Volunteers needed: Barn Raising Quilts for charity and Sock Summit 2009

Even our knitting-crazy town of Portland has little idea it’s sitting in the path of a juggernaut: Sock Summit 2009, where thousands of knitters will descend on the Oregon Convention Center to grok all things sock.

Not least of which, I should say, is the sock yarn blanket from Knitalong the book, the Barn Raising Quilt.   From scraps can come such art.  Consider SenoraFuerte’s version, one of my favorites:

Now we’re releasing the Barn Raising Quilt pattern for free for a few months, because Sock Summit impresario Tina has okayed Larissa’s idea for a Sock Summit charity effort based on the Quilt.

Larissa needs volunteers to make Barn Raising Quilt squares and mail them to us in Portland by June 9, 2009.  Here they will be sewn into individual socktastic works of art by even more volunters, and then, during the Summit in August, auctioned or raffled off as a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders.

There is no need to formally sign up, though it might be useful if you left a comment here noting how many squares you anticipate sending.  The pattern, including yarn suggestions, and mailing instructions can be found in this document.

Sock on!  (And watch this space for updates)

[update 6/21/2009: we’ve collected 400 squares! thanks so much! the pattern is no longer available for download, but is still available in the book.]