Join Wool-Aid in focusing on specific items this summer in order to maximize the number of items that are needed most when we prepare the big shipments to our recipient organizations in late fall. All Wool-Aid focus items — hats, socks, vests, sweaters, mittens, blankets — are always needed and always welcome, but from time to time we focus on specific items in order to boost their numbers. Here we go!

Summer 2013: Sweaters by September!

Focus: Sweaters! All sizes are good, but let’s focus on sweaters for the larger kids.

Most-Needed Sizes: Sweaters with a chest measurement of 28″ to 36″, all the way up to about 40″. Measurements should be taken at the chest with the sweater lying flat. These will fit kids size 8 to size 16, plus teens who are already moving into adult sizes.

Dates: Summer 2013 (June 1, 2013 – September 7, 2013)

Guidelines:

1. 80%+ wool or animal fiber content. Wool is warm, and it stays warm even when it gets wet.
2. A warm, dense woolen fabric is important. Recommended patterns typically call for worsted weight, aran, or bulky yarn. You may need to use a smaller needle size than is usually recommended in order to produce a dense enough fabric.
3. Sweaters and vests should close securely if not a pullover style. They should have good coverage for the chest and ample length for the body. Sweater sleeves that are slightly longer than average provide more warmth and protection against the cold.
4. Avoid white and very light colors.

Notes:

1. We send sweaters year-round to Tibet, and in the fall we send large shipments, including as many sweaters as possible, to Mongolia and Afghanistan so that our warm woolens reach the children before the harsh winter weather hits. Please send your finished sweaters to Wool-Aid in time to be included in shipments that go out in October/November.
2. Check for sweater patterns on the Wool-Aid website.

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June 2013: 10″ Blanket Squares

Focus: 10″ blanket squares to be assembled into 40″ × 40″ blankets

Dates: June 2013

Guidelines:

1. Use solid colors.
2. Blocks can be knitted or crocheted (‘classic,’ Tunisian, knooking, etc.).
3. For ease of sewing up, frame your block with a 1” garter stitch border (knitted squares) OR a row or more of single crochet (crocheted squares).
4. Use a basic worsted weight wool yarn (such as Cascade 220, Patons Classic Wool, or similar yarn).
5. A good density is achieved with a gauge of 4 to 4.5 stitches per inch for knitted squares (size 7 needles are a good starting place). Gauge for crocheted squares is harder to predict, but aim for a non-lacy, cozy, thermal fabric.
6. Leave a tail for seaming (about 18″) at the beginning and end of the work.
7. Block your squares to 10″ square.
8. Please avoid using white or light pastel yarns (so that the blankets don’t show dirt easily) and lacy patterns (which aren’t warm enough).
9. Choose textured stitches, an old favorite, or try something new. Or choose patterns with pictures (such as dishcloth patterns), as long as the pictures aren’t of animals or people. Pictures of plants and other objects (sun, block, flower, heart, for example) are fine.

Notes:

1. Images of people and animals should be avoided in the squares pattern, because we would not be able to consider those items for sending to Afghanistan; they would be offensive to persons who practice Islam. Let’s make sure that our blankets could go to any of our recipients.
2. Blankets will be assembled in time to send to children before next winter’s harsh weather. Please send them to Wool-Aid by July 15 so that they can be included in the assembled blankets.
3. Check out the four 10″ blanket squares patterns on the Wool-Aid website.

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Other short-term campaigns will be announced later in the summer.

Wool-Aid campaigns in 2012 will be item-based rather than geared to a specific organization. This will allow us much-needed flexibility to meet the needs of recipient organizations as we become aware of them. In the past, we have sent our lovingly handknit and handcrocheted items to places as diverse as Tibet, Mongolia, Kazakhastan, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, and Canada.

We are challenging ourselves to create 12 of a specific focus item in 2012 — pairs of socks, hats, pairs of mittens, vests, and sweaters (being realistic, we decided to challenge ourselves to create 12 sleeves in 2012, as long as the sleeves are connected to the body of a sweater!).

