Hey y'all,
So in conversing with one coyotescall, one of the mods over at the livejournal community militarylove and one of our newest members, it seems like our two groups might be able to cooperate on the project I mentioned in my last post. Perhaps something along the lines of us making the homemade stuff (bags, socks?) and military love providing the "stuffing." People from both/either groups could then work on the shipping.
If this is ringing your chimes, please let me know when you get a chance. Again, this is not mandatory, but I want to get a feel for whether anyone is interested. If both groups are working on this together, I think it could end up being a project that reaches out to an awful lot of people.
Thanks!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Hey Everyone!
I hope everyone is having a good holiday season and that you will all have a restful New Years celebration. When you come back, I have some ideas and goals that I'd like to run by you.
First, I'd like to get out of the gate fast for 2008. I'd like to try to hit 100 items for January. There are a lot of reasons for this, but perhaps the most pressing is that I want to try to avoid a big post-holiday drop-off. It's always a big problem for charities -- people give a ton from Thanksgiving to NYE, attributable to the holiday spirit or late-year tax write-offs. But then, once the holidays are over, the less privileged are kind of left in the lurch. I also want to get off to a good start in January to show that our group is still going strong as the new year begins.
Second, I thought of another project, and I am wondering if anyone would want to spearhead it or if there are any thoughts/recommendations/objections, etc. The idea is basically an expansion of the Bag O'Sunshine concept, except that we would post our group contact information to military communities and would make little bags by request. The bags could be of varying size, and military families could use them to send their soldiers things overseas. I just thought it would be a nice little homemade addition to phone cards, PlayStation games, gatorade, and other things that soldiers need. I was thinking of calling it the Bag O' Home project or something like that.
I am going to begin posting once again to other livejournal communities to see if anyone wants to join us for 2008. If you know of any communities that might let you post an informational post about this group, by all means, go for it!
Immense gratitude again to all of you for making 2007 such a great year. May 2008 allow us to spread even more sunshine!
First, I'd like to get out of the gate fast for 2008. I'd like to try to hit 100 items for January. There are a lot of reasons for this, but perhaps the most pressing is that I want to try to avoid a big post-holiday drop-off. It's always a big problem for charities -- people give a ton from Thanksgiving to NYE, attributable to the holiday spirit or late-year tax write-offs. But then, once the holidays are over, the less privileged are kind of left in the lurch. I also want to get off to a good start in January to show that our group is still going strong as the new year begins.
Second, I thought of another project, and I am wondering if anyone would want to spearhead it or if there are any thoughts/recommendations/objections, etc. The idea is basically an expansion of the Bag O'Sunshine concept, except that we would post our group contact information to military communities and would make little bags by request. The bags could be of varying size, and military families could use them to send their soldiers things overseas. I just thought it would be a nice little homemade addition to phone cards, PlayStation games, gatorade, and other things that soldiers need. I was thinking of calling it the Bag O' Home project or something like that.
I am going to begin posting once again to other livejournal communities to see if anyone wants to join us for 2008. If you know of any communities that might let you post an informational post about this group, by all means, go for it!
Immense gratitude again to all of you for making 2007 such a great year. May 2008 allow us to spread even more sunshine!
Monday, December 24, 2007
are you resting those hands and fingers??
Well, if you all are anything like me, you are pretty excited that tomorrow is Christmas, if only because crafting deadlines are here, which means you can stop with the holiday crafting!! yayyyyyyy :) Of course, I am already plotting for next year, but that's beside the point.
Anyway, this year has been a real joy for me thanks to all of. I can't wait to see what next year brings...how much will we accomplish? Who will join our ranks?
Here's to another great year, and Merry Christmas to those who are marking it!
Anyway, this year has been a real joy for me thanks to all of. I can't wait to see what next year brings...how much will we accomplish? Who will join our ranks?
Here's to another great year, and Merry Christmas to those who are marking it!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
one last year end surge
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One last donation. 17 scarves and 11 hats that are going to be donated to a youth center for at-risk teens.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Heads UP!
As you see below, our dear dear Robyn, aka craftyone, has gotten our typepad site going with her web crew. You can check it out at
http://homespunhelpers.typepad.com
She has a place to link to charities we support and she is working on a section for ongoing projects. Here is what I have so far. Let me know if there is anything to add.
Bag O'Sunshine:
Bag O'Sunshine is a charity for US veterans residing in nursing homes or at vet hospitals. The bags can be any size, but we make a far amount that have handles long enough to hang off of walkers. We fill the bags with toiletries, candies, and in the Winter, they get filled with scarves, hats, and mittens.
Bag O'Sunshine Sweets:
These are teeny tiny bags (any size or shape is fine) that can be placed into packages or into the Bags o'Sunshine. The idea is to fill them with a few chocolate kisses or little sweets like that. Just a nice little touch.
How Many People Can We Dress:
The goal of this project is to put together "outfits" and determine how many people we are dressing with our items. Outfit can include hats, scarves, mittens, gloves, ponchos, socks, or anything else. We try to color coordinate them so that they really go together. Goods have been shipped to Afghans for Afghans and to shelters across the United States.
Warm Up America Squares:
We support Warm Up America by making squares squares squares! Our members sew those together and donate the finished afghans to the WUA.
http://homespunhelpers.typepad.com
She has a place to link to charities we support and she is working on a section for ongoing projects. Here is what I have so far. Let me know if there is anything to add.
Bag O'Sunshine:
Bag O'Sunshine is a charity for US veterans residing in nursing homes or at vet hospitals. The bags can be any size, but we make a far amount that have handles long enough to hang off of walkers. We fill the bags with toiletries, candies, and in the Winter, they get filled with scarves, hats, and mittens.
Bag O'Sunshine Sweets:
These are teeny tiny bags (any size or shape is fine) that can be placed into packages or into the Bags o'Sunshine. The idea is to fill them with a few chocolate kisses or little sweets like that. Just a nice little touch.
How Many People Can We Dress:
The goal of this project is to put together "outfits" and determine how many people we are dressing with our items. Outfit can include hats, scarves, mittens, gloves, ponchos, socks, or anything else. We try to color coordinate them so that they really go together. Goods have been shipped to Afghans for Afghans and to shelters across the United States.
