50 Hats for Christmas

(This post was originally published at yogurt & granola, 2009.) 

Remember when I talked about knitting for charity more this year? So it begins. And true to form, it's not starting out small.

Well, each individual knitting item is small. (We're talking hats here.) But combined, the effort can be BIG.
My friend at church mentioned that it would be super cool to have handknit hats to bring to the Simpson Housing Shelter on Christmas Eve to give as gifts to the homeless folks there. Our church has a strong relationship with Simpson House so it's a logical connection. She wondered if I could get the knitters at church on it and get a bunch of hats made up.

My reply to her was: "Definitely. Great idea. I'm on it."

But then I thought about all of the knitters who are so interconnected online (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and decided that it would be pretty awesome to open it up to all of my knitting friends, and their friends, etc.

The Deets:

1. Knit a hat for a man. Any weight yarn.* Any pattern. Knit something that you would feel comfortable giving to a man in your life whom you love (husband/partner, dad, brother, friend, etc.). Complicated or simple, it's totally up to you.

2. Mail your hat to:
50 Hats for Christmas
First Universalist Church
ATTN: Catherine/UU Stitchers
3400 Dupont Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55408 USA

Deadline: Saturday, December 5, 2009

I'm putting this out here so early to give you all a chance to work it into your holiday knitting schedule and also to put a bee in your bonnet for the fall season when you may want to start working on something other than summer lace/socks (ahem, I can't be the only one?) and are thinking of winter woollies. Simple hats typically don't take very long to knit so it can be a very easy project to whip out. (You could do this hat or this hat or use this hat recipe or search this free knitting pattern site for ideas or check out Ravelry...)
The pattern for this "Turn a Square" hat is available on Brooklyn Tweed's blog here. (This is an AWESOME hat.)

*Remember: Minnesota winters are COLD. Being homeless in this state is a tragic thing (being homeless anywhere is a tragic thing) so having a warm hat to pull over your ears will go a long way towards keeping a person's spirits up and feet moving in the right direction. To that end, wool yarn is definitely recommended.

The goal is 50 hats for Christmas. Think we can do it?

Thanks, Knitters. I knew you'd agree. :)