Another Successful iKnit Season!

Merry Christmas!
This season iKnit has been very busy with its multiple charity projects!
During Thanksgiving week, on November 25th, iKnitters went to Washington Hospital to donate 17 caps, 6 scarves and 20 baby booties.
For the winter holidays, iKnit officers from this and last year went to San Francisco. They dropped off 92 scarves and 7 caps to St. Anthony's Hospital's annual knitted items drive. This year was iKnit's third year participating in Scarves for St. Anthony's! Next, they went to UCSF Medical Center/UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital to donate 20 baby booties and 17 baby caps.
And so the total for these three hospitals is:
98 scarves
41 caps (including baby caps)
40 baby booties
Grand total: about 179 iKnitted items donate this season!

Thank you our lovely knitters, advisor and supporters!
And thank you Green Planet Yarn for the yarn donations!

Scarves for St. Anthony's 2013 Update

Homecoming Week has just ended, so now there is peace and quiet for knitting. These are the scarves iKnit has currently collected, but there is a lot more on the way!

A Falafel for Falafel, etc.

The iKnit officers crocheted this falafel sandwich as an appreciation gift for Falafel, etc., the restaurant that provided our falafels during Multicultural Week. We sincerely thank Falafel, etc. for giving us such a generous discount, which will allow us to buy more materials next year for our charity knitting projects.

iKnit's Unofficial Mascot!

The baby booties and cap in this photo were both made by iKnitter Lindy! :)

More Baby Items!

Here's an update on the babies' items that we've made so far! We plan on donating these items through the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in San Francisco.

Falafel for Multicultural Week!

Next week is MSJ's Multicultural Week, and iKnit is going to be selling falafel from Falafel, etc.! Falafel is a common street food in the Middle East, and around here, you can often find it in Mediterranean restaurants. Each ball is made from spiced chickpeas (garbanzo beans - like in hummus!) and deep-fried into a delicious, filling snack!

Our booth will be at the bottom of the horseshoe, next to the N-wing. If you love falafel, haven't tried it before (YOU MUST TRY IT), or just want to support our club, make sure to pop by our booth sometime during lunch!

Adorable Baby Booties Made by iKnitters

Visit Jay's Boutique Blog for the pattern for the Bow Baby Booties!

Donating Crocheted Bags + Chocolate to SAVE

For our Valentine's Drawstring Bag Fundraiser, we sold fifty crocheted bags and still had some bags left.

We decided to donate the forty or so drawstring bags to those at a domestic violence shelter called Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments (SAVE).

Last week, we filled the bags with chocolate Kisses and wrote notes that we tied to each bag. We will be delivering the drawstring bags to the SAVE Community Office by next week.

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UPDATE 3/25/2013: We've delivered 42 crocheted bags to SAVE! The bags and chocolate will be given to the children as Easter gifts (:

Photos from Stitches West

Several iKnit officers visited Stitches West on February 23. Here are some photos of the lovely yarn and awesome handmade items that we saw there!

Patterns for Baby Items!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/103378120/baby-booties-crochet-baby-boots-with

http://icraftgifts.com/handmade/10/baby-girl-hand-knitted-booties-pink.php

iKnit recently received a generous donation of soft baby yarn, so we're working on crafting baby's items!

We're still looking for a place where we can give our items; one possibility is the Pediatric Heart Care Center at UCSF, which is where the charity knitting group Lilybugs donated thier children's items  before the group shut down. If you know of any other organizations or hospitals that may accept our handcrafted baby booties and hats, please let us know!

In the meantime, here are some great patterns for baby booties and hats! Try them out! :)

• Simple Pattern for Knitted Baby Booties
• Crocheted Baby Booties
• How to Crochet Baby Bootie Sole
• Sizing Reference for Baby Booties
• Sizing References for Baby Hats

Stitches West 2013

Stitches West is just around the corner! Come to this hub for knitters and crocheters! There will be many authors and designers, a broad selection of supplies and kits, free demonstrations, and more.

Dates:  February 21-24, 2013

Location: Santa Clara Convention Center

Address:
  5001 Great America Parkway
  Santa Clara, California 95054

Ticket prices vary.

It’s open to the public Feb. 22-24 (Friday-Sunday) for people who are not taking any classes.

1-Day Pass is $10

Tickets can be purchased in advance online.

For more information, please visit:

http://www.knittinguniverse.com/FAQ/

http://www.knittinguniverse.com/West/tickets

If you’re interested in going, please email us. J

Look! A promo code! : W20 to get $2 off regular priced tickets.