Warm Up America Squares:
We support Warm Up America by making squares squares squares! Our members sew those together and donate the finished afghans to the WUA.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
website up, running, super duper bare bones
so, i got the website up. running. still needs a banner (but i think i've got someone to help me with that) and all the pages i'd like to add still need to be added. but it's there. over the next few days it will grow and change a lot, but if people could e-mail me at craftyone77.hh@gmail.com with any information about any of the charity drives we've been doing, that would be hugely helpful, as i want to give each one it's own page, with an explanation and contact info.
thanks!
also, the tip jar is set up. it's just under $15 a month to have the site set up through typepad, but we've got full website functionality with no coding. i've got it set up to charge my credit card every month, so any donations people can make would be great. typepad calculates those donations up for me and applies them directly to the monthly bill, so there's no risk in your donation getting caught up in my paypal account or anything like that.
thanks!
also, the tip jar is set up. it's just under $15 a month to have the site set up through typepad, but we've got full website functionality with no coding. i've got it set up to charge my credit card every month, so any donations people can make would be great. typepad calculates those donations up for me and applies them directly to the monthly bill, so there's no risk in your donation getting caught up in my paypal account or anything like that.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
one more web-related post
i'd like to get the group's opinion on this one. i'd like to set up a "donations" button over on the website after it gets set up, with the express purpose of helping to circumvent the costs of maintaining the site (monthly hosting fees). the money would all go to that purpose alone, and once there was enough to cover the fees, it would be taken down. it would also be linked to a page that describes this in detail, so if people had questions they'd be answered there.
let me know what you all think of this!
let me know what you all think of this!
website stuffs
hey all! so, we've been busy little bees over in the "website committee" and we've got a few things getting started! yay! now we need some help from the rest of the community. we need a banner. something we can put at the top of not just the website, but this space and the livejournal space as well to unify it all. and we're hoping there's someone out here in blogger land who has the skills to do so and would be willing to donate that time to us! we'd need it fast, though, as we're hoping to get the site up and moving by the end of the month!
and as for what that banner would look like? to an extent we want the community to help decide that as well! so if you've got any ideas (like, you DEFINITELY want there to be no neon orange, or you think a certain picture would be nice to use), comment here and let us know. all of it will be taken into consideration.
thanks folks!
and as for what that banner would look like? to an extent we want the community to help decide that as well! so if you've got any ideas (like, you DEFINITELY want there to be no neon orange, or you think a certain picture would be nice to use), comment here and let us know. all of it will be taken into consideration.
thanks folks!
Monday, December 3, 2007
Shipment # 1
Hi all!
One box is being sent to the Boston Rescue Mission (http://www.brm.org/). A second box is being sent to children in need in Chicago and distributed by thefannishwaldo. The third box is full of wool items and is on the way to Afghans for Afghans.
Thus, we dressed at total of 18 people! Each person will get a set of three items to keep them warm this winter in Boston and Chicago.
The Afghans for Afghans box contained 10 separate wool items. Again, Afghans for Afghans will distribute individual items in order to serve as many people as possible.
There are extra acrylic items that were not matched into sets. I decided to hold-on to these for or second shipment later this winter. I will post the details about that in a separate post.
Well done everyone! I was blown away by the quality of the items and all the care that went into making them.
Now on to the pics ...
Afghans for Afghans:
Chicago:
Boston:
One box is being sent to the Boston Rescue Mission (http://www.brm.org/). A second box is being sent to children in need in Chicago and distributed by thefannishwaldo. The third box is full of wool items and is on the way to Afghans for Afghans.
Thus, we dressed at total of 18 people! Each person will get a set of three items to keep them warm this winter in Boston and Chicago.
The Afghans for Afghans box contained 10 separate wool items. Again, Afghans for Afghans will distribute individual items in order to serve as many people as possible.
There are extra acrylic items that were not matched into sets. I decided to hold-on to these for or second shipment later this winter. I will post the details about that in a separate post.
Well done everyone! I was blown away by the quality of the items and all the care that went into making them.
Now on to the pics ...
Afghans for Afghans:
Chicago:
Boston:
Want to join the "website committee" with me?
Robyn here, taking over duties as the group growth expert! First up on my long long list of ideas is gettign the Homespun Helpers website up and running, and I’m looking for a few people who want to help with ideas and such. If you’re interested, here’s what to do:
- First, set up a gmail acct with the ".hh" at the end of it. Mine’s "craftyone77.hh@gmail.com" to give you an idea. This way we all have "Homespun Helpers" gmail addresses, and you can pick whatever name you want to have attached to it. Plus, it’s free!
- Second, e-mail me FROM your new gmail to my ".hh" gmail, listed above, with the tagline "HH website group", so they all get filtered properly, and let me know you want in on the group! I’ll send a confirmation e-mail (so if you don’t get a confirmation e-mail it means I didn’t get your e-mail), with further instructions.
I know that sounds like a lot of work, but trust me, it’ll be worth it. We’ll be communicating via google docs (this way you can hop on when you want and add stuff as much or as little as you want, and at your liesure!), so having a gmail is imperative to that process.
I’d like to have the website up and beginning to function by the 1st of January, so there’s a lot to talk about really fast, although i’ve already got a ton of stuff thought through and awaiting yays and nays and some finalization. So if you join up, it’ll mean the whole thing won’t be "the robyn project" and will truly become a group effort!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Letter Writing
I was thinking of another idea for 2008. We create a form letter that could be sent to other organizations or individuals who run other charities or who go out there and see what is needed. The letter could be something like this:
In 2007, Homespun Helpers created and donated over 3,000 items to charity. Because our members can donate to any group they choose so long as what they are contributing is home made, we donated as a group to a variety of groups and charities that asked for items for people in need.
In 2008 we'd like to be a little more ambitious, and we are asking you for your help. We are not asking you to donate to us or contribute anything tangible. But we would like to know what you see as being needed. Are there groups we should donate to that are dear to your heart? Are there groups you are donating to that you think could use some homemade items as well?
Let us know where we can be of service and we will be happy to add those groups, those needs, to our list.
Something like that. What do you think?
In 2007, Homespun Helpers created and donated over 3,000 items to charity. Because our members can donate to any group they choose so long as what they are contributing is home made, we donated as a group to a variety of groups and charities that asked for items for people in need.
In 2008 we'd like to be a little more ambitious, and we are asking you for your help. We are not asking you to donate to us or contribute anything tangible. But we would like to know what you see as being needed. Are there groups we should donate to that are dear to your heart? Are there groups you are donating to that you think could use some homemade items as well?
Let us know where we can be of service and we will be happy to add those groups, those needs, to our list.
Something like that. What do you think?
The goal is dead. Long live the goal!
Hello everyone,
I'd like to announce the goal for 2008. For 2008, I'd like for this group to make 4,000 items. As of today, just under 4,000 US soldiers have died in Iraq. I think it makes sense to continue to spread good in the name of those who have fallen, no matter how you feel about the war.
I also have the following ideas/questions.
1) Because our dear doclegs is getting eaten by her life, she will not be able to spearhead the continuing bag o'sunshine project in 08. Is there any one who would like to take this over?
2) I had 2 volunteers say they wanted to be in charge of some stuff for 2008. Craftyone, you volunteered for group growth, and newdaydawning, you volunteered for either contests or collecting non-crafted material. If you definitely want to do this, please respond by 12/15/07!
3) I thought of a new project called Christmas in July. There is a local women's shelter that is very near and dear to my heart. In my own county, homelessness has increased by 450%, so the shelters are all having a terrible time providing for their tennants. Since most people donate things at this time of year, the Summer can be tough for the homeless and the shelters that help them. So what if we tried to target one or two shelters and really inundate them with stuff they'd receive on July 25?
Thoughts, ideas, questions, complaints, comments, etc...more than welcome!
Thanks, everybody :)
I'd like to announce the goal for 2008. For 2008, I'd like for this group to make 4,000 items. As of today, just under 4,000 US soldiers have died in Iraq. I think it makes sense to continue to spread good in the name of those who have fallen, no matter how you feel about the war.
I also have the following ideas/questions.
1) Because our dear doclegs is getting eaten by her life, she will not be able to spearhead the continuing bag o'sunshine project in 08. Is there any one who would like to take this over?
