Oddball Charity Lapghan

Today, I Delivered Our Lapghan!

2009-07-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

Yay!

Today, I took our blanket to the Tree House Children's Advocacy Center in Monroe, NC.

They were so pleased to receive our blankets (I also gave them Oddball Lapghan #2). They also gave me a full tour of their facility! They are an awesome organization, and do excellent work with battered children and teens.

Our blanket has found a perfect home now. :)

Here you can see our blanket being held by Pamela Caskey, the South Region Director for United Family Services in Monroe.

Here we are again, in the Tree House exam room, nicely decorated with toys. The children choose a toy when they finish their physical exam. :)

Pamela showed me one of the handmade quilts that has been donated there. The children and teens choose a blanket before they start their exam, and they get to keep the blanket forever. Pamela says that sometimes the children are clutching their blanket when they come back for a follow-up appointment. It's nice to know that our blanket will be appreciated there!

ALL DONE!

2009-07-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

ALERT THE MEDIA!!! REALLY!!!

Our blanket is READY to go to the battered women's and children's shelter now.
I added a crochet border this past week, and could not believe when I did the last stitch and wove in the yarn.

Our project was started two years ago, and it has been worth every second! :D

Yay! The Knitting on Our Lapghan is COMPLETE!

2009-06-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

Alert the media!

This morning, I finally finished all the knitting on our lapghan, and finished weaving in all the ends as well. :)

As you know, I had to cut our lapghan in half recently, to do some work on parts that were drawing in too much on the sides of the lapghan.

Early this morning, I got the two halves, and used kitchener stitch to put them together. They look great!

Now, our lapghan looks AMAZING!!! All I have left to do is to add a crochet border, then we can give it to charity. YAY!!!

Here is the lapghan, laid out on the back of my little Mazda Protege.

And here are each of the three sections, with details on who knit them:

FIRST SECTION

The beige & green at the top was cast on and knit by me (Shandeh) in North Carolina, back in August of 2007.

The purple section was knit by Ladybug Lady in Ohio.

The multi-colored section was knit by debinoz in Kansas.

The tan, pink and green section was knit by Renoah in Michigan.

The green section was knit by Foxyie in Pennsylvania.

MIDDLE SECTION

The white section was knit by suziehomemaker in New York.

The beige section was knit by gmmarton in Connecticut.

The rose section was knit by Tobinknit in Washington State.

The variegated section was knit by PeattieWa in Washington State.

The tan section was knit by jjminarcik in Texas.

The red section was knit by Secksiebrat in Texas.

The dark blue section was knit by Jeremy in Connecticut.

LAST SECTION

The beige section was knit by losnana in Virginia.

The purple section was knit by misha rf in North Carolina.

The rest of the lapghan (5 sections) was knit by me (Shandeh) in North Carolina.

Woo Hoo! Our Lapghan is Looking Better!

2009-05-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

As you know, we had to do "surgery" on our lapghan, because part of it were drawing in too tight. I removed the sections that were too tight (they were cabled), and sent the bottom half of our lapghan to the original knitter of one of those sections.

She was glad to re-knit her section, and I'm so pleased with her new work!

Here's how our lapghan looked BEFORE I removed the sections that were too tight.

I'm looking forward to seeing the two sections reconnected with the new knitting.
Here they are, sitting together, ready to be reunited. Kinda feels like a wedding. :P

Now, I'm working on the top section, adding more knitting. Our lapghan is too large to mail now, because shipping is just too expensive. So far, I've done 4 sections.

The first section I did was the green basketweave - I did that with Caron Simply Soft in Sage.

The next section was knit with 8 different yarns. Those yarns were just tiny balls of leftover yarn in a basket by my knitting chair. I just knit two rows of each color.

The section after that is all stockinette, using Red Heart Kids yarn. I just love how soft and comfy that yarn is! :)

Now, I'm finishing up a white section using I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby. So soft and squishable. I'm doing a design called "Tile Stitch" with that yarn. When I finish the white section, I'll measure the lapghan, and decide if it's long enough yet.

I'll be so glad when the knitting is complete on this lapghan, so it can go to the Battered Women's Shelter. :)

Doing "Surgery" on Our Lapghan for Charity

2009-03-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

Now, I'm finishing up our Oddball Lapghan #1. It has some issues. A couple of the sections were knit in a cabled pattern, and it's causing the blanket to pull in and pucker there. So, I've made an executive decision to remove those parts. It was not easy, but I did it!

The cool thing is that I learned HOW to do it. I've never removed part of knitting before, so I had no idea how to do it. But, I decided to just dive in. I grabbed a pair of scissors and cut through the middle of the part I was removing. Then, I sat in my rocking chair and pulled out all the yarn from the bottom section until I got to the part I wanted to keep. Then, I put that part back on knitting needles. Next, I did the same to the top section, then did a 3 needle bind off to connect it back with the bottom section. It turned out just fine! :)

Here's the connected section, after my 3 needle bind off:

Here's the back of that section, showing the 3 needle bind off. I used light blue yarn to connect them. You can't even see the blue yarn on the front of the blanket.

