Showing posts with label loom hats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label loom hats. Show all posts

Thursday, March 17, 2016

5 Places To Donate Your Knit Goods






 I only have 1 grandchild, a little boy who I absolutely adore!  I can only knit so many hats for him before my daughter is rolling her eyes and tsking at me.  I enjoy making hats, so what do I do with these hats that have no babies attached to them? Donate Them!!

This is a great reason to get your girlfriends together every week or even once a month.  You can even teach each other at these get-togethers. If that's not your cup of tea, you can knit and donate on your own.  Either way, its an act of kindness; and kindness will not only raise the spirits of the receiver, it changes raises the spirits of the giver.



Kindness, have you ever really thought about kindness?  It's amazing how a random act of kindness changes a moment in time, changes a mood, can change a life.  I try hard to be a kind person; the more I try, the more joy I experience in my every day life.



If you decide to donate your knit goods, I encourage you to check out your local hospitals and community schools. They may accept donations for patients and students.  Neonatal hospitals usually accept preemie and newborn knit hats. Elementary Schools usually accept hats, scarves, and mittens for their students; kids lose those items all the time during the winter months.

Knots of Love accepts knit caps for patients who struggle with hair loss due to medical treatment. They are distributed free of charge to hospitals and treatment centers throughout the country.  Also, Knots of Love accepts Neonatal blankets fragile babies surviving in incubators.





Knit For Kids accepts knit blankets, baby caps, and sweaters for children living in poverty.  Its a chance at better health, protection and warmth.







Warmth For Warriors accepts knit hats for active soldiers and lap blankets for our veterans. These are greatly appreciated and are great reminders that we respect them and their sacrifices.

Please check with each donation program. They all have certain requirements and patterns.

I would love to see some pics of your donations!!  And stop by and see my creations in my shop!!

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Monday, March 14, 2016

How To Loom Knit A Baby Hat



When I received my loom set and sat down to open it, I was extremely excited. On a side note, I always get overly excited/happy, deeply sad, or raging angry...there is no in-between regarding my emotions.  OK, back to loom knitting.  Upon opening the set, I wanted to loom knit something immediately and I wanted it to result in a perfectly knitted item. You can laugh, I laughed thinking about that day; there was no way the end result would be perfect, but I was going to try my hardest.  I parked myself in my favorite spot on the couch, grabbed my kindle and dove into YouTube.


 Authentic NotionsI'm not the type of person who can watch a video, and give my project a try; nope, I have to watch a minimum of 10 videos to check out technique, yarn usage, and pattern differences.  Once I decided on the video tutorial that I wanted to use, I grabbed my little blue 24 peg loom, and wrapped pegs like it was my job.

The video that I chose, taught me to do a simple cast on, the e-wrap knit stitch, how to create a brim, and lastly how to complete my little hat with a drawstring cast off.
I was hooked, pun intended, on loom knitting.  I fell in love with the little hat, and proceeded to make dozens of them for practice.


I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I have yet to master the skill of creating a YouTube tutorial video, but I really want to share a tutorial video with you.  The following video, is that first video that I followed to make my first ever baby hat.



I would love to see your baby hat creations, and hear about your loom knitting experiences; my Facebook page is a great place to share your pictures with me.
You can also find me on Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

 Creative Hobbies Round Loom Knitting Set


Please leave me a comment with your thoughts, suggestions, or pictures.



Saturday, February 20, 2016

What Makes Up A Work-Area?





I really pondered my work area this week.  When I consider what a work area for a crafter should look like, I think of lots of cubbies and shelves to organize all the different colors, textures, or type of stash items. Something like this:

This craft area/work space, is absolutely stunning.  Just looking at this space makes me want to create beautiful things.  I love the white furniture, the soft sea-green wall, the large window with the sitting bench; and let's not pretend that we don't see that vintage chandelier. I absolutely love this work area.

I would probably rarely work in this space, though. First, I wouldn't want to destroy it with my hoarding, unorganized mess of a craft-stash...or as my fiance calls it: my crap-stash.


I want to share with you my work area.  I have 2, but today I'm going to share with you where I do my loom knitting.  Its small and cozy; I get to watch television, I get to engage in conversations with my fiance and I don't feel separated from my living space.
A few years ago, when the children grew up and moved out, I took a room (or 2, or 3) over as a craft space.  I rarely used the space though,  because I continually felt separated from where everyone else was; or where they would be if they were there. I hope that makes some type of sense.  Either way, I've apparently got some separation anxiety issue; let's move on.

I have managed to weedle my craft space down to one little spot. Sometimes I start to get out of hand; my crafty tendrils begin to find their way around the living room, and into the dining room. Then I am forced to organize and reign in my creativity outbursts


I feel I need to make it clear that I don't only use this space to loom knit, I also use this space to read and to journal.

Do you consider your work space/craft-area, a sacred space? I spend most of my time alone, and I find that I view that little space as sacred to me, as mine (even though I have an entire house to claim as mine).  It's where I sit quietly in the early morning, drinking my coffee and reading the Scripture.  It's where I journal my inter-most thoughts and prayers. It's where I calm my mind and pour my love into my loom knitted projects.

You can see my projects in my shop.
Please, come leave me a message on my Facebook page. I would love to hear your thoughts.


Saturday, February 13, 2016

Here's To New Beginnings



I found myself starting a new bible study group through The Vineyard, the church I attend.  A group of women, we meet together weekly to pray, learn, and support each other.

I'm not completely sure of the discussion that brought up the topic of loom knitting, I think it may have been community service ideas.  A few of the women loom knit hats for a local elementary school.  I joined the discussion and mentioned that I loved the idea and within 5 minutes a brand new loom set with 3 skeins of yarn was dropped into my lap.  My friend said "I knew God brought this to me for someone!"



I drove home, thrilled with my gift!  I immediately pulled up youtube and began researching how to loom knit.  I found various tutorials. The best one I found for a beginner was a tutorial loom-a-long for a preemie baby hat.
In 45 minutes I had completed my first loom knit project and oh boy, was a proud of myself.  I practiced this new found skill by completing 8-10 more preemie baby hats.  I didn't have a preemie baby available to me to gift these tiny hats to, so I donated them to my local hospital's neonatal unit.  They really appreciated them.  I've continued to make about a dozen a month, purely for donation.

From here I have moved onto bigger projects, such as: baby snuggly sac sets, warm, thick cowls, adult mock crochet hats, and custom created leg warmers.
I received so many compliments on my creations, that I gained enough confidence to open my own Etsy shop.