2) I had 2 volunteers say they wanted to be in charge of some stuff for 2008. Craftyone, you volunteered for group growth, and newdaydawning, you volunteered for either contests or collecting non-crafted material. If you definitely want to do this, please respond by 12/15/07!
3) I thought of a new project called Christmas in July. There is a local women's shelter that is very near and dear to my heart. In my own county, homelessness has increased by 450%, so the shelters are all having a terrible time providing for their tennants. Since most people donate things at this time of year, the Summer can be tough for the homeless and the shelters that help them. So what if we tried to target one or two shelters and really inundate them with stuff they'd receive on July 25?
Thoughts, ideas, questions, complaints, comments, etc...more than welcome!
Thanks, everybody :)
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Wow.
WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In January, jpettibone and I talked about starting about our millionth group. The goal would be to make 3,000 items for charity in 2007 to honor the 3,000 US soldiers who at that time were counted as killed in Iraq. We did the math. 3,000 divided by 12 was, well, an awful lot of items. But we started the group anyway. We promoted the community to other livejournal communities and to the livejournal promo community and even bothered and begged our friends.
Slowly but surely, we noticed that a few people were following us. Death by yarn, doclegs, lindsoriah...you were some of the first ones I remember who joined us! 3,000 seemed like it was a long way away, but we were having a great time and we were doing some good. What better combination is there?
As the months went on a lot happened that sort of made making the actual goal irrelevant. We met a lot of wonderful people, we started working in all kinds of internet venues, and the stuff our members made was just always glorious and right from the heart. We made the lj spotlight over the Summer, which was fun and amazing and exciting. We started projects like Bags o' Sunshine that the wonderful doclegs so beautifully ran for us. We had the square contest run by funfairiegirl, and the wonderful crazigriffen who sewed all of those squares together for us.
As we got closer to the holidays, I didn't think we'd make 3,000. We had lots of projects going on but school and jobs seem to be in full force this time of year. So inconvenient! But Priscilla, Zort, and many others kept on plugging away. Then, all of a sudden, jezebel, ever the over-achiever, not only continued to run "how many people can we dress," but she also made a metric crap-load of cookies for a fundraiser! And then our dear singingjoy, so aptly named, just posted 144 amazing hand-made cards for A Million Thanks.
I hope that 2007 remains only the first of many many years for this group. I hope that we can grow into a non-profit charitable foundation someday. But I have to tell you, this year will always hold a special, special place in my heart because it was the first year. I first met all of you, and you were the pioneers who stuck around as we plodded on.
Thank you to you all. Let's relax for a month and start thinking about Year 2, the Sequel :D
In January, jpettibone and I talked about starting about our millionth group. The goal would be to make 3,000 items for charity in 2007 to honor the 3,000 US soldiers who at that time were counted as killed in Iraq. We did the math. 3,000 divided by 12 was, well, an awful lot of items. But we started the group anyway. We promoted the community to other livejournal communities and to the livejournal promo community and even bothered and begged our friends.
Slowly but surely, we noticed that a few people were following us. Death by yarn, doclegs, lindsoriah...you were some of the first ones I remember who joined us! 3,000 seemed like it was a long way away, but we were having a great time and we were doing some good. What better combination is there?
As the months went on a lot happened that sort of made making the actual goal irrelevant. We met a lot of wonderful people, we started working in all kinds of internet venues, and the stuff our members made was just always glorious and right from the heart. We made the lj spotlight over the Summer, which was fun and amazing and exciting. We started projects like Bags o' Sunshine that the wonderful doclegs so beautifully ran for us. We had the square contest run by funfairiegirl, and the wonderful crazigriffen who sewed all of those squares together for us.
As we got closer to the holidays, I didn't think we'd make 3,000. We had lots of projects going on but school and jobs seem to be in full force this time of year. So inconvenient! But Priscilla, Zort, and many others kept on plugging away. Then, all of a sudden, jezebel, ever the over-achiever, not only continued to run "how many people can we dress," but she also made a metric crap-load of cookies for a fundraiser! And then our dear singingjoy, so aptly named, just posted 144 amazing hand-made cards for A Million Thanks.
I hope that 2007 remains only the first of many many years for this group. I hope that we can grow into a non-profit charitable foundation someday. But I have to tell you, this year will always hold a special, special place in my heart because it was the first year. I first met all of you, and you were the pioneers who stuck around as we plodded on.
Thank you to you all. Let's relax for a month and start thinking about Year 2, the Sequel :D
Bake sale items ...
My final tally for the bake sale is:
14 bags of Bourbon spiced pecans
9 bags of cheese coins
4 jars of homemade plum preserves
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
two items to get us closer
the scarf? going to "scarves for patty" thing I've got going on at my blog. and the hat is done, although i don't have a picture of it up yet. i know i've made at least one more scarf this month, but i don't have a picture of it! so that's three if a non-picture item counts!
Can you feel it?!?!?
Thanks to a MASSIVE November, we are only 6 items away from 3,000.
I thought this goal was impossible 11 months ago.
Turns out we're a month early.
Y'all are unbelievable :) I can't wait to see what we do in 2008!!!
I thought this goal was impossible 11 months ago.
Turns out we're a month early.
Y'all are unbelievable :) I can't wait to see what we do in 2008!!!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Cookies!
Hi! The first of a few posts regarding the baked goods for the fundraiser I am chairing on Wednesday. The picture shows 18 bags with 3 cookies per bag for a total of 54 cookies. For those of you who are curious, they are Toffee Oatmeal Crisps :)
24 hats and counting....
I added 5 more hats that I made over Thanksgiving break to what I donated to the daycare.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
10....9....8....
Hey everyone!
As we head into the Turkey Day weekend, we are, unbelievably enough, only 10 items away from hitting 2,900 items!
Now, I know that eating to the point of pain can cause fatigue, but I am hoping to do a bunch of crafting this weekend. Let's see if we can hit 2,900 so that in December, we'll be counting down to 3,000!!
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it. We have so much to be thankful for, and hopefully we have given some others less fortunate a feeling of thankfulness as well.
As we head into the Turkey Day weekend, we are, unbelievably enough, only 10 items away from hitting 2,900 items!
Now, I know that eating to the point of pain can cause fatigue, but I am hoping to do a bunch of crafting this weekend. Let's see if we can hit 2,900 so that in December, we'll be counting down to 3,000!!
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it. We have so much to be thankful for, and hopefully we have given some others less fortunate a feeling of thankfulness as well.
9 hats to American Cancer Society
I donated 9 crocheted hats to American Cancer Society (Clay County) last Friday.
3 More FOs
I have 3 more FOs to post. I managed to finish one more scarf for my guild's donation to the Salvation Army.
I have finished my first pair of mittens for the Soaring Eagles project.
And I have crocheted a hat that will be donated to St. Jude's Children's Hospital.The reason I am posting these 3 projects now, as opposed to the end of the month, is that with these 3 items, I have completed my goal of making 100 items for charity this year! I am very excited, but the year isn't finished yet and neither am I. So I am having a little contest. I am asking everyone to guess how many more items I can finish for charity this year. I will announce the winner on New Year's Day. Details can be found on my blog.