So, now I'm working on the second section that needs to be removed. I've decided to mail the bottom half of our lapghan to the person who originally knit the cabled section. She is excited about getting a second chance to work on the lapghan! :D

Here's our lapghan, now in two parts. I've placed the bottom of the top half on a long stitch holder. Now, when I get the bottom half of our lapghan back from the other knitter, I'll do a 3 needle bind off to reconnect them. ;) It's nice to know how to do that now. :)

While the bottom half is with the other knitter, I'll keep knitting on the top half. Right now, I'm adding a green section with Caron Simply Soft in a simple basketweave design.

Our Lapghan is Back Home!

2008-04-25T16:28:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable. I can't believe our little lapghan has grown so much.

Remember back when I started it in July of 2007?

Look at it now!

"Wow!" is all I can say. :D

It came in the mail to me today, from misha rf. She also included a gift for me. Two skeins of Malabrigo in a gorgeous color!

Heading Back to North Carolina!

2008-04-02T21:23:00.001-07:00

Yay!

Our blanket is now coming back home to North Carolina, to spend some time with misha rf.

:D

Lapghan #1 is in Virginia!

2008-03-13T22:51:00.001-07:00

Our lapghan is now enjoying a visit with losnana in Virginia. I hope she's having fun!

Jeremy Had a Turn with Our Lapghan

2008-02-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

Jeremy in Connecticut has been enjoying his time with our lapghan!

Now, he's sending it on to losnana in Virginia.

Oddball Lapghan is Visiting Shandeh in NC

2008-01-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

Shandeh decided to work on the lapghan for a while, just for fun.

Secksiebrat sent some sweet gifts as well, including several different tea bags - YUMMY!!!

Secksiebrat Completed Her Knitting!

2007-12-27T07:29:00.001-08:00

Secksiebrat in Texas enjoyed knitting her part of the Oddball Lapghan. It's grown a LOT!

Now, our lapghan is on its way to nkyknitter in Kentucky. :D

Our Lapghan Has Been Traveling!

2007-12-15T21:56:00.001-08:00

Our lapghan has had lots of travels, but no new photos. Hopefully, we'll have one soon.

PeattieWa in Washington state completed her knitting, and so did jjminarcik and Secksiebrat in Texas.

On the way to PeattieWA

2007-10-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

Now, Tobinknit is mailing our lapghan to PeattieWA!
We're on the road again!

Our Lapghan Enjoyed Visiting Tobinknit!

2007-10-29T07:51:00.001-07:00

Our lapghan had a safe, happy visit in Washington State with Tobinknit!

On the Way to Washington State!

2007-10-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

Tobinknit is anxiously awaiting our lapghan in beautiful Washington State!

Knitting by gmmarton

2007-10-16T23:13:00.000-07:00

Our latest knitter, gmmarton, added a nice touch to our lapghan!

Suziehomemaker's Knitting

2007-10-01T13:08:00.001-07:00

Suziehomemaker has been hard at work on our lapghan, using a nice Large Basket stitch from a Vogue Knitting book- so pretty!

Here's a view of our lapghan as it stands now:

5 Knitters Down - 11 More to Go!

2007-09-24T15:26:00.001-07:00

Here's another view of our Oddball Lapghan, after 5 knitters got their hands on it!

Travel went well to Pennsylvania!

2007-09-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo! Our Oddball Lapghan survived the trip to Pennsylvania. Now, Foxyie is choosing her yarn and stitch pattern to add her part!

Renoah is Finished Knitting Her Part!

2007-09-03T10:32:00.001-07:00

Look at our lovely lapghan now! I just love the happy colors!!

Now, our lapghan is ready to travel to Foxyie in Pennsylvania!

Michigan Roadtrip

2007-08-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

Our lapghan is now in Michigan with Renoah!

Our Lapghan Had a Fun Time in Kansas!

2007-08-21T14:21:00.001-07:00

Here is the knitting that Ladybug Lady and debinoz added.

Ladybug Lady used Red Heart Soft Yarn in a nice purple color.
Debinoz used a nice variegated yarn.

Our Lapghan is on the way to Kansas!

2007-08-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

Our lapghan has had a great start, going from North Carolina to Ohio, and now traveling to Kansas.

Let's keep our fingers crossed as it travels through our crazy postal system!

Ladybug Lady was a fast knitter, and it will soon be

time for debinoz to knit her part!

A Lapghan KAL for Charity

2007-08-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

A group of knitters from the Knitting Help Forum (http://www.knittinghelp.com/) have decided to work together to make a lapghan for charity! (This one will be a lapghan, so it should go a bit faster than our blankets.)

Shandeh started the lapghan, using two different very soft yarns.

One of the yarns is called "Carisma", and is a washable rayon/nylon blend. So furry! Not really eyelash, not really chenille. Altogether a different yarn. Here is a website where you can order Carisma yarn: www.knittingzone.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_35_885_1024

The other yarn is TLC Amore, which is the same as Red Heart Plush. Shandeh used a sage green color that works well with the cream colored Carisma yarn.

The lapghan has been mailed to Ladybug Lady, and she is now adding her own touch!