knitXmidwest is next weekend!

I'm super excited to be heading a bit east next weekend (November 1-3) for knitXmidwest, being held in Des Moines, IA! This first annual knitting retreat looks like it's going to be full of all the things I love most about gathering together with other knitters - comfy pants, lots of time for getting to know one another, stash diving, and of course plenty of knitting time! Oh, and I'll be sharing a bit of my charity knitting story, as well as the whole "I'm writing a book!" thing that Saturday afternoon!

There's still space available, so if you're anywhere close to the Des Moines area you should get registered for just one day or for the whole weekend! Need a few more reasons to attend? How about these --

• Devastatingly good lunch catered by Tacopocalypse.
• Lots of uninterrupted time to knit + crochet, perfect for finishing up that big project you've been wanting to work on.
• Relaxed, laid-back atmosphere. Wear your hand-knits and your sweatpants. We don't care.
• We'll be knitting and crocheting in the beautiful Walnut Woods Lodge. Have you seen the leaves changing colors this week? It's gonna be gorgeous out there.
• T-shirts!
• Photobooth. There will be a photobooth, people! (Or ... Jess and Jen with cameras and a backdrop, but same difference.)
• Fun times with friends.
• Knitting and crochet show and tell. Show off the coolest things you've ever made! Bring your stuff. We want to see it.
• Knit + crochet doctor. In case you need help with something.
• Stashbust. Calling all hoarders: bring yarn that you want to trade/get ride of. Anything left over will be donated!
• Yoga. Which will be easy (and optional.)
• Mimosas! And cupcakes.
• After-hours shopping and wine + dessert at Hill Vintage & Knits in the East Village.
• Fantastically cool door prizes.

I won't be partaking of the mimosas, but I will have more than my share of cupcakes, and plan to rock my maternity leggings the entire weekend! Oh, and probably spend far too much money during the after-hours shopping (and dessert!!!) at Hill Vintage & Knits!

For those of you who will be there, I've never been a speaker like this before, so .... be kind? Don't throw knitting needles? I'm super excited to dip my toes into this whole "talking about charity knitting as a calling" thing, and hope to do it more often, and know that this will be the PERFECT place to dig deep into it! Hooray for knitting retreats! Hooray for Des Moines! Hooray for knitXmidwest!

knitXmidwest is next weekend!

Oct 22, 2013

500th Hat Celebration!!!

Yesterday I realized something which made me first laugh, then cringe, then tackle a major edit and recount. I realized I hadn’t counted well over 100 hats towards my goal! See, back in late 2009 I decided to challenge myself to make 100 hats and give them away, using different patterns for each hat and making all the hats over the course of a year. At the time this seemed like a wildly ridiculous goal and both Zach and I had quite a laugh at my audacity.

 Of course, you all know by now I finished those first One Hundred Hats and haven’t looked back (for the most part)! But what you may not have known is that, until late last week, those hats weren’t reflected in the total hat count; what’s more, there were dozens more hats I’d made between those first one hundred and my “official start date” of January 1, 2012 that were shared here on the blog but not counted. Silly Robyn! I gave those hats away, they most definitely should be counted!

After spending not as much time as I thought it would take, the hats were counted and I was shocked to see the count – 515 hats!  

FIVE. HUNDRED. AND. FIFTEEN.

You guys, that’s 1/20th of my goal! Huzzah and hooray and all that! I’ve been trying to come up with some ways to celebrate this HUGE milestone. At first I thought GIVEAWAY but then that would mean contacting a bunch of folks and asking them to give stuff to you and moderating comments and … I got tired just thinking about it all.

Then I thought HUGE CHALLENGE! What if I challenged you all to send me hats for Nebraska Hats for Hope Initiative! But is a challenge a good way to celebrate?

So here’s what I’m thinking. The best present for me, the best way to celebrate 515 hats is for more people to know about it. I figure, the more knitters know that I’m making hats and giving them away, the more likely those knitters are to want to give someone a hat as well. And the more this happens, the more hats will be given away, and the better this world will be!

So help me spread the word, won’t you?! Tell your friends to come visit me here, my little online home. Or share this post on Facebook (you can find me there as She Makes Hats!) so all your old high school buddies and distant relatives can get excited with us!

Tweet it, shout it from the street corners, however you let people know something amazing has happened, do it. Because this is amazing folks, and while I’m not usually one for self-promotion, in this instance I’m making an exception.

500th Hat Celebration!!!

Mar 21, 2013