I would also like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and to thank you all again for the inspiration and motivation you have all given me this year. I'm not sure I would have made that goal of 100 items for charity if I hadn't found this group. And I can't wait to see what we come up with for next year!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
HMPCWD
Deadline day is here!
My living room is stacked with boxes ready to sort :)
Realistically, I will not get to sorting until Sunday and then shipping on Monday, so there are a few cushion days left.
My plan is to ship to Chicago and Boston first. I know that it has been a fairly mild winter so far, but these two cities really do suffer some serious cold! All "extra" items that are not matched as part of an outfit will be held for the next shipment deadline. I will announce that along with a pic-a-palooza post regarding the final tally sometime next week.
I want y'all to know how great it has been receiving these boxes full of warm and woolly items. I will include our new charity "calling card" (i.e. homespun helpers jpeg) with the items that are shipped.
See you next week!
My living room is stacked with boxes ready to sort :)
Realistically, I will not get to sorting until Sunday and then shipping on Monday, so there are a few cushion days left.
My plan is to ship to Chicago and Boston first. I know that it has been a fairly mild winter so far, but these two cities really do suffer some serious cold! All "extra" items that are not matched as part of an outfit will be held for the next shipment deadline. I will announce that along with a pic-a-palooza post regarding the final tally sometime next week.
I want y'all to know how great it has been receiving these boxes full of warm and woolly items. I will include our new charity "calling card" (i.e. homespun helpers jpeg) with the items that are shipped.
See you next week!
Knit Unto Others 2007
I just wanted to let everyone know that today is the start of Knit Unto Others. This is a low key charity KAL that asks everyone to make one item for charity during the next 2 weeks. And if you let them know what you made, you will be entered into a drawing for prizes.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Some FOs!
Today is my crochet guild meeting, and this is the meeting where we collect hat, mitten & scarf sets for the Salvation Army. So I wanted to share my portion of the donation with you. I have been working on this all year (along with lots of other charity projects), and I have 7 sets and one hat to donate today.
On my blog, I have counted each set as one, but technically there are 8 handmade hats and 7 handmade scarves in the picture. (We cheat on the mittens and buy stretchy gloves to speed up the process.)
I have also finished 2 pairs of mittens that I am going to donate to "how many people can we dress".
Both pairs were made from Cascade 220 wool, so they will be appropriate for Afghans for Afghans.
Have a wonderful Veteran's Day!
On my blog, I have counted each set as one, but technically there are 8 handmade hats and 7 handmade scarves in the picture. (We cheat on the mittens and buy stretchy gloves to speed up the process.)I have also finished 2 pairs of mittens that I am going to donate to "how many people can we dress".
Both pairs were made from Cascade 220 wool, so they will be appropriate for Afghans for Afghans.Have a wonderful Veteran's Day!
ahhh, it's Sunday!
Well hi there everybody. Long time no see. My life is eating me. I guess that's a good thing, but crimeny! I just want to do my crafting, man! :)
Anyway, I write to check in on everyone, and also to pose an idea.
Tomorrow is Veterans Day, and I was thinking it would be neat if we could all try to make at least one thing tomorrow for the "Bag O'Sunshine" Drive. I think doclegs probably could still use some more bags and more stuff to put in them. Of course, this isn't a must, but just a thought.
Hope all are well!
Anyway, I write to check in on everyone, and also to pose an idea.
Tomorrow is Veterans Day, and I was thinking it would be neat if we could all try to make at least one thing tomorrow for the "Bag O'Sunshine" Drive. I think doclegs probably could still use some more bags and more stuff to put in them. Of course, this isn't a must, but just a thought.
Hope all are well!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
*Reminder*
Hi all :)
Just a friendly reminder that the first shipment of HMPCWD will be heading out in two weeks. Please comment below if you have any questions or need any further details from me.
Thanks!!
Just a friendly reminder that the first shipment of HMPCWD will be heading out in two weeks. Please comment below if you have any questions or need any further details from me.
Thanks!!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
WOOHOOOOO!
Happy Halloween, everybody! And a happy Halloween it is!
We have exceeded yet another goal, and now we need LESS, yes, LESS than 100 items in November to get us to 2,900 items!!!
So here is my new goal...3000 by Christmas. What do you think? :D
I have gotten some strong volunteer signals from Robyn at blogspot and from newdaydawning at livejournal. Robyn would like to be manager of group growth for 2008 and she already has some exciting ideas! Newdaydawning will be in charge of either managing contests or managing non-crafted donations.
We need one more person! Is there a manager hiding somewhere up in here? Trends in corporate America say the odds are high ;)
I am really looking forward to this holiday season with you all. Regardless of what holidays you celebrate, the Winter months are important because it is Wintery in so many places, and so many people could be helped by something silly like a little hat or mittens or socks. We can do a lot of good during these next few months, probably even more after the holidays than before.
Keep it up, everyone!
We have exceeded yet another goal, and now we need LESS, yes, LESS than 100 items in November to get us to 2,900 items!!!
So here is my new goal...3000 by Christmas. What do you think? :D
I have gotten some strong volunteer signals from Robyn at blogspot and from newdaydawning at livejournal. Robyn would like to be manager of group growth for 2008 and she already has some exciting ideas! Newdaydawning will be in charge of either managing contests or managing non-crafted donations.
We need one more person! Is there a manager hiding somewhere up in here? Trends in corporate America say the odds are high ;)
I am really looking forward to this holiday season with you all. Regardless of what holidays you celebrate, the Winter months are important because it is Wintery in so many places, and so many people could be helped by something silly like a little hat or mittens or socks. We can do a lot of good during these next few months, probably even more after the holidays than before.
Keep it up, everyone!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Since 2008 is an election year...
Or election ear as I just typed...:)
I had this image of our group growing by leaps and bounds next year. But how is that possible?!?
Well, I was thinking we could have people definitively in charge of certain parts of this here thing runs. I was thinking it would be great to have people in charge of the following:
1) Contests: You would determine the contests, make the rules, make sure people are following the rules, deal with any arguments when you say someone didn't follow the rules, determine prizes, and help to attain said prizes. This is a lot of responsibility but it could also be a lot of fun. We have found this year that contests are a great way to spur people on and it increases interest in the group. A lot of charitable groups offer prize incentives, not that charitable crafters want to get paid for their work, but it sparks some good ole fashioned, good natured competition!
2) Group growth: This person would be in charge of spreading the word. We're somewhere around 250 members this year. I want to be at 500 by the end of 2008. Yep, it's aggressive and may not be fully possible, but it's worth a shot. Primarily, I think this group could grow using the channels we already have -- livejournal, myspace, facebook, and blogspot. It might also be beneficial to try to start working relationships with other charitable groups. Offer to link to them if they link to us, etc. Ya know, that whole online thang :)
3) Non-crafted items: As we've seen this year, one of the most fun and most team-oriented projects is something that can involve both crafted and non-crafted items (like our Bags o'Sunshine). Zoanna over at 25thingsforcharity.blogspot.com has been putting together "katrina kits" that are ready for natural disasters (like the fires raging in SoCal). This person would be responsible for distributing/gathering non-crafted items for projects like this. I wouldn't want or expect this person to buy everything him or herself, but they would be the collection point for the whole year. I think it gets confusing when we have a different person in charge of different things all of the time.
