Hope for Haiti Shawl Pattern

Drumroll please!!! Here is my newest pattern: Hope for Haiti Shawl

While living in Haiti, I knit and gifted this shawl to my Haitian mother-in-law, my babysitter, and another really nice lady who lived in my neighborhood.

The shawl is worked from the top down with short row shaping on the sides. Though 289 stitches that are cast on, the stitch number worked is reduced in every row in the stockinette stitch portion of the shawl. The wraps are picked up in two rows at the end of the stockinette section. The simple lace border pattern, the “icing of the cake”, is worked last.

You may choose to work the shawl in two different colors, the stockinette body in the first color and the lace portion in a second color.

Why did I include “hope” into the name? Because when you purchase this pattern, you are supporting the Fanm pou Fanm (Women for Women)’s Haiti Crochet Project that provides a chance for some of the poorest women in Port-au-Prince to support themselves and their children. The proceeds from the sale of my patterns go directly to support this project.

Size: 72“ length, 16“ width

Gauge: 16 sts/4” after blocking in stockinette stitch


Yarn: 
Cascade Yarns Heritage (75% Merino, 25% Nylon)(437yds/100g) – 2 skeins 
If Shawl is worked in two colors: 
Stockinette Section – 1 skein 
Lace Border – 1 skein

Needles: 
US 6 (4 mm) – 32” or 40” circular 
Important! Every knitter’s gauge is unique, use the needle size that gets gauge.

Materials: 
36 Stitch Markers 
 
2 Removable Stitch Markers 
Tapestry Needle

The shawl pattern is available through Ravelry/Paypal for $5.50  


My love for linen yarn....

I love the look of linen knit up. I have my favorite linen yarns, for example Louet Euroflax Sport Weight or DROPS Lin yarns are great. I also enjoy knitting with linen/cotton or linen/rayon or other linen mix yarns.

I most recently have knit a super cute (if I say so myself) summer top with Rowan Lenpur Linen. I have also knit with Knit Picks Cotlin before.

However, today I want to tell you about this fantastic and inexpensive 100% linen yarn that I discovered via Ebay but it can be purchased directly via the distributor's website as well. Payment can be made via PayPal, which works for me! :)

Check out this website: www.goodyarnsshop.com 
Here is the direct link to the shop's linen selection: LINEN

Each skein has about 650 yards of really nicely spun and smooth linen yarn. Yes, they are light fingering weight, BUT you can hold the thread double or triple. I am working on a skirt right now, in the black linen yarn, with triple stranding, U.S. 6 (4 mm) needles and 18 sts x 24 rows = 4" (10 cm) in stockinette stitch.

Once I finished knitting my swatch, I cooked it, scrubbed it, basically, I beat it up! The swatch held up without any signs of the abuse.

Say you want to make a skirt, cardigan or sweater in this linen yarn at the 18 sts/4" gauge. You will need about 1.000 - 1,200 yards of yarn. This means, you would have to get 6 skeins of this lovely yarn.

Guess how much it would cost you? Including shipping:  31.04 Euros = $ 39.00 


That is a bargain!!!
No - I am not sponsored by this company nor am I being paid for this blog entry. I just want to share this incredible source for high quality linen. 

Lovely Pink 100 g skein @ 656 yards

Lovely Red - 100 g skein @ 656 yards 

Lovely Blue 100 g skein @ 656 yards

Must HAVE Black 100 g skein @ 656 yards

What should it become?

I bought this yarn last weekend. I could not resist! It is not in the Ravelry database.

1 lb of 100% Rayon yarn that is hand dyed - 1200 yards. According to the label, it is 6 sts/1” on size US 6 (4 mm) needles. The brand name of the yarn is INTERLACEMENTS and the name of the yarn is RICK RACK.

Wound up into a cake , it is the size of the top tier or middle tier of a wedding cake  !

What should I design with it? A summer poncho? A skirt?

I am sitting here pondering….

Why I love Friday Night Knitting...

