Operation Children Stockings

dustinac · 09-02-2009, 06:01 PM

Some of you might remember that last year we made over 850 stockings for a military unit in Iraq. This town really surprised me when they got wind of what we were doing. They wanted to be a part of it and to help, even though this community was hard hit by the economic downturn. They donated candy, gum, baggies, cards, signed 850 cards, and decorated envelopes so no solider would have a plain envelope.

We had a lot of children in need last Christmas and things around here haven’t gotten much better. So we contacted the Salvation Army and asked for a rough number of stockings to make (thinking a few hundred) and were told roughly 1,000. They couldn’t give us an exact number as they accept applications well up into October for the Christmas Castle project. This project allows a child to pick out their own warm coat for the winter; we wanted to give them more. The Salvation Army jumped at our idea and we are now off and running, but we need help.

Here are some ways you can help if you would like to do so

Stockings:
Any color, any yarn, any fabric
You can knit/crochet/sew them
They do need to be about 6-8” in length

Patterns:
You can use any pattern that you would like but here are a few free ones just in case, if anyone has a crochet pattern please lmk and I will add it to this list
Jan’s Seamless Mini Stocking (pdf file and for 2circs)
My Stocking (on my blog and for Magic Loop)
My Stocking (on my blog and for DPNs)
Mini Stockings (pdf file)
The mini stockings are to small as written, but KH member gmmarton explains how to make them larger:
I used the pattern for straight needles that was in the .pdf file. I worked on size 7's in cotton yarn (with the exception of one acrylic stocking, the red one). I followed the pattern, casting on with 24 stitches, increasing as called for to 36, and then doing the respective decreases back to 24. Where I made a slight change was doing 14 rows of stockinette instead of 12 as the pattern suggests.

KAL:
We have a KAL on KH
We have a group on Ravelry
You can also keep up with things on my blog

Info:
We need the stockings no later than Thanksgiving, but would be very excited with earlier. We will need to stuff each stocking with candy, gift, and card.
You can mail the stockings to me, just pm me for the info
If you would like to help in some way but can’t commit to a stocking here are a few other things we are looking for:
Christmas Cards for the kids
Candy
Quart/Gallon Size Baggies
A gift that is under 3.00 (examples: Lip Gloss, Match box car, lotion, dollar tree finds)
Stickers, Markers, etc

I know times are rough for many and I can’t express my gratitude enough for your kindness.

We have 875 more stockings to go

luvmykid28 · 09-02-2009, 11:21 PM

I would like to help with this wonderful gift your are giving. I have also just started a knitting group and will see if anyone would like to join you as well.

dustinac · 09-03-2009, 01:56 PM

Thank you!

puggies29 · 09-03-2009, 08:31 PM

I would love to help.

dustinac · 09-04-2009, 02:11 AM

Thank you!

dustinac · 09-10-2009, 01:48 PM

We have 850 stockings left to go

auntyem · 09-10-2009, 04:08 PM

Dustina: I would love to help with this also. I was looking for a small project to work on when I get tired of my lapghans and this is perfect for using up some of my stash. Did I understand correctly that we have until November to get them to you?

dustinac · 09-11-2009, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by auntyem

Dustina: I would love to help with this also. I was looking for a small project to work on when I get tired of my lapghans and this is perfect for using up some of my stash. Did I understand correctly that we have until November to get them to you?

Thank you!! Yeah until November that way we can get them stuffed and ready to go for the first part of December

arenas3651 · 09-13-2009, 06:09 AM

Would you happen to have a sewing pattern that you know of? I'd love to help, and I have a few yards of xmas fabric in my stash I would love to use up! I'm still new to knitting, so sewing is faster for me. Thanks for doing this for so many children who need it this year!

dustinac · 09-14-2009, 02:51 AM

Originally Posted by arenas3651

Would you happen to have a sewing pattern that you know of? I'd love to help, and I have a few yards of xmas fabric in my stash I would love to use up! I'm still new to knitting, so sewing is faster for me. Thanks for doing this for so many children who need it this year!

Thank you!! I don't have a sewing pattern though as I am not good at that (wish I was) but I'll ask my mom tomorrow what pattern she is using for ya