Does this seem reasonable? Does anyone have any ideas? Do you want to have elected officials or volunteers? Let me know. Feedback desired! :)
I had this image of our group growing by leaps and bounds next year. But how is that possible?!?
Well, I was thinking we could have people definitively in charge of certain parts of this here thing runs. I was thinking it would be great to have people in charge of the following:
1) Contests: You would determine the contests, make the rules, make sure people are following the rules, deal with any arguments when you say someone didn't follow the rules, determine prizes, and help to attain said prizes. This is a lot of responsibility but it could also be a lot of fun. We have found this year that contests are a great way to spur people on and it increases interest in the group. A lot of charitable groups offer prize incentives, not that charitable crafters want to get paid for their work, but it sparks some good ole fashioned, good natured competition!
2) Group growth: This person would be in charge of spreading the word. We're somewhere around 250 members this year. I want to be at 500 by the end of 2008. Yep, it's aggressive and may not be fully possible, but it's worth a shot. Primarily, I think this group could grow using the channels we already have -- livejournal, myspace, facebook, and blogspot. It might also be beneficial to try to start working relationships with other charitable groups. Offer to link to them if they link to us, etc. Ya know, that whole online thang :)
3) Non-crafted items: As we've seen this year, one of the most fun and most team-oriented projects is something that can involve both crafted and non-crafted items (like our Bags o'Sunshine). Zoanna over at 25thingsforcharity.blogspot.com has been putting together "katrina kits" that are ready for natural disasters (like the fires raging in SoCal). This person would be responsible for distributing/gathering non-crafted items for projects like this. I wouldn't want or expect this person to buy everything him or herself, but they would be the collection point for the whole year. I think it gets confusing when we have a different person in charge of different things all of the time.
Does this seem reasonable? Does anyone have any ideas? Do you want to have elected officials or volunteers? Let me know. Feedback desired! :)
Thursday, October 25, 2007
My Recent FOs
I thought I would just post to update on my recent finishes:
two hats and one scarf which have been sent to Warm Up Winchester
two scarves which will soon be on their way to the HMPCWD campgain head quaters - I am hoping to finish a few more items before parcelling up so may miss the November deadline.
and three squares for a blanket that will be donated to Blankets for the Gulf by members of the Fiber Freaks Buletin Board.
two hats and one scarf which have been sent to Warm Up Winchester
two scarves which will soon be on their way to the HMPCWD campgain head quaters - I am hoping to finish a few more items before parcelling up so may miss the November deadline.
and three squares for a blanket that will be donated to Blankets for the Gulf by members of the Fiber Freaks Buletin Board.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
yayyyyyyyy :):):):):)
We're over the 2800 mark! Holy smokes!!! You all rock my socks. I mean, seriously. Who do you think you are? Super stars?
Well right you are!!!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Hey everybody
Sorry I've been modding in absentia. I've been busy!
Anyway, I just wanted to point out a little teeny thing.
We are at 2,777 items right now. I had set the goal of having 2,800 items at the end of October so that we would just need 100 items for November and December. We're sooooo close!!
Can we get 23 more items in a week or so? I think we can...I think we can...
I am trying to think of some neat things we can do at the beginning of 08 when all of the holidays will be over and Winter will have most of us trapped in our little crafty abodes. If anyone has any ideas along these lines, post 'em!
Thank you all again for all of your hard work. I know this is a real busy time for everyone with school and work and holidays coming up...everything you do is appreciated!
Anyway, I just wanted to point out a little teeny thing.
We are at 2,777 items right now. I had set the goal of having 2,800 items at the end of October so that we would just need 100 items for November and December. We're sooooo close!!
Can we get 23 more items in a week or so? I think we can...I think we can...
I am trying to think of some neat things we can do at the beginning of 08 when all of the holidays will be over and Winter will have most of us trapped in our little crafty abodes. If anyone has any ideas along these lines, post 'em!
Thank you all again for all of your hard work. I know this is a real busy time for everyone with school and work and holidays coming up...everything you do is appreciated!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
One More Mitten Charity
I've got one more mitten charity to let everyone know about. Lynne over at I was Knit Together in my Mother's Womb has announced that she is going to be collecting mittens again this year for her From Hearts to Hands project. The mittens will go to several groups in the Buffalo, NY area. I am hoping to send her a couple of pairs over the next few months.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Dealine Reminder
Hey Happy Crafters!!
A quick reminder that the deadline for the first shipment of HMPCWD is in one month:
November 15, 2007
I want to stress that this is only the first of what I hope will be a few shipments this winter. I have received so many wonderful items and look forward to tallying the number of people dressed!
Thanks for all your hard work :)
~ Jez
A quick reminder that the deadline for the first shipment of HMPCWD is in one month:
November 15, 2007
I want to stress that this is only the first of what I hope will be a few shipments this winter. I have received so many wonderful items and look forward to tallying the number of people dressed!
Thanks for all your hard work :)
~ Jez
Friday, October 12, 2007
Soaring Eagles Project
I just wanted to let everyone know that Rachel, aka the Procrastiknitter, is starting to organize the Soaring Eagles project again this year. She is looking for mittens and socks or slippers, although she is still deciding about sizes. The mittens may go to the younger children and the socks to the older children, or we may make both for everyone. (If you read the blog, the last sentence will make more sense!) This was one of my favorite charities last year, so I am very excited that we are doing it again. I think I like it because it is a small scale project (there are only 300 students at her school) and so it feels very immediate to me. Also, if any of you are on Ravelry, there is now a Soaring Eagles group over there as well.
This project has also reminded me of a post I wrote just about a year ago that lists sizes for hats, mittens and scarves for toddlers through adults. I thought I would link to it here because some of you might find it useful. If I have time today, I would like to edit it to add sock sizes as well.
This project has also reminded me of a post I wrote just about a year ago that lists sizes for hats, mittens and scarves for toddlers through adults. I thought I would link to it here because some of you might find it useful. If I have time today, I would like to edit it to add sock sizes as well.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Hey hey hey!
Oh, sorry...sssssssh. The community is sleeping :D
So, just checking in to see how everyone is doing. I'm having very bad luck with the vest I am working on. In fact, I am on take #4. Oy. This is why I don't make clothing that is supposed to fit properly!
Please remember that even if you aren't working on charity stuff right now, it'd be great to hear from you and just know how you are doing...what you are working on...ya know, the usual :)
I also wanted to let you know about a neat idea that is developing over at 25thingsforcharity.blogspot.com. Zoanna has come up with an idea for "Katrina Kits." The idea actually bears a resemblance to our "Bags O'Sunshine," so you might want to check out her posts and see if you can help her out. I invited her to post here but i haven't heard back yet.
Anyway, let me hear from ya and let's get some chatter going! :) It's.....aliiiiiiiiiive!!!
(I'm getting ready for Halloween if you couldn't tell...:P)
So, just checking in to see how everyone is doing. I'm having very bad luck with the vest I am working on. In fact, I am on take #4. Oy. This is why I don't make clothing that is supposed to fit properly!
Please remember that even if you aren't working on charity stuff right now, it'd be great to hear from you and just know how you are doing...what you are working on...ya know, the usual :)
I also wanted to let you know about a neat idea that is developing over at 25thingsforcharity.blogspot.com. Zoanna has come up with an idea for "Katrina Kits." The idea actually bears a resemblance to our "Bags O'Sunshine," so you might want to check out her posts and see if you can help her out. I invited her to post here but i haven't heard back yet.
