Second Oddball Charity Knit-Along

Yay! Our Blanket is Back Home in NC!

2008-10-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

Excellent work everyone!

Our 2nd Oddball Blanket is almost complete, and has completed its travels all over the US. Now, it's my turn to add more knitting, bind off stitches, and add a border. That is a lot of work, but I'm determined to get it done.

Our blanket looks great!

Here's Section 1:

Section 2:

Section 3:

And another view of our blanket from the side:

On to Alabama!

2008-09-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo! Our blanket is on the road again, and is visiting SharonB13 in the Deep South of Alabama.

Our blanket is almost ready to be completed!

Our Blanket is Still in Florida!

2008-08-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

Our 2nd Oddball Blanket is still soaking up the Florida Sun, in the home of larudden.

Here's the latest view of our blanket, after a visit with jamadian75:

New Photo & Going to Florida!

2008-06-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

That's the latest view of our lovely blanket, after it was worked on by Stagebear in Pennsylvania. Beautiful!

Now, our blanket has travelled to New Hampshire to see Kristinw, and is now on the way to Florida for a visit with jamadian75! :)

Spending Time in New Hampshire

2008-05-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

Our 2nd Oddball Blanket is now visiting kristinw in New Hampshire!

Our Blanket Had a Nice Visit in Pennsylvania

2008-05-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

Our blanket has enjoyed staying in the home of stagebear in Pennsylvania.

Now, it's ready to hit the road again!

New Photo!

2008-04-08T11:03:00.001-07:00

LadyB is FAST! She's already finished knitting her section!

LadyB is working hard on our blanket!

2008-04-07T02:59:00.000-07:00

LadyB received our blanket this past weekend:

She contacted me today, and said that she has already finished knitting her section. She's FAST!

Blanket #2 is Travelling to Arizona!

2008-04-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

Our blanket is now on the road again....going from Texas to Arizona!

Our Blanket is Still Alive and Growing!

2008-02-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

Woo Hoo! PaperGirl completed her knitting, and has sent the blanket to Rennagayle in Texas. This will be our last Texas knitter, and then the blanket will be moving on to another state. Cool!

Here is the latest view of our blanket, with the knitting by PaperGirl included. She used Wool-Ease in the color "Wheat".

Secksiebrat Completed Her Part!

2008-01-04T02:17:00.000-08:00

Our 2nd Oddball Blanket is STILL in Texas. Wow, those Texas knitters have been busy!

Secksiebrat used a nice rosey pink yarn for her part. It added a nice glow to our blanket. :D

Stacy Has Completed Her Knitting!

2007-12-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

Stacy.duval enjoyed her time with Oddball Blanket #2.

She did her section with maroon and white yarns, using the sparrow track pattern. Pretty!

Here's her stitching up close! I like it - it reminds me of houndstooth! :D

Travelling to stacy.duval

2007-11-25T11:20:00.000-08:00

Humblestumble enjoyed her time with the blanket, and is now mailing it to stacy.duval.

Traveling to humblestumble!

2007-10-31T09:16:00.001-07:00

Knitknut enjoyed her time with the blanket, and is now mailing it to humblestumble.

It's KnitKnut's Turn to Knit!

2007-10-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

Knitknut just received the blanket yesterday, and with it came some surprises!
2 skeins of Peaches and Cream, knitting notecards and a bag of Starbucks coffee. Yum!

Here's the latest photo of our blanket:

Just Hangin' in Texas!

2007-09-19T00:16:00.000-07:00

Our blanket arrived in Texas at beckyrhae's house, and will stay in Texas for a while now, visiting 6 more homes before it moves to another state!

Travelling to Texas!

2007-09-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

Our blanket is on the road to Texas now! Yee Haw!

Our Beautiful Blanket is Ready to Travel Again!

2007-09-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

Wow!! lucky_alf2 did a WONDERFUL job of knitting on our blanket, and making a great photo!

Now, our blanket is ready to travel to Texas for a visit with beckyrhae!

Woo Hoo! Our Blanket Arrived in Arizona!