Why I love Friday Night Knitting…

Every Friday evening, I meet with a group of friends for knitting. We help each other solve knitting problems, give each other knitting or life advice, have some dinner, drink some wine, and have a good time.

Tonight, Anne, (I changed the ladies’ names) one of the groups’ regulars had a story to share of what happened to her on Wednesday night and continued into Thursday afternoon… Anne just recently had a birthday and she has been feeling really good about herself, or so she explained as to the reasoning as to what happened next. She was at home alone last Wednesday night, her partner was on a film shoot, away overnight, and here she was feeling good about herself. Thus, she decided that she should order a “pocket-rocket” for those times that she was feeling good about herself…

She logged onto her computer and did a google search for a “pocket-rocket”. “Wouldn’t you know it, Amazon had them for $17.99! Amazing price! So, I placed an order with them.” Anne explained.

Amazon offered her the “quick order option” which she clicked on: Thank you for your order Mary, was the message that came onto the screen. At that moment, Anne realized that Mary had used her computer to order some toys from Amazon for her niece’s birthday four weeks ago. Apparently, Mary had never logged off her Amazon account and now, not only had Mary’s credit card been billed for Anne’s pocket-rocket, but it was being shipped to Mary’s former employer! (Mary had just started a new job last week.)

It was too late to call Mary to inform her of Anne’s pocket-rocket mishap. So, Anne decided to call Mary in the morning.

The problem was that Mary accidentally left her cellphone at home the next morning and had gone to work without it. When she logged onto her computer at work, she saw the pocket-rocket order confirmation email from Amazon in her in-box. Mary totally freaked out! All sorts of thoughts went through her mind, including that a stalker must have hacked into her Amazon account to send her a “pocket-rocket”.

“Of course, have you ever tried to reach somebody via phone at Amazon? It is impossible! Finally, I was able to reach somebody through the chat option.” Mary learned that the order for the pocket-rocket had already shipped out by time she reached somebody at Amazon. The representative credited Mary’s credit card and told her to just refuse the package once it arrived. Mary had to call the mailroom person at her old job to ask him to refuse the Amazon box that was coming in her name. (She did not tell him that it has a pocket-rocket in the box.)

In the meantime, Anne tried to call Mary to explain about the accidental pocket-rocket order, but could not reach her because Mary’s cellphone was at home while Mary was at work.

It was not until that evening that Anne was able to reach Mary…

In case you were curious… Anne did go back online and ordered herself a pocket-rocket with her own account information, however, the estimated delivery time is now 4-6 weeks as the pocket-rockets are on back order. Mary has Amazon Prime!

New Designs!

My newest knits/patterns:

Ricky for All Seasons:

Available for $5.50  

In this pattern, I combined my passion for top-down construction with lace knitting. I named this pattern Ricky for all Seasons …because my knitting friend Ricky whom I knit with on a regular basis introduced me to Estonian Braids (also called Lateral Braids). Most of the time, this braid is used in sock knitting, but it is too beautiful to merely use on socks! I incorporated the braid into this top-down t-shirt.

The ”…for all Seasons” is because the finished pattern is written for a summer t-shirt top with short sleeves and as a sweater top for colder weather with longer sleeves. This pattern is super versatile!

Sizes: XS (S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL)
to fit chest sizes 34 (36, 38, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56)”

Gauge: 22 sts & 30 rows = 4x4”

Yarn:
Summer T-Shirt: Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy (DK weight yarn) - 5 (5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9) skeins
approximately - 750 (800, 850, 900, 1050, 1150, 1200, 1300, 1400) yards
Cold Weather Sweater: Madeline Tosh Pashmina, Madeline Tosh Merino Sport or DK, Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash Sport (any DK or Sport weight yarn that can be worked at the posted gauge)