Anyway, let me hear from ya and let's get some chatter going! :) It's.....aliiiiiiiiiive!!!
(I'm getting ready for Halloween if you couldn't tell...:P)
Monday, October 1, 2007
60 Scarves in 60 Days
Dee, one of my friends (online and in the real world), is having a challenge on her blog called "60 Scarves in 60 Days". She is looking for people to join her in making scarves for charity. The scarves can be donated anywhere. And if you blog about your scarf, she will put you into a drawing for a wonderful prize. The contest runs until October 31st, and you can follow the link for more info. Since we are making scarves for the veterans and others, this just seemed like a natural fit with what we are doing.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Have I told you all lately that I love you?
Cuz I do!!!
We are real close to that 2700 mark, which means if we do just a bit over 100 items in each month for the rest of the year, we will reach the 2007 goal of 3,000 items!!! So incredibly amazing!!!!! :):):):):):):)
I'm going to try to be brief in this post for once, but as we look to October, there are two basic projects going on that we can all work together to help with (in addition to whatever you want to do on your own, of course).
Project #1:
How many people can we dress?
I know that Jezebelsf has already gotten some stunning sets for this. I mean, heck, she got stuff from me! ;) No, I keed, I keed. Anyway, I think this project is going pretty well. Remember that Jezebel will be collecting items for our first run until November 15, and right now she is running a bit short on gloves/mittens, though any contribution is great! She will be shipping things to Afghans for Afghans and homeless shelters in a few cities around the nation, so everyone should receive that first batch in time for the holidays.
Project #2:
Winter run for the Bags O'Sunshine
Doclegs is asking for Bags O'Sunshine, the sequel. In addition to bags, she is hoping to donate hats & scarves to keep our veteran friends warm. Mostly male type colors for those fellas if you can.
Please send all stuff to her at:
PO Box 20142
Columbus, OH 43220-0142
Supplemental is Treehuggers Bag O' Sunshine Sweets, mini bags that will hold some candy kisses or what have you. Send these along to both Jezebel and doclegs as they can be woven into both of these projects. (Ugottafriend, this would be a great beginner sewing project for you...we just need 3x3 bags!)
I also believe we had a volunteer who would work on collecting non-crafted items for the "how many people can we dress" project...perhaps she could send stuff to doclegs too? Work amongst each other :)
So, I don't think I'm going to set any more numerical goals...we are shooting for 3000 at this point, at the end game is midnight on New Years Eve. I'd like to think i won't be sitting in front of my computer tallying on NYE, but ya never know :)
Thank you, everybody, for a great month and a beyond-expectations year. You are all beyond awesome.
We are real close to that 2700 mark, which means if we do just a bit over 100 items in each month for the rest of the year, we will reach the 2007 goal of 3,000 items!!! So incredibly amazing!!!!! :):):):):):):)
I'm going to try to be brief in this post for once, but as we look to October, there are two basic projects going on that we can all work together to help with (in addition to whatever you want to do on your own, of course).
Project #1:
How many people can we dress?
I know that Jezebelsf has already gotten some stunning sets for this. I mean, heck, she got stuff from me! ;) No, I keed, I keed. Anyway, I think this project is going pretty well. Remember that Jezebel will be collecting items for our first run until November 15, and right now she is running a bit short on gloves/mittens, though any contribution is great! She will be shipping things to Afghans for Afghans and homeless shelters in a few cities around the nation, so everyone should receive that first batch in time for the holidays.
Project #2:
Winter run for the Bags O'Sunshine
Doclegs is asking for Bags O'Sunshine, the sequel. In addition to bags, she is hoping to donate hats & scarves to keep our veteran friends warm. Mostly male type colors for those fellas if you can.
Please send all stuff to her at:
PO Box 20142
Columbus, OH 43220-0142
Supplemental is Treehuggers Bag O' Sunshine Sweets, mini bags that will hold some candy kisses or what have you. Send these along to both Jezebel and doclegs as they can be woven into both of these projects. (Ugottafriend, this would be a great beginner sewing project for you...we just need 3x3 bags!)
I also believe we had a volunteer who would work on collecting non-crafted items for the "how many people can we dress" project...perhaps she could send stuff to doclegs too? Work amongst each other :)
So, I don't think I'm going to set any more numerical goals...we are shooting for 3000 at this point, at the end game is midnight on New Years Eve. I'd like to think i won't be sitting in front of my computer tallying on NYE, but ya never know :)
Thank you, everybody, for a great month and a beyond-expectations year. You are all beyond awesome.
robyn's september tally
september's been a busier month for me, with more knitting and crocheting getting done now that the heat's broken a bit.
first up was this preemie hat, booties and mitts set i made. i'm in contact with someone at one of our area NICU's, so i'm going to be making tons of these sets for the itsies.
next i made these four knitted squares for the ghana project. she wants the ends to be left un-woven in, which is so perfect for me!
then i finally finished up the second sock in this pair for the monkey's mom. (she loves them, btw)
i found what has quickly become my new favorite granny square pattern and busted through these six squares, also for the ghana project.
then i found some more "scrap yarn" i had and made these four squares. i've got another one all but done, so i'll count that one in, too, for five grey/black squares.
sensing i might have gotten a little addicted to granny squares, i made a scarf to send to my mom for the breast cancer center.
and finally, i got this adorable set of booties, mitts and a hat made up for the NICU.
so that's .... 23 items (booties and mitts count one item per pair) made this month!! much better than last month!
first up was this preemie hat, booties and mitts set i made. i'm in contact with someone at one of our area NICU's, so i'm going to be making tons of these sets for the itsies.
next i made these four knitted squares for the ghana project. she wants the ends to be left un-woven in, which is so perfect for me!
then i finally finished up the second sock in this pair for the monkey's mom. (she loves them, btw)
i found what has quickly become my new favorite granny square pattern and busted through these six squares, also for the ghana project.
then i found some more "scrap yarn" i had and made these four squares. i've got another one all but done, so i'll count that one in, too, for five grey/black squares.
sensing i might have gotten a little addicted to granny squares, i made a scarf to send to my mom for the breast cancer center.
and finally, i got this adorable set of booties, mitts and a hat made up for the NICU.so that's .... 23 items (booties and mitts count one item per pair) made this month!! much better than last month!
September FOs
I haven't accomplished much this month, but I did finish a scarf and a pair of mittens for Warm Up Winchester:
I used a Cleckheaton wool for the scarf and Plymouth Encore for the mittens.
I am also happy to report that I had set myself a personal goal of making 100 items for charity this year, and these two items bring me to 93 completed items. Since it is only September, I think I have a good shot at meeting or exceeding my goal for the year. I do want to say thank you to this community, because your enthusiasm and the beautiful items you all are creating have really spurred me on to meet what originally seemed like an impossible goal. I feel very fortunate to have found you and to be a part of this community.
