Knitting for cold body parts in need

It's over! My yard sale is finally over! I made a whopping $135 for all the blood, sweat & tears I put into it. Oh well. At least now I have extra spending money for my trip home to Montana. That's next week, baby!

So what's up on the knitting front? Well, not now, but come winter there will be a world of cold body parts out there in need of knitted things, like hats, scarves & blankies. I decided I want to cover them.

This whipped up rather quickly after work on Friday:

[July Baby Pom-pom Hat]

I hope it fits a baby. I do not have any babies to test these things on. Can someone lend me a baby?!! Okay, well it does fit this big-headed stuffed dog.

So this year, I've chosen The Dulaan Project. An organization out of Flagstaff, AZ collects knitted (& probably sewn) warm items throughout the year & sends them to Mongolia, where the winter temperatures plummet to way below freezing. The next shipment goes out in July 2010, so this gives me 12 months, in which I will try to make 12 items to cover 12 cold body parts.

Next month's hat:

This hat pattern was ripped out of a Martha Stewart magazine forever ago. It's the only hat pattern I can do, so there will be many versions in different sizes & colors.... Oh! Wouldn't earflaps be cute?! I might have to experiment with that.

Or maybe I should learn to knit beyond rectangles. Don't be fooled by my hats & purses. They look round, but they are all rectangles that I've folded over or manipulated into something else. By the end of the year, I want to have some socks on my circular needles & be knitting in-the-round. I bought this book for inspiration:

The Coquette sock will be first on my needles; I like ankle socks:

Second on my needles will be the Ragg Hiker; oooh, they look warm:

Another purchase:

I WANT THESE LEG WARMERS!!!

And how cute are thes angora baby booties?!! Again, can someone lend me a baby?!! :)

And, finally....yes, Coy, I'm still working on your scarf! [I was going to put a picture here, but I decided you'll have to wait.] It is soooo much better than the one I made for myself. I think your neck will have something soft, warm & cably to cover it this winter.

Until then, keep cool everyone!

Love, Melissa