Knitting for charity

I have been following Kyla Quinlan's knitting nuggets, knitting for charity. Recently she posted the seven most requested items for charity knitters. There were a few surprises; not only of what was listed but also of what wasn't! Here is the list:

No.7: Pet items.
No.6: Socks.
No.5: Mittens.
No.4: Afghan squares.
No.3: Afghans and blankets.
No.2: Preemie and baby items.
No.1: Hats.

I was surprised that pet items were listed until someone reminded me that the Humane Society and animal shelters need them. I thought scarves would be listed in the top seven, my students love to make them and they are a wonderful first project. Now, however I will encourage them to make small blankets to donate to animal shelters and the Humane Society instead.

More on the Orenburg Shawl

The most difficult part of knitting an Orenburg shawl is understanding the pattern. Altho graphed and very carefully detailed, there are differences in the pattern that make it difficult. One of the problems is counting the squares of the graph; there may be six squares or stitches on one side of a decrease and only five on the other side. While this is understandable as a K2 tog may make up the difference, it is still difficult to read. The second problem I'm having is in the purl decreases which are not consistent. In most of the lace patterns I've knitted, either there are no decreases in the purl rows or there are decreases in all the purl rows. However in this pattern the purl decreases are not in every row. Fortunately, the graph is very clear and plainly shows the decreases so I know it's just that I am not used to it.

Mitering the corner was not a problem. The instructions were very clear. I find the pattern is really hard on my eyes. I did eight rows today and my eyes are very tired. Over all, however, the pattern fascinates me.