Caps to the Capital: Send ONE soon!

I've had some communication from Save the Children today. They would be delighted to receive one cap per knitter, although larger contributions are great, and would like to have caps arrive by mid-December, even though the deadline is January 2, 2007.

So I'm putting the finishing touches on my pile and will send this batch out tomorrow. The action kit has an address of Save the Children, PO Box 950, Westport, CT 06881. The e-mail I received this morning said packages can also be addressed to Save the Children, 54 Wilton Road, Wesport, CT 06880.

The photos here are not great because it's a gray day, but it was gray yesterday, too, and the primary subjects of the photos are about to be sealed up in a cardboard box and will be out of here by tomorrow, when the sun will probably shine.

Here's the bear who has been monitoring my progress, nearly buried in caps:

And here's a more organized photo of the collection:

ONE cap takes less than an hour to knit and can be mailed to Save the Children in a relatively small envelope. I wonder how many people could knit and mail just ONE cap within the next week?

I'm done!

Sending the box tomorrow will open up opportunities for me to finish a cardigan that's been knitted up to the armholes since late spring and to proceed with (and post notes on) my Arctic Lace knitalong projects. They're not only started but well along, and then I got distracted by how simple it would be to make such a big difference in someone else's life. So quickly.

One cap. . . .

Comments

[Donna Druchunas]

Hi Deb, what are the requirements? Any specific type of yarn or pattern required? Are they looking for newborn or premie sizes?

I'm sure I could wip up one cap over the weekend.

[Deborah Robson]

Hi, Donna:

The basics can be found with a search on Caps to the Capital. They are looking for smaller-than-average sizes, because many of the babies are low birthweight, although not necessarily premies.

Any soft yarn. I used knitting worsted on U.S. size 5 needles (you'd be on a 5, too, because we both knit loosely; most of the world would be on 7s). I worked in the round.

Here's the Robson-autopilot version of one of the patterns in the Save the Children action kit.

Cast on 44 sts, rib for 1.5 inches, then work stockinette until the whole is 5 inches from the start. Dec round: k 2, k2tog around. Knit a plain round. *Dec round: k1, k2tog around. Knit a plain round.* Repeat from * to * once. Dec round: k2tog around. Break off and pull the yarn through the remaining sts, probably about 7 or 8, and secure the end.

If the stitch counts on the dec rounds don't work out quite right, work an extra k2tog at the end of the round if you feel like it. It's a little random. I also made some random stripes and other amusement on some of the caps.

That's it!

[Skeetshooter]

Count me in for about a dozen.