2007-08-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

Yippee!! Time to celebrate!

Our blanket had a difficult journey from California, and has survived to arrive in Arizona!

Woo Hoo!

I think our blanket deserves some safe travels for a while. It's been through a LOT!

Now, it is lucky_alf2's turn to add her knitting to the blanket. She promises to give us a photo so we can see how it looks with the knitting added by herself and Ginger0104.

Traveling from California to Arizona

2007-08-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

Our blanket has had a VERY DIFFICULT time in its travels so far. It was held up in the mail several times, so our schedule for completion is way out of whack. At the rate it's going, it will finally be finished in 2025. (tee-hee!)

Several of our knitters for this blanket have experiences personal issues, so that has added to the delay.

I just hope that things improve for us soon. :(

Right now, the blanket has completed it's visit to California, and is hopefully on its way to Arizona.

We'll all be hoping for a safe journey!

RiverDaughter Knitting

2007-07-03T23:08:00.001-07:00

RiverDaughter has shared a photo of the blanket after her knitting was complete!
(She used Red Heart yarn, in a gorgeous dark red shade.)

Now, the blanket will be traveling to Ginger0104 in California!

- Blanket is in Wyoming!

2007-06-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Just a quick update, the blanket has arrived in Wyoming, RiverDaughter has received it with a few presents added by AnreeAce. There are no pictures as of yet but as soon as there are I'll post them.

I can tell you AnreeAce said she got the presents from Fresh Water Fibers. Apparently one of the vendors at the Eugene Saturday Market sells the yarn.

- AnreeAce is done!

2007-06-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, our blanket had a bit of a rough start. But it sure is moving along quickly! AnreeAce has finished her portion of the blanket. Apparently her mother had a health scare while AnreeAce and the blanket were together. So AnreeAce says, "there's a lot of hope for healing worked in with the knits and purls." She is going to be getting the blanket in the mail to Wyoming this afternoon.

Here are some pictures of the blankets progress:

AnreeAce use a tumbling block pattern which personally I think looks lovely! Thanks to all those who have knitted so far, and all those waiting to add their own love and caring to this blanket.

Our Blanket is Now in OREGON!

2007-05-28T10:54:00.001-07:00

Yippee! Our postal service is back on track now, with a superfast shipment to AnreeAce in Oregon. :) REVS was VERY good to her, sending lots of NICE goodies along with the blanket, including Girardelli Chocolates, a lovely card, 2 skeins of blue & purple sock yarn from Royale Hare, a Burt's Bees Hand Care Kit, and 5 hand-made stitch markers.

- REVS is done!!!

2007-05-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

Well REVS finished her portion of the blanket and it looks WONDERFUL!!! She knitted her portion in the Butterfly pattern out of the Vogue Stitchionary. So our very pretty, much loved blanket will soon be winging it's way to Oregon!!! Here are some pictures.

An up close and personal look at the pattern:

A little farther away:

The whole blanket as it is so far:

A look at the "wrong" side.

Ok, we are now 3 knitters down! AnreeAce is the next on the list. It should be a pretty quick turn over, as the blanket will be traveling form Washington State to Oregon State. Since it won't be traveling internationally, it should be less likely to morph.

If anyone is interested in participating in Blanket #5, there are still 11 spots open. Here is the link to the forum for the fifth Oddball Charity blanket so people can sign up.

These are such special projects to participate in, I would highly suggest signing up! The men and women of KH are such amazing and giving people. It is a privilege to be a member!

- Back in the USA!

2007-05-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Well the blanket is back in the USA. Dangles decided not to try her luck with the Postal Service, as our blanket might have turned into a dancing camel....so she hand delivered it to REVS. Very cool of her. Dangles and REVS met up, did some yarn shopping (of course) and went out to dinner. According to REVS, "It makes the whole thing so much more special if you can put a face to the previous and next people that will knit on this together, creating such a lovely piece of love and compassion."

Here are pictures of the blanket and the extra presents that Dangles included:

Very cool! Our blanket is making progress, and the compassion and love is spreading. Truly this will be a special give for whomever receives it!