• FOCUS: Challenge yourself to knit or crochet 12 of a specific focus item in 2012.
• SIZE: Most needed sizes (measured lying flat) for focus items are as follows: socks, 6.5″ to 9.5″ foot; hats, 16″ to 20″ in circumference; mittens, 5.5″ to 8.5″ wrist to fingertip (not counting the cuff), sweaters and vests, 30″ to 38″ chest size (finished measurement).
• Use 80%+ wool or animal fiber content. Wool is warm, and it stays warm even when it gets wet. Superwash wool is not required.
• Create a warm, dense woolen fabric. Clothing is often worn indoors as well as outside, because homes are often very cold. Patterns used typically call for worsted weight, aran, or bulky yarn. You may need to use a smaller needle size than is usually recommended in order to produce a dense enough fabric.
• The most needed sizes fit children 8 to 16 years old, because the need is greater for older children.
• Socks should be knit in yarn that is worsted weight or heavier, unless specified otherwise. (You can strand worsted weight yarn with sock yarn for some lovely effects, and the sock yarn also adds durability. If socks are knit from bulky yarn, they should be knit on smaller needles to create a dense fabric.) Socks should have standard heels. As a rule of thumb, the leg of the sock (cuff to bottom of foot) should be as long as the foot of the sock (heel to toe), up to about 10 inches. Please tie socks together at the cuff.
• All hats and mittens must protect against the harsh temperatures and extreme weather conditions, so they should be thick and dense, not lacy. A bit of extra length on the cuffs of mittens and hats can make a big difference. Please tie mittens together at the cuff.
• Sweaters and vests should close securely if not a pullover style. They should have good coverage for the chest and ample length for the body. Sweater sleeves that are slightly longer than average provide more warmth and protection against the cold.
• Please avoid white and very light colors. Acrylic and novelty yarn should not be used, even as an accent.

Notes: These focus items are always in high demand by our recipient organizations. Even when we send large items like sweaters and vests, smaller items can be tucked in around the edges. Any of the focus items can be sent to Wool-Aid at any time during the year.

As we begin the year 2012, we celebrate the fact that every garment created for the children served by Wool-Aid is knit or crocheted with love and care in every stitch. This Valentine campaign should be able to warm many a cold child.

• FOCUS: Knitting from the heart, with a focus on smaller items (socks, hats, mittens)
• SIZE: Most needed sizes (measured lying flat) for these items are as follows: socks, 6.5” to 9.5” foot; hats, 16” to 20” in circumference; mittens, 5.5” to 8.5” wrist to fingertip (not counting the cuff)
• Use 80%+ wool or animal fiber content. Wool is warm, and it stays warm even when it gets wet. Superwash wool is not required.
• Create a warm, dense woolen fabric. Clothing is often worn indoors as well as outside, because homes are often very cold. Patterns used typically call for worsted weight, aran, or bulky yarn. You may need to use a smaller needle size than is usually recommended in order to produce a dense enough fabric.
• The most needed sizes fit children 8 to 16 years old, because the need is greater for older children.
• All hats and mittens must protect against the harsh temperatures and extreme weather conditions, so they should be thick and dense, not lacy. A bit of extra length on the cuffs of mittens and hats can make a big difference. Please tie mittens together at the cuff.
• Socks should be knit in yarn that is worsted weight or heavier, unless specified otherwise. (You can strand worsted weight yarn with sock yarn for some lovely effects, and the sock yarn also adds durability. If socks are knit from bulky yarn, they should be knit on smaller needles to create a dense fabric.) Socks should have standard heels. As a rule of thumb, the leg of the sock (cuff to bottom of foot) should be as long as the foot of the sock (heel to toe), up to about 10 inches. Please tie socks together at the cuff.

Notes: Smaller items such as hats, mittens, and socks are always in high demand by all of our recipient organizations. Even when we send larger items like sweaters, smaller items can be tucked in around the edges! Hats, mittens, and socks can be sent to Wool-Aid at any time during the year, but this “Valentines … From the Heart” campaign puts a special focus on them as we begin 2012.