the store looks like inside:

You need more reasons? How about Lorna's Lace, Peace Fleece and Cascade Yarns?

Get yourself over there - and tell them you've got warm hands!

Anita.

PS We did a presentation to the Rotary Club - looks like we might be shipping some boots to go with those hand-knit socks for Labrador, so keep 'em coming.

Take care,

ab

Wool 'N' Things is In

Just a quick note this time,

Gisele at Wool 'n' Things in Orleans (or Orléans, depending on whether you can find the "é" on your keyboard) has joined our little Warm Hands family.

You can drop off your stuff at their store on Youville drive any time. I'm going to try to get down there myself, and take some pictures of the store ASAP.