Go Team USA!!!

Some of you may have already heard about our hat drive in our latest newsletter, but I thought I would cover all of the basis and post about it on the blog too. Plus we have some really fun photos to share. :)

The 2014 Winter Olympics will be here before we know it - and we are getting a head start on keeping our athletes warm (pun intended!). What are we up to this time, you ask? Well, we've set a goal of gifting every single Sochi-bound athlete (and their families) with a cozy and patriotic handmade hat, compliments of the yarn industry (after all, what goes better with winter sports than hand-knitted hats?). As you can see from the photo, we've finished one... just a few hundred to go! Want to join us in our hat drive? Here's the skinny:

1. Each hat must be made in red, white, and blue. (The hats are going to the U.S. Teams)

2. Crafters choice: hats can be knit or crocheted. Any size needle, any type of fiber. 

3. JBW will be the collection point for the hats. (I.e., mail your finished hat to us at 1312 Capital Blvd #103, Reno, NV 89502.)

4. All hats must be delivered to JBW by January 1st.

5. JBW will deliver all of the collected hats to the various U.S. Teams!

6. Our goal is to deliver thousands of hats, so as to keep all of the athletes - and their families - warm!

Americana colorway

For those of you that don't already have red, white, and blue yarn at home
- and/or don't know what pattern to use - we've created this Team USA Hat Kit which includes three balls of Schachenmayr Original Boston yarn in the quintessential patriotic trio of Red, White and Blue. There is the bright option, shown here which ships on 10/28, and also an "Americana" option that we added this week because the bright option was so popular and we wanted another color option to offer you. The kit also comes with an exclusive hat design straight from our latest book, Stitch Mountain, which is debuting this December (we modified the pattern slightly by doing it in stripes instead of a solid color... as modeled here by future Olympic athlete, Huck. Aren't these photos ridiculously cute, and silly too?!?!?)

For crocheters, we are recommending you check out any of the awesome FREE hat patterns from Schachenmayr's My Mountain Campaign that use the original Boston yarn in the Team USA Hat Kit. (By no means do you have to use the knit pattern we provide, it's just a little extra freebie we've included.) There are several really great unisex designs from My Mountain, like the Feldberg, Sunshine Peak, or Mount Tyree hats, that are simple and easy to crochet. 

Remember, you don't have to use our pattern, yarn, or our kit --we will happily forward on anyone's awesome handmade hat (as long as it's red, white, and blue)! Go Team USA!

Happy knitting and crocheting!

Kristen