I used a Cleckheaton wool for the scarf and Plymouth Encore for the mittens.I am also happy to report that I had set myself a personal goal of making 100 items for charity this year, and these two items bring me to 93 completed items. Since it is only September, I think I have a good shot at meeting or exceeding my goal for the year. I do want to say thank you to this community, because your enthusiasm and the beautiful items you all are creating have really spurred me on to meet what originally seemed like an impossible goal. I feel very fortunate to have found you and to be a part of this community.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Hey, I have a question for ya
How much would you be willing to spend on beautiful yarn like this??
Me? I'd be willing to pay $10-15 for sure.
Well, as it happens, this very yarn is one of the prizes you can win if you donate to Funfairiegirl's lupus walk!! For every $5 you donate, your name gets put into a raffle, and let me tell you, if you think this prize is beautiful...it has some VERY good company.
So, let's do the math. We could all go to our own respective stores or online funspots and buy yarn for $10-15, which would be great, for sure, but we wouldn't have that warm fuzzy feeling afterwards. OR, we could donate maybe part or all of that skein of money to the lupus walk, and we might win the yarn anyway! Of course, if you really want to guarantee that you have something tangible out of this apart from a cure for lupus, you could always donate 2 skeins worth of money just to be sure.
Funfairiegirl will be entering people into her raffle until October 6th and the drawing will be October 7, so there is still some time for you to sneak on over there. Go visit Her blog to learn more and to link to her donation site. Be sure to scroll down to see pictures of all of the amazing prizes you could win! And remember, it's all for an excellent, excellent cause :)
Me? I'd be willing to pay $10-15 for sure.
Well, as it happens, this very yarn is one of the prizes you can win if you donate to Funfairiegirl's lupus walk!! For every $5 you donate, your name gets put into a raffle, and let me tell you, if you think this prize is beautiful...it has some VERY good company.
So, let's do the math. We could all go to our own respective stores or online funspots and buy yarn for $10-15, which would be great, for sure, but we wouldn't have that warm fuzzy feeling afterwards. OR, we could donate maybe part or all of that skein of money to the lupus walk, and we might win the yarn anyway! Of course, if you really want to guarantee that you have something tangible out of this apart from a cure for lupus, you could always donate 2 skeins worth of money just to be sure.
Funfairiegirl will be entering people into her raffle until October 6th and the drawing will be October 7, so there is still some time for you to sneak on over there. Go visit Her blog to learn more and to link to her donation site. Be sure to scroll down to see pictures of all of the amazing prizes you could win! And remember, it's all for an excellent, excellent cause :)
Friday, September 28, 2007
Hey hey everybody!
Well, here we are. The last weekend of September. Can you believe it?!? This month has flown. Man.
Just a reminder that the goal for this month was 2700 items, which means we'd need a slightly miraculous 100+ weekend event :) I know, I know. It's the busiest time of the year, and there is no pressure, but if you are feeling like getting into the Fall spirit, get some of that hot chocolate out and knit & crochet a little :)
Hope everybody is well! Is anyone working on holiday stuff yet?
Just a reminder that the goal for this month was 2700 items, which means we'd need a slightly miraculous 100+ weekend event :) I know, I know. It's the busiest time of the year, and there is no pressure, but if you are feeling like getting into the Fall spirit, get some of that hot chocolate out and knit & crochet a little :)
Hope everybody is well! Is anyone working on holiday stuff yet?
Saturday, September 22, 2007
new items!!!
Hello everyone! I hope all of you are in the midst of a great weekend :)
I just wanted to let everyone know that I received a box from joriejc2 and THREE boxes from snoopingmother today!! Thanks so much for all the great, colorful items.
There have been other shipments, but not everyone included their LJ or blogspot username. If you live in Rhode Island or Scaramento, California and have sent me some really wonderful craft pieces, then thank you too :)
I would like to make another call for socks and/or slippers as well as gloves/mittens.
I am taking a class (yes, I will make this one) at my local knit store entitled "Learn to Make Mittens." After three classes, I will at least have one set completed and the ability to make more. They do have a sock class, but the pre-req is knowing how to knit on double-pointed needles. I don't :(
Again, needing mittens/gloves and socks/slippers does NOT mean that I do not want to receive other items. I am simply letting everyone know what is lacking.
Thanks!!!!
I just wanted to let everyone know that I received a box from joriejc2 and THREE boxes from snoopingmother today!! Thanks so much for all the great, colorful items.
There have been other shipments, but not everyone included their LJ or blogspot username. If you live in Rhode Island or Scaramento, California and have sent me some really wonderful craft pieces, then thank you too :)
I would like to make another call for socks and/or slippers as well as gloves/mittens.
I am taking a class (yes, I will make this one) at my local knit store entitled "Learn to Make Mittens." After three classes, I will at least have one set completed and the ability to make more. They do have a sock class, but the pre-req is knowing how to knit on double-pointed needles. I don't :(
Again, needing mittens/gloves and socks/slippers does NOT mean that I do not want to receive other items. I am simply letting everyone know what is lacking.
Thanks!!!!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Another cool charity that takes squares, and my knitting life
Hey everyone!
So I'm not in the Boston area, and decided to get myself on the SnB Boston listserv in the hopes of finding local knitters and knitting circles.
Anyways, there's a knit a thon which was advertised on the listserv, which I'd like to share with you guys:
http://www.pinestreetinn.org/knit-a-thon/
They are collecting 9 x 9 squares to put together in big blankets, and will be doing the assembly during the knit-a-thon on Sunday Nov. 4th.
Although they're encouraging people to come to the event itself, they are also collecting squares sent through the mail. And they also want people to collect pledges per square knitted, (info can be found here) but I think they will also accept squares w/o the pledges, since they also want to make as many blankets as possible.
And if you're in the area, a yarn store in Brookline called A Good Yarn (http://www.agoodyarn.biz/) is donating yarn for the squares.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In my own life, right now in the Jewish year we are in a 10-day period called the Days of Awe/Days of Repentance/Yamim Noraim. It's a time where Jews are supposed to repent and stuff, in the hopes that whatever horrible decree that has been given to us by God should be reversed by us showing we are changing our ways...
I'm going to save the theological debate about the 10 days and their implications for my own blog. (There are so many aspects that can be debated. And this is what Divinity students like me do...) So on to the relevant part.
Most of the time people celebrating these days try to pray more, observe more commandments, or apologize to all the people who they've wronged during the year and beg for forgiveness. Etc. Though among the 5 things listed that we can do to save ourselves is charity.
I've decided that for myself, I'd like to make as many knitted items as I can for charity during this time period. Though already I've been limited to only 6 days in this period of actual knitting, since the first 3 and the last are all holidays on which I cannot knit.
So hopefully this will pan out into me doing something good. We'll see what actually happens, especially once I start classes tomorrow...
So I'm not in the Boston area, and decided to get myself on the SnB Boston listserv in the hopes of finding local knitters and knitting circles.
Anyways, there's a knit a thon which was advertised on the listserv, which I'd like to share with you guys:
http://www.pinestreetinn.org/knit-a-thon/
They are collecting 9 x 9 squares to put together in big blankets, and will be doing the assembly during the knit-a-thon on Sunday Nov. 4th.
Although they're encouraging people to come to the event itself, they are also collecting squares sent through the mail. And they also want people to collect pledges per square knitted, (info can be found here) but I think they will also accept squares w/o the pledges, since they also want to make as many blankets as possible.
