Gift Knitting! and Ways to Volunteer with Knitting

Hats and scarves are tried-and-true gift knits. They typically are quick knits and are wonderful canvas for trying new stitch pattern and using smaller amounts of yarn (two skeins of yarn or less).

Here is one of my favorite gift knits. Babies are often the perfect recipients for hand-knit hats. They're so angelically soft and small! However, the bonnet in this picture is the second bonnet I knitted for this baby because she outgrew the first one so quickly. Her mother enjoys the hand-knits and I like having someone appreciate them, so her baby got another bonnet. :)

 

Sometimes, however, despite all a knitter's plotting and planning, the gift doesn't work. It's too big, too small, or the wrong color. It ends up in a "cannot wear but cannot give away because it was made for me" box. Last year, two of my gifts ended up in that category. The gifts I lovingly made for my parents, unfortunately, were both too small. Neither of them wanted to disappoint me or tell me that the hats were too small, but they couldn't wear them. I noticed and they offered them back. I've re-gifted them to my siblings who are smaller and fit perfectly. Here's the hugs and kisses cabled hat that will be my sister's for Christmas.

I had her model the XO's hat without telling her it's one of her Christmas gifts. Doesn't the blue hat make her blue eyes pop?

Some other projects I'm working on include baby hats for Rex Hospital's postpartum nursery. I volunteered on that ward last year and got to see the families enjoying the hand-knit and crocheted hats that volunteers make for each baby. Unfortunately, the hospital is experiencing a shortage of hand-made hats, so I'm knitting for those babies. There's something very rewarding knowing that someone I've probably never met will be encouraged by a hand-knit cap for their baby. If you are a knitter/crocheter and are willing to make hats, below are two links, one will the description of all the craft volunteer opportunities at Rex and the other with the baby cap patterns. The caps need to be made from any machine washable yarn that is soft for a baby's skin, preferably acrylic or cotton. The caps can be dropped off at the Volunteer Office on the main campus of Rex Hospital.

"http://www.rexhealth.com/body.cfm?id=740"
"http://www.rexhealth.com/workfiles/volunteer/Baby%20Caps.pdf"

I'm also working on other gifts that will soon be posted. Happy Knitting!