Free Mitten Pattern!

Published: November 30, 2016  ~   0

Before getting started, T.H.R.I.V.E. Association would like to send out our most sincere thanks to Fox 4 and to CBS 11 for their wonderful coverage! Thank you both for helping to spread T.H.R.I.V.E.’s message to the Metroplex; We are so grateful! We would also like to offer a special thanks to Ms. Amy Hunt for all of her wonderful efforts.

We’d like to recognize our devoted volunteers whose tireless efforts have allowed T.H.R.I.V.E. Association to continue to expand and meet the needs of more homeless veterans across the country! We are so proud of each and every one of you! Let’s keep the momentum going!

With that in mind, we’ve added more free patterns to our Ravelry page! Be sure to join the group, as we will be adding more in the near future. Showcased this week is a simple, yet precious pattern for super bulky mittens. This pattern is available free of charge on T.H.R.I.V.E. Association’s Ravelry page. (If you have not done so already, please sign up for a free account.) As usual, rather than using a wool or wool blend, we used Lion Brand Thick and Quick. For our speed knitters our there, these mittens were able to be made in a single day! Just a quick side note about the size: these mittens are admittedly pretty small, but are perfect for a petite adult or a child.

Please be sure to check out this pattern and others at:

http://www.ravelry.com/groups/thrive-dba-thrive-association

As an added bonus, we’ll be crafting to a live band, the Pretty Good Singers, at this week’s Friday Night Craft-a-thon at the Flagship Half Price Books on Northwest Highway! Please be sure to sign up for the event on Facebook here – http://www.facebook.com/events/1797365963812360/ , to let us know that you’re coming. We look forward to seeing you!

Ready for the Stand Down!

Published: November 14, 2016  ~   0

Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers and donors for making this a very successful year so far! We certainly met our goal thanks to everyone’s hard work! But, we’re not done yet! Not by a mile. In fact, we’re just getting started! We’re going to get a head start on next year- starting this Friday. So with that, we’ll be meeting this Friday as usual for our Craft-a-thon!

Half Price Books at 5803 Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231 on 11/18/16 from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Check out our event on Facebook or reply in the comment section below if you’d like to come craft with our T.H.R.I.V.E. volunteers. We look forward to seeing everyone out there!

A Reminder to Send In Your Donations

Published: October 27, 2016  ~   0

As a gentle reminder, the Homeless Veteran’s Stand Down is just around the corner. So, we are starting to get our donations ready for distribution to the veterans. For our wonderful volunteers, please continue to send in your completed items so that they can be counted, and so that we can make sure to get your receipts to you in a timely manner. If you would still like to make a donation this season, there is still time! (Yes, we love in-kind donations.) And, don’t worry if you don’t know how to craft; We’ll be happy to teach you, just come to one of our Craft-a-thons!

We’ll be meeting this coming Friday at Half Price Books for our Friday Night Craft-a-thon:

Half Price Books at 5803 Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231 on 10/28/16 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

The Vika Capelet

Published: October 21, 2016  ~   0

This week’s pattern is a simple yet elegant caplet that was designed by T.H.R.I.V.E.’s Chief Officer. Just like last week’s pattern, this week’s was also made using Lion Brand’s Homespun Thick and Quick yarn. (Just as a side note, the color is called Purple Haze.) It is a simple 2×2 rib worked on size 13 (9 mm), circular needles. And, it is perfect for any beginner knitter.

Since we have a habit of posting free patterns, this week we’ll be posting ours. With that, on to the directions.

 

Initial notes:

This project is worked as one piece in the round.

This pattern is made to be a one size fits all, but if you’d like to make it larger or smaller, you can easily alter the pattern. Just add or subtract in multiples of 4.

Gauge:

9 stitches is approximately 4 in. (10 cm)

If you knit looser, you’ll need more than one skein of yarn.

Capelet:

Loosely cast on 78 stitches. Place a marker to indicate the beginning of the round. Join by working the first stitch on the left needle with the working yarn from the right needle. Be careful not to twist the stitches.

Round 1: *K2, p2; repeat from * around.

Subsequent Rounds: Repeat Round 1 until the piece measures about 14 in. (35.6 cm) from beginning.

Bind off: Cut about a six inch tail and make a square knot.

Finish:

Weave in the ends.

Key:

K= Knit

P= Purl

 

If you have made this project, please remember to wet block it. And, send us a picture in the comment section below! We’d love to see how it looks.

If you have any questions on this, or other patterns, please contact us.

We will be working on this and similar patterns over the next few weeks at our Friday Night Craft-a-thons. So, if you are interested in learning how to make this, please come out and see us. This Friday, we’ll be at Half Price Books.

