2020 Blanket Challenge Details

For 2020, Our Challenge: 200 blankets donated to babies and chemo warriors

We have been asked some questions about this Blanket Drive.

We are accepting all sizes (from baby lovies to adult large throws), loom knitted, crocheted, sewn and/or fleece blankets.  The criteria for yarn, fleece or material remains the same

• Must be new, never worn or used
• Should be washable
• Smoke-free & pet hair-free
• Soft yarn is best- cotton acrylic, silk, fleece or a blend.
• Wool/alpaca is acceptable, though is known to be scratchy.  If using wool or alpaca, please label the item- to warn those that are allergic
• Please wash your hands on a regular basis while making the items.
• Items do not need to be laundered if they are kept clean.  If you feel an item has to be washed before donating it, please use a hypoallergenic detergent and rinse very well.

If you follow us on Pinterest, we created a new board for this 2020 challenge to spark inspiration and provide some helpful tips.

As many of you know, we started Knitting Rays of Hope with loom knitting hats and then started dabbling into crochet with the help of Youtube and Pinterest.

I crocheted my first blanket a few months ago for a friend’s baby and enjoyed the process of it.  I used a shell stitch and found it easy enough to crochet it while watching tv.  If your talents are quilting or knitting, please feel free to make blankets that will suit your talents.

I found a chart for blanket sizes from Craft-Mart.com that will hopefully help provide some guidance.

While searching for ideas, I found All Free Crochet had an article for over 25 blanket patterns for beginners here.  And I may just try this blanket, as one of our friends, T. Stella Bernard suggested a baby afghan made up of individual squares that are sewn together.  I hope that this will be easy to just crochet squares and then put them together.  Wish me luck!

We thank you for trying to learn new things like making blankets to help us spread hope.

Thank you!
~Pali

 

2020 Blanket Challenge

For 2020, we thought we would take on a new challenge at Knitting Rays of Hope and ask all of our wonderful contributors to consider making blankets for donation to the Chemo Warriors.

A blanket crocheted for a friend who is having a baby girl!

We noticed in the hospitals that many of the warriors also enjoy cuddling with a beautiful blanket while receiving their treatments, and we wanted to ask all of you to help us keep them warm and comfortable. NICU babies love blankies too and moms cherish them even after the babies grow and kids of all sizes love to cuddle with their blankets.

We will add a counter for blankets received and hope to meet 200 blankets donated by next year.