All Winter 2012 Items Finally Donated!

All of the items from our Winter 2012 project have finally been donated! Last week, forty scarves, two pairs of socks, one pair of mittens, thirteen caps, and one shawl (a total of 57 items!) were donated to City Team International in San Jose, CA.

Most of these items were originally intended to be donated to our local Abode Services' Sunrise Village Shelter; some were crafted while we were still searching for a new place to donate. We're really thrilled that these 57 handmade items are finally out making an impact in people's lives! :)

iKnit Valentine's Fundraiser!

We're having our first fundraiser this month! In the past, we've held donation drives for yarn and other knitting/crocheting supplies, but this is the first time we're actually selling items that we made. All of the profits go toward buying more supplies for future charity projects.

Over the past few weeks, iKnit members have been hard at work crocheting adorable little drawstring bags (see the previous post for the pattern) for our fundraiser! There's a wide variety of colors and designs, so there's something for everyone! We're also putting delicious chocolates inside each bag to make it an even sweeter deal ;)

We're selling the bags during lunch every day until February 13th and will deliver the bags on the 14th. Don't miss out on this opportunity to give a truly unique gift to your friends and your teachers (and yourself!) :)

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UPDATE (2/14/13):

Our crocheted-bag fundraiser was extremely successful! Thank you to everyone who helped out, we couldn't have done it without you!

We still have some crocheted bags left that we're planning on filling with chocolate and donating - possibly to SAVE, though we're still in the process of organizing it.

New Pattern - Crocheted Drawstring Bag!

iKnitter Melinda Wang wrote a pattern for an adorable little crocheted drawstring bag!

Little Crocheted Drawstring Bag Pattern! 

Pattern written by Melinda :) January 2013 for iKnit 

Key
ch = chain
sc= single crochet
inc = increase aka 2 sc in one stitch
sl st = slip stitch
dc= double crochet

Make a slip knot, ch2
Round 1: 6sc into 2nd st from hook (aka the slip knot)
Round 2: inc around (total of 12 st around)
Round 3: *1sc, inc; repeat from * until there is a total of 18 st around
Round 4: *1sc, 1sc, inc; repeat from * until there is a total of 24 st around
*skip one stitch and then sl st, ch2, dc in next stitch, dc to the end of the round;
repeat from * ~4 times
Tie a knot, cut the yarn.

For the drawstring, pick another color yarn that complements well.
Chain until your chain is approx. 10 inches, then cut the yarn.
Weave the chain through the round of dc second from the top of the bag. Tie a bow and you're done!

The size of the bag will vary based on the size of the crochet hook, the tension, and the weight of the yarn you use. I used crochet hook size F (3.75 mm) or G (4.25 mm) and medium weight yarn.

For more patterns, check out the handy tutorial links on the right!

The End of Our Winter 2012 Project!

We are concluding our Winter 2012 Project! Here's the total count for items (including scarves, caps, mittens, and socks) made:

Donated to North Korean refugees (ARC): 22
Donated to San Francisco homeless (St. Anthony's): 79
Donated to Hurricane Sandy victims (Knitting Fever): 30
To be donated soon: 48
Total no. of items for Winter 2012: 179!

Thank you so much to everyone who helped craft scarves and other beautiful items! The Needlecrafts group at our local senior center helped craft a total of 87 lovely scarves and caps for our project, and the rest of the items were all crafted by iKnitters and their family members.

Help These Lonely Hats & Caps Find Owners!

We currently still have 48 handmade scarves and caps from our Winter 2012 Project that have not yet been donated.

We were originally planning on giving these items to a local shelter, but because they do not need any more knits at the moment, we are looking for another place to give our handmade items. We would like to donate them to a place that will directly distribute them to people in need, rather than sell the items and then use the funds.


If you know of any place that directly distributes handmade items to the people who need them most, please let us know at iknitmsj@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post! Thanks so much for your help!

Winter 2012 Project: Knits Donated to St. Anthony's & ARC!

 

On December 24, 2012, iKnitters L.D. and I.S. traveled by BART to St. Anthony's Foundation in San Francisco, bringing with them a total of 79 scarves and caps. The handmade items were given to guests of St. Anthony's on Christmas Day. 

Some of the gorgeous handmade scarves sent to St. Anthony's

Some of the caps donated to St. Anthony's!

A few days later, we shipped out 22 handmade children's scarves and caps to Awareness, Respect, Compassion (ARC) in Washington, D.C. These items have already been safely received by ARC and will be sent out to Asia to help North Korean refugees.

Children's scarves & caps for North Korean refugees