2 for 1 - Warm Up America and Crochetville!

[Crochetville LLC]

Many thanks to everyone who participated in this project!

The contest has ended. Most of the rectangles were delivered to Caron on Thursday, April 25, 2008 and the final last-minute package was mailed to Caron on Tuesday, April 29, 2008. Crochetvillers made 1,970 rectangles for the Caron contest, which will be donated to Warm Up America and works out to 38 blankets plus a few rectangles left over. Please see this post for more details about the final stats and who participated.

Here is a little collage of just a few photos (taken by Donna) that can be seen in this thread.

http://www.crochetville.org/misc_ima...st_collage.jpg

-----------------------------------------------------

Intro:
Many, many thanks to Crochetville member Nght for finding out about and suggesting this project!

Caron is sponsoring a contest for making 7" x 9" crochet or knit sections (rectangles) for Warm Up America. It's called the Soften the World Simply Soft Sweepstakes. There are two categories, individuals and groups. Individuals can submit a single rectangle to win $25 in Simply Soft yarn (20 winners chosen randomly). In the group category, the group that submits the most rectangles wins a check for $300 for their group. All rectangles must be made with Simply Soft yarn and will be donated to Warm Up America.

We contacted Caron to be sure Crochetville is an eligible group, and they said yes!

The Warm Up America web site has some super easy crochet and knit patterns for the 7" x 9" size. They're so simple to do... great for when you want a little mindless crochet! (See below for a list of more patterns.)

So you all can read the complete info for yourself, attached at the end of this post is a PDF of a full-page ad for the sweepstakes. It appears in the January 2008 issue of Crochet! magazine (page 9) and other magazines.

To enter as a group, we have to send all our rectangles together in one batch, so Donna will be collecting them. She hopes to see her house bursting at the seams with rectangles! Let's show 'em what we can do! Regardless of which group wins for submitting the most rectangles, the folks in need of warm blankets win for sure!!

So... if you want to participate in the Crochetville group entry, here's how:

• Crochet (or knit) one or more 7" x 9" rectangle(s) in Caron Simply Soft yarn (any type of Caron Simply Soft).
  
• Be sure to weave in the ends. You do not need to block your rectangles.
• Package up your rectangle(s) and be sure to include your Crochetville user name somewhere in or on the package so we'll know who they are from. It is not necessary to tag each rectangle individually with your info; the Caron folks want the group rectangles without tags.
• Send them to Donna. (Please PM Donna for the mailing address).
• You can send rectangles as often as you like from now until the deadline.
• The tentative deadline for rectangles to arrive at Donna's house is Friday, April 18, 2008. This will allow time to box them up and send them to Caron. However, that is four months away, and if it turns out that there is a whole truckload of them, Donna may hand deliver them herself! (Caron is in Washington, North Carolina, only about an hour drive from her house! ) If that turns out to be the case, it would mean rectangles could arrive later... we'll update on this as we get closer to the finish line.
  UPDATE! Extended deadlines!
  Regular deadline: Saturday, April 19
  Last-minute deadline: Tuesday, April 29
  
  Regular deadline details: If your rectangles arrive by the regular deadline, they will go to Caron with all the other rectangles.
  Last-minute deadline details: If your rectangles arrive after the regular deadline but by the last-minute deadline, they will go to Caron in an extra, last-minute package! UPS takes only one day between New Bern, NC and Washington, NC. I don't want to wait until that close to send them all, but I'm happy to ship out an additional package at the 11th hour!
  Late packages: If your rectangles arrive after the last-minute deadline, I will send them directly to Warm Up America, which just happens to be located in Ranlo, NC. (All this stuff in NC!) However, if it happens that there are enough late rectangles for at least half an afghan, I'll make the rest of the rectangles needed and assemble an afghan for Warm Up America. (It takes 49 sections to complete a WUA afghan.)

FAQ:

• Do I need to block my rectangles? No, you do not need to block your rectangles. Everybody's sections will be slightly different, most likely not perfect 7"x9"s even though we try to get as close as possible, so blocking them wouldn't make them all uniform anyway. The folks that assemble these into afghans are very experienced in dealing with easing in or stretching sections as they assemble the afghans to make them all fit.

• Do I need to edge my rectangles? No, you do not need to edge your rectangles. You may do so, but be sure that the finished size is still as close as possible to 7x9".

• Does it matter if the finished size is 7x9 or 9x7? No, it does not matter if you make the rectangle horizontally or vertically. Either way, they will work just fine to be assembled into afghans.

• Do I have to use one of the patterns listed below? Nope! You can use any pattern you want, or no pattern at all. We're just have a list of links to free online patterns to help people find some 7x9" patterns. If you have any links to add, let us know!

• Do my rectangles have to be a solid color? No. You can do solids or combinations. Use up scraps!

Arriving Rectangles:

• Donna will post updates in this thread as she receives rectangles.

Some patterns you can use for 7"x9" rectangles:
(But you can use any pattern you want, or make one up!)

• Patterns at the Warm Up America Site
• Basketweave Pattern
• X's and O's
• Not So Traditional Granny
• Crazy Stitch
• Staggered Long Dc
• Another pattern
• 7x9" Rectangle Granny
• Warm Up America Section Pattern (V-stitch)
• Checkerboard
  

Join us in the CAL!

• Crochetville member laughlovehook started a crochet along for this project! Check it out: Warm up America/Crochetville Contest CAL.
  

Running Total:

• As of April 29, 2008, the final total was 1,970 rectangles.

Contest Advertisement (pdf file):

http://www.crochetville.org/misc_ima...weepstakes.jpg

(Use the link below to download this PDF file.)
(Posted with permission from Caron.)

[tracyleigh]

Poor Donna...

Make sure you tie a rope around your ankle and to the front door so someone knows to give the rope a tug when they want to find you.

You gotta know that we are going to bury you in 7" x 9" pieces, dontcha???

[DreamsOfYarn]

I just finished my first 7" x 9" piece
Boy, they sure work up fast and are perfect for mindless crochet time.
I have a lot of Caron SS leftovers and I had no idea what I was going to do with it all. Now I know

[Donna]

Tracy Leigh, you made me laugh out loud!
I'm looking forward to being buried ... this will be me:

[Donna]

Go, Mel! That's great!

[happy stitcher]

I'm in!
This'll be my take-along project for awhile!

Donna, I hope you'll take pictures of the mountains of squares before you take them to Caron! It'll be fun to see how many are donated!

[Donna]

Oh, absolutely there will be photos! I'll be providing periodic updates with photos.

[mamabear10]

I'm in too! I have a bag full of SS leftovers, and I'm about done with my last Christmas scarf...I have been making 6x9 squares for the Wounded Soldiers folks.. and had one go long on the 6 inch side....so I figured I can always make stuff for one group or the other If life were perfect, these folks would all put their heads together and decide on one universal size........Oh well, keeps me from getting bored!

[LadyintheMoon]

I'm on the board so sporadically sometimes that I ALWAYS miss the charity items, it seems. Either I'm too late altogether or I read it after the post has 3 times more volunteers than it needs! Or it's something I know I can't commit to... but this is perfect! At first I figured I wouldn't be able to since it's posted during the holidays, but once I read we have until April... I am SOOO in! I'm so excited, too. I have TONS of SS already, so that's even better!

[hooked2]

That is so great that the 'Ville is eligible. And how cool to have until April! I was just wondering what kinda' small project I could take to a doctor's appt tomorrow to work on and voila! - I read this post! And I even have some SS in my stash. At least enough to get me started!