Needles:
U.S. 4 (3.5 mm) 32 ” circular needle
U.S. 4 (3.5 mm) 16 ” circular needle or DPN if not using magic loop
Use the size needle that gives correct gauge!
U.S. 3 (3.25 mm) - 16 ” circular needle or DPN if not using magic loop
U.S. 2 (3 mm) - 16 ” circular needle or DPN if not using magic loop

Notions:
Stitch Markers (3 different colors)
Scrap Yarn to hold stitches
Tapestry Needle

Bower Cardigan  Knitscene Summer 2012 

Sizes
33¼ (37¼, 41¼, 45¼, 49¼ )” bust circumference, including 1” front band; shown in size 33¼”

Yarn
Yarn Cascade Yarns Venezia Sport (70% merino, 30% mulberry silk; 307 yd 281 m/100 g):
#189 tan 3 (3, 4, 4, 5) skeins

Gauge
28 sts and 36 rows = 4” in lace patt on larger needles
24 sts = 4” in stockinette on larger needles

Tools
• Size 4 (3.5 mm) needles
• Size 3 (3.25 mm) needles
• Markers (m)
• Removable markers
• Cable needle (cn)
• Stitch holders
• Yarn needle
• Eight ½” buttons

Amanda's Wrap: Free download via Ravelry: download now

This wrap is a fun and easy knit.

Wearing this wrap makes you feel like you are getting a hug! I got the idea to make this wrap from a friend who was complaining that wearing a rectangular shawl was fun, but she did not like it moving around.

Once I finished designing and knitting up the wrap, during the photo-shoot, in preparation of the pattern release, another friend told me that she had seen a similar wrap pattern on Ravelry. My heart sank! But, once I checked on Ravelry, I realized that even though my pattern was similar, it was different enough.

The yarns posted for this pattern are winter type yarns, but I would imagine that this wrap would also look great worked up in an aran or bulky cotton yarn.

Size: One Size, approx. 15” x 60”

Yarn: 550 yards of Aran or Chunky weight yarn 
Berroco Vintage™ Chunky – 5 skeins 
Cascade Yarns Pacific Chunky – 5 skeins 
Mirasol Yarn Sulka – 10 skeins

Gauge: 16 sts/4”

Needles: U.S. 10 (6 mm) needles 
Always use the size needle that gets gauge.

Notions: 3 – 2” buttons 
2 stitch markers 
Tapestry needle 
If working a Tulip Buttonhole – crochet hook & 1 DPN needle size U.S. 6, 7 or 8

Click Here: catalog of all of my published patterns.

fanm pou fanm (women 4 women)

fanm pou fanm (women 4 women) is a micro-business project that serves the poorest women in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Vera and her friend Mary Ann, conceived and started the project and are diligently working to grow the project.


Women learn to crochet and make the bag (pictured in photo). The bag is then sold to women in the U.S. and Germany.

Sample Bag

The women are paid per bag they finish and the other half of the profit will be contributed toward their children's tuition payment for school. A woman who makes 3 bags per week has enough money to feed herself and up to 3 children.


Each bag will have a tag with the woman's name who crochet the bag and a photo with a short biography.


We need your donations. I am leaving to Haiti, the end of March and our goal is to take enough supplies to make 200 more bags:


We need donations of:
*  50 crochet hooks (size U.S H/8 - 5 mm)
* 80,000 yards of worsted weight cotton type yarn
(dishcloth yarn, etc. will work, no 100% acrylic because it is too stretchy)
= 800 of 100 yard skeins or 400 of 200 yard skeins


Also, any small cash donations will help.They can be mailed to:

International Child Foundation, Inc. 
11449 N. Mandarin Lane 
Tucson, AZ 85737

Make checks payable to “International Child Foundation” and make a note on the check that it is for the “Famn pou Famn, Haiti” project.

International Child Foundation is a 501(c)(3).

Please send me an email at sunfunliving@yahoo.com or pm Mary Ann on Ravelry, maprehn, for a mailing address for the donations. All donations must be received by March 15th.


Thanks a million! Please read my Rav profile (sunfunliving) for some background on me... Vera :)