- The blanket has begun it Continental trek

Hey all you charity knitters,

Shandeh has finished her portion of the blanket!!! You know what that means....the blanket has begun its international odyssey!!! From Shandeh's hands it will travel across the US/Canada border and into the hands of Dangles.

Included with the blanket is; a memo with instructions on what each person should do, a notebook for us to use as a journal during the knitting of the blanket, and a dryer sheet in with the blanket as well, to keep it smelling fresh during all its travels.

How exciting is this?!?

Oddball Blanket #2 - READY TO ROLL!!

Yes! We now have 25 knitters, ready to knit their portion of the Oddball Charity Blanket #2!

Shandeh has finished knitting the beginning section, and will be mailing it to Canada this weekend.

Here is the list of 25 knitters, IN ORDER!

Shandeh (North Carolina)
Dangles (Canada)
REVS (Washington)
AnreeAce (Oregon)
RiverDaughter (Wyoming)
Ginger0104 (California)
lucky_alf2 (Arizona)
beckyrhae (Texas)
knitknut (Texas)
humblestumble (Texas)
stacy.duval (Texas)
PaperGirl (Texas)
Rennagayle (Texas)
itsjustmeghan (Illinois)
ElenTikvah (Wisconsin)
XbelovedXoneX (Michigan)
MarDi (New Hampshire)
kristinw (New Hampshire)
stagebear (Pennsylvania)
bobi1218 (Maryland)
losnana (Virginia)
SharonB13 (Alabama)
jamadian75 (Florida)
LadyB (Arizona)
scarlettbegonias1 (North Carolina)

And here is our map, showing how the blanket will travel during its creation.



Let's get this party started!



Here is a picture of how the blanket looks right now. Shandeh is almost done with her portion.

- Sign ups are complete!!!

Hi all, just wanted to let you know that sign ups are now complete. There are 25 knitters participating, and I'm sure quite a few pinch knitters in the wings!

As soon as the list has been worked on, Shandeh will have the order the blanket will travel, and it will be posted here. Congrats to all the knitters and a big THANK YOU for participating!

- Updated list of knitters

Here are the confirmed knitters for blanket #2:

Shandeh (North Carolina)

Dangles (Canada)

lucky_alf2 (Arizona)

jamadian75 (Florida)

itsjustmeghan (Illinois)

stacy.duval (Texas) losnana (Virginia)

humblestumble (Texas)

AnreeAce (Oregon)

beckyrhae (Texas)

REVS (Washington)

SharonB13 (Alabama)

MarDi (New Hampshire)

scarlettbegonias1 (North Carolina)

RiverDaughter (Wyoming)

bobi1218 (Maryland)

kristinw (New Hampshire) P

aperGirl (Texas)

ElenTikvah (Wisconsin)

LadyB (Arizona)

Rennagayle (Texas)

Ginger0104 (California)

Here are the names and locations of those who are definite knitters. We have three pending knitters: XbelovedXoneX (Detroit area), knitknut (Texas), and mjscott. That means if XbelovedXoneX, knitnut, and mjscott do get signed up, there will be only pinch knitter spaces left. Pinch knitters are very important. We all know that life happens and sometimes people will be unable to knit on the blanket due to no fault of their own. So if you are still interested definitely get your name in!!!

Since Shandeh has already cast-on and started knitting, as soon as the last 3 knitters are confirmed, I'm pretty sure the blanket will be ready to go to the next person on the list. Be sure Shandeh has your mailing address, so you too can knit on the beautiful charity blanket.

- Getting closer

We're getting closer to B-Day (blanket day). We only need 5 more knitters. I know Shandeh is getting started on the first three inches of the blanket!! She posted a picture of herself in her craft room getting the blanket going.

So if you want to participate, let her know here.

- What will it look like?

We will each be knitting approximately 3 inches on rows that are 300 stitches long, using a washable worsted weight yarn. There have been questions regarding color and pattern. The color and the pattern is left up to each knitter. Part of the fun of this blanket is it will be multi-colored, some portions will be garter stitch (knit every row), some will have cables, and who knows what else. Knitters are wonderfully creative people, and this blanket will be unique! Each participant has two weeks to complete their portion of the blanket.

A dedicated needle will be used for this blanket, so no one will have to go buy a needle. Additionally, people have mentioned the desire for a lifeline. If you don't know how to do a lifeline, here is a how to video. If you prefer written instructions here they are.

At the end, the blanket should measure approximately 60 inches by 80 inches, after a border has been added. The border will be added by Shandeh.

To make things more fun, we'll be writing about ourselves and our involvement in the project in a small notebook which will be traveling with the blanket. We'll also be adding some photos if we want.

All of the photos posted on KH will be posted on this blog.

We haven't chosen a definite charity yet, but we have plenty of time to decide. Right now, we are considering the Salvation Army Homeless Shelters, Warm the World, or a battered women's shelter.

The first blanket has been received by the fourth participant. So far everyone who has knitted on the blanket has sent the next person in line a little present. People have gotten yarn, CDs, homemade cards, etc. The people of KH are wonderful, and giving people.

As soon as a final list of Blanket #2 participants has been compiled, the names will be added to the right hand side of this blog, in order of who will receive it. You can track the progress, by looking next to every one's name. If they have finished the blanket you will see "-done" next to their name.

As of today at 4:12p.m. California time, we still need 11 people. As soon there are 25 participants the blanket will get started. Shandeh has already cast-on the 300 stitches.

- Who is signed up?

Well, it's been less than a day, and there is already an update. We only need 5 more knitters and we'll have ourselves a knit-along! Here are the people willing to donate their time and knitting skills (in no particular order):

Shandeh (North Carolina)
Dangles (Canada)
lucky_alf2 (Arizona)
jamadian75 (Florida)
itsjustmeghan (Illinois)
stacy.duval (Texas)
losnana (Virginia)
humblestumble (Texas)
AnreeAce (Oregon)
beckyrhae (Texas)
REVS (Washington)
SharonB13 (Alabama)
MarDi (New Hampshire)
scarlettbegonias1 (North Carolina)
RiverDaughter (Wyoming)
bobi1218 (Maryland)
kristinw (New Hampshire)
PaperGirl (Texas)
ElenTikvah (Wisconsin)
LadyB (Arizona)

There are 6 knitters who are interested in participating on both blankets. However, someone who has not yet participated in an Oddball Charity Blanket will have first priority if they would like to participate. Therefore, if there are 13 people out there who are interested in knitting for charity, let Shandeh know. You can find her on the Knitting Help forum (www.knittinghelp.com) or at the first Oddball Charity Blanket blog .

Now I would just like to point out that blanket number 2 will be an international blanket, with Canada joining to donate to charity!!

- Second Charity Blanket Coming Soon

Due to the overwhelming response on KH, a second Charity blanket is going to start it's trek 'round the USA soon. If you would like to see the progress of the first blanket you can see it here!

More will be posted soon regarding the second blanket.