Pictures of the blanket!!!!

2007-05-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Dangles has posted pictures of the blanket, and it's beautiful. The color she chose goes wonderfully with the color Shandeh started with.

- Ready to leave Canada

2007-05-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

Hi all. According to Dangles she has finished her portion of the blanket!!! That means it will soon be leaving Canada, and start it's travels to the great state of Washington. As soon as there are pictures, I'll post them. But here is what Dangles said she used:

"Colourwise: I ended up going with "Lt Country Blue 9709" (Caron Simply Soft) It just went better with the colours that Shandeh had started the blanket with. It almost looks like a "setting of sun" colours now".

I'll bet it's beautiful, and I know I can't wait so see the pictures.

Yay!!! The RESURRECTION of the Blanket!!

2007-04-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

WOW!! Our first attempt at our blanket somehow survived traveling through the hands and trucks of postal carriers all over the world, and ended up at it's original destination.

THANK HEAVENS!

So now, everything is right in the world.

Dangles in Canada is now able to knit her portion of the blanket, so we'll keep you updated on the details as the days go by.

I'm setting aside the other blanket I started, so we can make ANOTHER blanket together. :)

- Rebirth of the Second Oddball Charity Blanket!

2007-04-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

According to Shandeh, the second incarnation of the blanket is ready to go. She is going to mail it off soon, at a different post office than the one she used last time. We are all hoping the blanket will not mysteriously turn into a giraffe this time. :-)

Let's try this thing again!

2007-04-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Oh well, after our "singing monkey" fiasco, it would have been easy to throw in the towel.

But, we're talking about a lot of hard-headed knitting women here, with LOTS of yarn on their hands.

So, we're plugging along.

Here's our SECOND beginning to our Oddball Charity Blanket #2
(edited April, 2007 - this will now be the beginning of our 4th Oddball Blanket!)

- Singing Monkey

2007-04-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well, as you all know our blanket has magically transformed itself into a singing monkey. Yup, a purple singing monkey at that. Here is a picture of the "blanket" thanks to Dangles.

Apparently the Monkey is really purple, Dangles stated the lighting makes it appear pink. You should be able to view the video on the right hand side of the blog. I believe all you need to do to see the monkey in action is click on the thumbnail on the right hand side.

If not here is the link to the monkey on youtube.com.

Let's all have a moment of silence for our lost blanket....

2007-04-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

Bummer! The postal people mixed up our packages and mailed our 2nd Oddball Blanket to ITALY!!!

Oh well.....that's the breaks.

So, we'll have to wipe our tears, and just make another one!

Now, doesn't that make you feel better?

- BREAKING NEWS: Blanket made a side trip!

2007-04-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
We haven't updated in a while because the blanket was en route. Now we all thought it was en route to Dangles in Canada....but somehow the blanket ended up in Italy?!? Here is Shandeh's post on the subject: (get ready for a giggle)

Hello everyone!!!

We have some bad news about our afghan.

It was mailed to ITALY by mistake!!!

Ya gotta laugh about it though. I bet that lady in Italy is scratching her head trying to figure it out.
(Dangles got the package that should have gone to Italy today, and it has a singing monkey inside!)

SO......back to the drawing board....or should I say "knitting" board?

I can start another one and mail it to Dangles. No problem at all.

But, the sad thing is.....my gift to Dangles is gone now.

Just to let you know, it was a LOT of vintage knitting magazines. Oh well. I have lots more things in my craft room that I can share.

So there we are, to quote Shandeh "back to the knitting board". :-) Now we know why it was taking a while to get to Canada. I don't know if they know who it went to, or if it'll ever make it's way back to North America, but if it does it will be the most well traveled charity blanket in our Oddball history.

Another blanket will be begun, and sent out. So knitters stay strong, your turn will come, just a little later than expected.

- The blanket has begun it Continental trek

2007-03-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

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!!

2007-03-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2007-03-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

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?

2007-03-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

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?

2007-03-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

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.