The Violetta Cowl

Published: October 13, 2016  ~   0

Firstly, we’d like to thank our donors for contributing several skeins of yarn to our cause! We couldn’t continue our work without your support. We are also grateful to all of our volunteers for their compassion, hard work, and dedication. A very special thanks goes out to those who come out to our Craft-a-thons as well!

Next up this week is an awesome new project that is a sure keep our brave veterans warm during the long, chilly Fall and Winter months. Yes, it is very warm and soft! This glamorous cowl was made using Lion Brand’s Violetta Cowl pattern number #L40511 – it is available as a free download on their website. (The link is provided below.) It is a perfect beginner level project, and is a fantastic way to practice your stitches!

The Violetta Cowl pattern is available here:

http://www.lionbrand.com/knitting-pattern-violetta-cowl.html

As usual, we will have a Friday night Craft-a-thon this Friday, October 14 at 6:00 p.m. We will be meeting at Half Price Books.

Half Price Books at 5803 Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231 on 10/14/16 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Come out and join us; even if it is to sit and chat for a few minutes!

A Colorwork Hat Pattern for Both Him and Her

Published: October 6, 2016  ~   0

And now for one of our favorite hat patterns! This weeks free pattern is from Yarnspirations. It is a perfect intermediate level project. It knits up quite quickly, and provides a perfect opportunity for any knitter to practice his/her colorwork skills! This pattern provides options for both him and her, and so is ideal for anyone! So, with that, on to the links! The pattern can be found here:

http://www.yarnspirations.com/patterns/a-good-ribbing-his-hers-hats.html

and, alternatively, on our Ravelry page here:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/a-good-ribbing—his–hers-hats

As always, T.H.R.I.V.E. Association will be meeting for our Friday Night Craft-a-thon at 6:00 pm at Half Price Books! We look forward to seeing you there! As usual, please convo us to let us know you’re coming so that we can make arrangements.

Half Price Books at 5803 Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231 on 10/07/16 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Happy crafting!

The “Smitty” Hat Pattern

Published: September 28, 2016  ~   0

It’s time for another free hat pattern! This one is called the “Smitty”. The pattern is available free of charge on Ravelry here:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/smitty

The “Smitty” knits up quite quickly and is perfect for anyone! A few notes – following the pattern as written, we found that it does require a little over one skein of yarn. We used Lion Brand Thick and Quick for this project. Also, so that the hat would have a tighter closure, we decided to continue the decrease rounds until we had 30 stitches left.

Make sure to sign up for Ravelry.com and join our Ravelry group here to find more patterns vetted by T.H.R.I.V.E. Association:

http://www.ravelry.com/groups/thrive-dba-thrive-association

Again, we will be hosting our Friday Night Craft-a-thon this Friday, September 30th at Half Price Books. Be sure to come out and join us if you can!

Half Price Books at 5803 Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231 on 09/30/16 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Hats Off to Free Hat Patterns!

Published: September 14, 2016  ~   0

It’s time for a free pattern! The hat showcased below was made using the following pattern:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/erichs-af-knockoff-hat

(There is also a link to the pattern available on T.H.R.I.V.E. Association’s Ravelry page here.)

It is perfect for any skill level and can be easily resized by adding or subtracting from the called for cast on stitches. The pattern is very easy to follow and knits up very quickly! We made this particular hat by using Lion Brand’s Thick and Quick with size 15 circular needles. We altered the cast on stitches to 44 rather than 40 to better fit a large adult man.

For this week’s Craft-a-thon, we will be meeting again this Friday night at Half Priced Books located at this address:

Half Price Books at 5803 Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231

Friday Craft-a-thon at Half Price Books

Published: September 7, 2016  ~   0

Firstly, just a quick line of thanks to Michael’s for hosting our last Craft-a-thon. We had a fantastic night with lots of fun and treats! One of our newest volunteers even learned how to crochet her first hat! Way to go! This week we will be meeting at Half Price Books to continue with our tradition of a Friday Night Craft-a-thon. The address is:

Half Price Books at 5803 Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231

Stay tuned, as we’ll be posting some sewing patterns in the near future. As usual, to ensure that our veterans receive the highest quality goods, our staff are the first to test each pattern before we endorse them. Again, we are hoping to have enough mittens, hats, and scarves to hand out to each individual that comes through our line.

Join Us This Friday for a Craft-A-Thon at Michaels

Published: August 31, 2016  ~   0

Come join us for a fun-filled night of crafting for our brave underprivileged veterans. Again, we will be at:

Michaels Craft Store at Old Town Shopping Center, 5500 Greenville Ave Ste 700, Dallas, TX 75206 on Friday, Sept. 2nd from 5 pm – 7 pm

Please convo us here or call 214-998-2770 to let us know that you’re coming and don’t be afraid to bring a friend. Also, please remember to share this invitation! Delicious snacks will be provided for all attendees! We will have free patterns and lessons to suit any skill level. It’s gonna be fun, so we look forward to having a full house!