Quiet Time

I have a day job, and we are very busy right now. I don't have as much time to update the website or reply to emails as I'd like. Please, don't take it personally. I'll reply to everyone as soon as I can. That includes email replys, and replys to the notes you enclose with your submissions (I love those notes!).

Thanks to everyone who has submitted sweaters so far. You're all helping to make this project something really special, way beyond what I ever imagined.

This blog and the yahoo group will be pretty quiet for the next 2 weeks (well, I won't be posting much, anyway, who knows about the other 104 people on the list :)).
Break the silence with your needles!
-nina

Seamless oops!

Someone was kind enough to point out that I had forgotten to include the directions for the back body on the seamless pattern. Sorry about that! I've corrected the pattern. The location of the file and the filename are the same as before.
-nina

Representing Iraqis

I have been asked to represent the Iraqi death toll in this project. Here is a relatively short explanation about why we are not currently incorporating that figure into Red Sweaters - you can find the long explanation in our Yahoo group.

1) While many people choose to make sweaters to honor the soldiers, that is not the main focus of this project. This project is meant to encourage thought about war in general, current events, and politics. It is not intended to be a memorial. Therefore, I do not feel that I have dishonored or down played the Iraqi role in the war because the project is not about the war, it was inspired by the war. I chose the number of American deaths as a goal for this project because it is an important number directly relating to an important current event - and it is a goal I knew I could achieve. It is the inspiration for the piece, and that particular number inspires people to join the project.

2) It would take at least a year to accumulate enough sweaters to represent every Iraqi casualty - the number is currently well over 20,000 and climbing. I'd like to finish this project sooner than that. I will consider adding sweaters for Iraqis later on, after we have reached our goal of (currently) 1547 sweaters. I just don't want to get too far ahead of myself at this early stage in the project. We'll meet our first goal, then talk about the next.

I strongly encourage you to participate for whatever reason moves you. If you want to acknolwedge, honor, or memorialize a soldier - that is great. Do so knowing that your contribution will be joined with others who are knitting for other reasons, with the common goal of spreading awareness.

-nina

2nd Knit-Gather Apr-10

Sorry for the short notice:

We're having our second Red Sweaters knit gather tomorrow, Sunday April 10 at Farley's (coffee shop) in Potrero Hill. We'll meet around 3pm-5pm.

Farley's
1315 18th Street
SF CA
in Potrero Hill

Hope to see you there!
-nina

Help with Machine Knit Pattern

Please email me if you are waiting for the Machine Knit version of the Red Sweater pattern and you have a Chunky knitting machine.

I realized that writing the pattern for the machine knit Red Sweater on my mid-guage machine won't work because you really need to use a chunky machine with Red Heart yarn, and my pattern on the mid-guage will be different than what you need for the chunky.

I can advise the techniques, but I need someone to help me figure out the guage - how many rows/stitches to achieve the proper size.

Can anyone help?
-nina

Yes! Seamless!

I've uploaded the pattern for the SEAMLESS Red Sweater. You can find it in the "Pattern" section.

It requires the following skills (click on the links to be taken to a site that explains the technique):

1) Knitting in the round with DPNs,
2) 3 needle bind off
3) picking up stitches.

I hope the pattern is easy to follow. Have fun! no more sewing! yay!
-nina

Yarn Brands

Some people have asked if they can use different brands of 100% acrylic yarn for their Red Sweater. While I hate to turn away any contribution (as each is made with the same time, care, and consideration), I need to stick to my guns on this issue and only accept Red Heart yarn or yarn that is so similar to Red Heart that you can't tell the difference.

I will consider the use of other yarns, but first I would need to see it, so:

1) If you want to use a different brand, first send me a swatch or small sample of the yarn. I will compare it to the Red Heart yarn, and if the texture/quality of yarn is very similar to Red Heart, I'll approve it.

2) If I do not approve your yarn, I'll mail you some Red Heart.

If you'd like more details about this issue, please read the discussion in our Yahoo group.

Thanks to all who helped me come to this decision.

Promotional Tools

I've added a new section to the site - Promotion.

In this new section, you will find 3 different promotional tools and directions on how to use them. These tools are also available through the Red Sweaters Yahoo! Group without instructions.

1) Business cards
2) Flyer with tear off URLs - post on public bulletin boards in coffee shops, grocery stores, book stores, etc.
3) Pattern flyer - to hand out to other knitters - includes some project info and the Basic Hand-Knit Red Sweaters pattern.

Please use these tools to help us spread the word about this project!
Thanks
-nina

Edited Pattern and site

Site Updates:

1) Edited pattern - removed incorrect usage of "psso"
2) Edited frames - moved content from right side frame to left side frame so site content is viewable with any browser.

Thanks for the feedback that alerted me to these problems.
-nina