Knitters wanted for bobble hat appeal to keep older people warm this winter. 
Due by 22 October 2007

This EADT 24 Article explains the drive, as does the “Get your needles ready” article.

Below is the site for the bobble hats BigKnit, with patterns and more information:

http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/thebigknit/ 

The “Handmade Afghans to Thank Our Armed Forces Project” or HAP was started in December 2004 by Deborah Starobin-Armstrong.  HAP is an all volunteer organization knitting or crocheting 6″ X 9″ (arcrylic, 4ply, worsted weight yarn) rectangles to eventually form an afghan using 49 rectangles (assembled at a “Put Together Event”).

The afghans are then delivered to Walter Reed Army Medical Centers or delivered to active duty service members.

Interested in helping? Check out their website for additional information and easy to follow knitting and crochet afghan patterns:

http://www.rectangle6×9.org/

From The Orphan Foundation of America site:
http://www.orphan.org/index.php?id=40&0=

“OFA’s 2008 Red Scarf Initiative Rolls Earlier
Submission dates for the next Red Scarf Initiative have been changed to September 1 through October 15, 2007. This will enable OFA to send out the scarves by early winter (when they will do the most good).

Our goal this year is to take in around 7,000 scarves. Donors are requested to send in no more than five scarves to:

Orphan Foundation of America
Attn: Red Scarf Project
21351 Gentry Drive, Suite 130
Sterling, VA 20191

Stay tuned for further details, and be sure to check out the Now Norma Knits blog, http://nownormaknits2.typepad.com/red_scarf_project_2008/ , written by one of our most committed supporters, to get a great take on the Red Scarf Project.” (Her site is requesting Quality over Quantity.)

The site also offers a scarf pattern, in both knitting and crochet, designed by Lily Chen especially for this project.

http://www.orphan.org/index.php?id=44

When Knitting was a Manly Art  is a 1997 Christian Science Monitor article, written by a man telling his experiences about knitting in boarding school during World War II. 

He writes that no one thought anything of boys/men knitting, and that everyone at school knitted, ” including the headmaster, the teachers, and the whole football team. We knitted 9-inch squares, which somebody else sewed together to make blankets and scarves for British soldiers. “Knitting for Britain,” it was called.”

The Quilts of Valor Foundation is all about “quilting honor and comfort for our wounded.”

To find out how to help, visit their website:

http://www.qovf.org/

History Link Essay Knitting for Victory - World War II

This is a great way to get a feel for the times with pictures and words about knitting for the troops during WWII.

http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=5722

This group’s mission is, “To provide custom-made adaptive clothing to our injured service members free of charge. ”

See how you can help at:

http://www.sewmuchcomfort.org/   

Ruth, aka 5 elementknitr, who spent 5 years in the Army, is having a contest (June 1- Sept. 15, 2007)/ drive for 200 helmet liners for the troops in Iraq.

Check out the details in her blog.
http://5elementknitr.blogspot.com/2007/05/contest.html

Packages From Home ,based in AZ, is also sending the helmetliners and neck coolers to the troops. The address to send completed items is on their site.

http://www.packagesfromhome.org/helmetliners.shtml

Helmetliners and Neck Coolers are needed for our troops.

The following site gives knitting, crochet, and machine knitted patterns for the helmetliner.  

It gives directions for Sewing a Neck Cooler or Neck Gator.  

Also check site for information on where to send the finished items.

http://www.geocities.com/helmetliner/

Here is their Press Release:

“TROOPS NEED KNITTERS/CROCHETERS 

Today, U.S. troops stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and South Korea, as well as many parts of the

United States, are exposed to winds and bitter cold during the winter months. Riding in open trucks and humvees, they often encounter sub-zero wind chills. The military head gear issued to our troops is made of synthetic material which is not as warm as wool. Just as in WWI and WWII, volunteers are needed to make these wool caps for our troops. The wool head covering which can be worn under the Kevlar helmet provides warmth to the head and neck but does not restrict vision. According to Dr. Richard H. Garretson, M.D., Crossroads Community Hospital, Mt. Vernon, Illinois, approximately 30 percent of a person’s body heat loss is through the head. It is important to keep the head warm, so the body temperature stays up. The brain controls everything else in the body, the ability to think and act as well as the ability for the body to maintain a particular temperature.One way to increase the comfort level of our troops in cold climates is to provide knitted/crocheted wool caps, or “wooly pulleys” to them. “The cap is definitely warm. It has certainly been a help, or should I say warmth.” said Corporal Juan M. Perez, Jr., who is stationed in Iraq. The patterns are available at www.geocities.com/helmetliner. If you have any questions, please contact helmetliner@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 236, Auburn, IL 62615. Completed helmetliners may be sent to Helmetliner, P.O. Box 236, Auburn, IL 62615, where they will be sent directly to our troops.

            Donations to help defray shipping costs may be made payable to Helmetliner  and sent to the address above.“