What I made, by Sharon

I've been knitting for KOGO for a while now (probably since 2017) They are great, in that they donate locally and like baby cardigans. the problem is that they  only like superwash wool or acrylic. This is understandable, but I partly (mainly?) knit for charity to use up left overs, and a lot of my yarn is 100 per cent wool. I found out about AKWAK (Australian's Knitting  for War Affected Kids) who prefer 100 percent wool. So, when Romi Hill released a pattern for mitts, I dug out some superwash and knit them to for KOGO. The she released another pattern in the series, a washcloth and soap sack. I knit them just for the joy of it - and then I was browsing the AKWAK group and discovered that they donate these exact items. After I finished knitting Leon's jumper I needed something simple, because I was out and about last weekend. I grabbed some left over handspun that has been hanging around in my stash since 2019 and used it with the remaining wool from Leon's jumper to...

  The second item in Romi Hill's Acts of Kindness Oddments Knitdown subscription is a hat knit with two strands of mohair and an 8ply background. Perfect, I love using up bits and pieces of left over yarn. The pattern uses a simple and not tight tubular cast on. One I appear to have failed with before, but it worked here. Can't explain it. The hat took two nights to knit, one at knit night, and I'm always too busy talking to make much progress at knit night! It's lovely pattern, and a really great way to use up leftovers. I was going to make two, but I think I left the yarn at the pub! Not important, since I'm going back next week, so if they have it they will give it back, and if they don't, I guess that's one way to destash! 

My niece is having a baby boy in February, so when some light blue sparkle yarn showed us in the mail, I knew what it needed to be. This is the Oh Baby! Cardi pattern by Roberta Rich. A really cute, simple top down, seam free, all in one baby quite. I had enough yarn left over that I made a matching hat. And then I got carried away, and decided to knit another one for KOGO (Knit One Give One). I wasn't quite paying attention, so I ended up making the large instead of the medium, and the Stranded in Oz Yarn I was using had less yardage and I realised I was going to run out of yarn. I striped  in some mystery left-overs, and a bit of the sparkle yarn, and I think it came out really well.   

 In February I decided I was going to knit 10 charity hats, or baby cardigans, or mitts or whatever this year. for the next few months I knit a charity item or two each month. At the beginning of May I was halfway to the goal. And then, because I had a bit of a gap before I wanted to start my next project, I dedicated a week to charity knitting. Turns out I can get a lot done, including 2 hats and 3 pairs of mitts. So I have, obviously, reset my goal. I was trying to knit a kilogram of LOSY (left over sock wool) for charity this year.  This lot weighs nearly 300 grams, but that's not all LOSY. Some of it was still stash, some is mohair. Anyway, I keep on acquiring more. I'm not complaining, just resetting my goal. Should it me a kilogram of donated items? A specific number (maybe ten more.Or 14 more to make it an average of two a month?) Or knit all the LOSY? Anyway, after all these very quick hats and mitts, I'm off to knit myself a pair of knee high socks. t...