And if you're in the area, a yarn store in Brookline called A Good Yarn (http://www.agoodyarn.biz/) is donating yarn for the squares.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In my own life, right now in the Jewish year we are in a 10-day period called the Days of Awe/Days of Repentance/Yamim Noraim. It's a time where Jews are supposed to repent and stuff, in the hopes that whatever horrible decree that has been given to us by God should be reversed by us showing we are changing our ways...
I'm going to save the theological debate about the 10 days and their implications for my own blog. (There are so many aspects that can be debated. And this is what Divinity students like me do...) So on to the relevant part.
Most of the time people celebrating these days try to pray more, observe more commandments, or apologize to all the people who they've wronged during the year and beg for forgiveness. Etc. Though among the 5 things listed that we can do to save ourselves is charity.
I've decided that for myself, I'd like to make as many knitted items as I can for charity during this time period. Though already I've been limited to only 6 days in this period of actual knitting, since the first 3 and the last are all holidays on which I cannot knit.
So hopefully this will pan out into me doing something good. We'll see what actually happens, especially once I start classes tomorrow...
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Hello fellow helpers
Hey all,
It's gotten quiet again, so just thought I'd post and see what y'all are up to. I finished my first ever cardigan, and apart from the fact that the gauge is so wrong it's not even funny even though I used a crochet hook 3 sizes larger than what the pattern called for, it's great! I think I used a yarn that was too heavy, so the pattern didn't stay light and airy. At least that's my story.
I also want to tell you all about a story I saw on the NBC Nightly News last night. Perhaps you saw it too. Anyway, it was about a group called Voices of September 11th, and the things these folks are doing are just beautiful. If you go to http://www.voicesofsept11.org you will see what I am talking about, but basically this website is collecting stories and biographies and items of/from people who died on 9/11, and they are also trying to help the families and survivors.
I e-mailed the founder this morning to see if we could help. The site has an online store and I thought perhaps we could donate red, white, and blue afghans or something like that that she could sell to help support her work. I'll let you know if I hear anything.
I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the Fall...here where I live, the weather quite suddenly became cool and crisp!
It's gotten quiet again, so just thought I'd post and see what y'all are up to. I finished my first ever cardigan, and apart from the fact that the gauge is so wrong it's not even funny even though I used a crochet hook 3 sizes larger than what the pattern called for, it's great! I think I used a yarn that was too heavy, so the pattern didn't stay light and airy. At least that's my story.
I also want to tell you all about a story I saw on the NBC Nightly News last night. Perhaps you saw it too. Anyway, it was about a group called Voices of September 11th, and the things these folks are doing are just beautiful. If you go to http://www.voicesofsept11.org you will see what I am talking about, but basically this website is collecting stories and biographies and items of/from people who died on 9/11, and they are also trying to help the families and survivors.
I e-mailed the founder this morning to see if we could help. The site has an online store and I thought perhaps we could donate red, white, and blue afghans or something like that that she could sell to help support her work. I'll let you know if I hear anything.
I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the Fall...here where I live, the weather quite suddenly became cool and crisp!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
On this somber day
For those of us within the US, today is a heavy day. It is hard to believe that THE 9/11 was already six years ago.
With that being said, I think today is not necessarily a day just to feel sad, but rather today is a good time to reflect on our good fortunes.
It is one of my greatest delights to work with all of you in trying to spread a little sunshine, especially on sorrowful days like today. You are a wonderful host of people. I feel empowered to think that if, heaven forbid, something bad befalls us or others around the country or world, we will be able to at least do something small to help out those in need. I hope that you all appreciate how special you and all of your efforts are.
Peace.
With that being said, I think today is not necessarily a day just to feel sad, but rather today is a good time to reflect on our good fortunes.
It is one of my greatest delights to work with all of you in trying to spread a little sunshine, especially on sorrowful days like today. You are a wonderful host of people. I feel empowered to think that if, heaven forbid, something bad befalls us or others around the country or world, we will be able to at least do something small to help out those in need. I hope that you all appreciate how special you and all of your efforts are.
Peace.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Help me find a Cure for Lupus!
As I have been saying, I am doing the Lupus Walk fundraiser again this year. Woohoo! For all my knitterly friends, I am having a thank you drawing. For every $5 you donate to the walk, I will put your name in a hat and draw for some FABULOUS prizes!!!! Those Prizes will be posted here over the coming weeks. So far there is fiber, jewelry, sock blockers, project bags!
I am so excited to be able to do this for everyone as a thank you for helping me work to find a cure - because lupus sucks!!!! Seriously.
So, go to my Lupus Walk page and click on Make a Gift! In the comments, put podcast or blog or something that tells me you came from here (cause I have family and friends who don't care a bit about getting fun stuff (shocking I KNOW!!!!) so I am not including those non-knitting souls in the fun (more for you!!!!!!!!!)
My goal this year is to raise $5000. I think that is totally doable. The walk is on October 6. All donations must be received by then.
Now...for the first prize that was donated and you could win...These are the Turtle Daddy Sock Blockers available at Turtlegirl76's etsy shop. The pictured pair are the large women's/medium men's, however I am not entirely sure which size/color combo is being donated - we chatted about it this weekend, but never settled on it because, well, we were busy buying yarn!!!
I chose this particular color/size to show them off though, because I happened to paint this pair. That's right. This fairie also paints sock blockers (in exhange for vodka and stitch markers - I am easy, what can I say???)
So - go check out what else Cristi has to offer and stay tuned for more items to come!!!
Some Lupus facts:
Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease in which a person's immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own tissue.
Lupus can cause life-threatening damage to major organs such as the kidneys, lungs, heart and central nervous system.Lupus is the leading cause of death among women with autoimmune diseases who are in their childbearing years (ages 15-45).
Women are five times more likely to die from lupus than men, and African Americans are three times more likely to die from lupus than caucasians.
That's right, folks, LUPUS KILLS!!! Yeah, I look fine right now, but I hurt and this stupid disease kills! Help me find a cure!!!
I am so excited to be able to do this for everyone as a thank you for helping me work to find a cure - because lupus sucks!!!! Seriously.
So, go to my Lupus Walk page and click on Make a Gift! In the comments, put podcast or blog or something that tells me you came from here (cause I have family and friends who don't care a bit about getting fun stuff (shocking I KNOW!!!!) so I am not including those non-knitting souls in the fun (more for you!!!!!!!!!)
My goal this year is to raise $5000. I think that is totally doable. The walk is on October 6. All donations must be received by then.
Now...for the first prize that was donated and you could win...These are the Turtle Daddy Sock Blockers available at Turtlegirl76's etsy shop. The pictured pair are the large women's/medium men's, however I am not entirely sure which size/color combo is being donated - we chatted about it this weekend, but never settled on it because, well, we were busy buying yarn!!!
I chose this particular color/size to show them off though, because I happened to paint this pair. That's right. This fairie also paints sock blockers (in exhange for vodka and stitch markers - I am easy, what can I say???)
So - go check out what else Cristi has to offer and stay tuned for more items to come!!!
Some Lupus facts:
Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease in which a person's immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own tissue.
Lupus can cause life-threatening damage to major organs such as the kidneys, lungs, heart and central nervous system.Lupus is the leading cause of death among women with autoimmune diseases who are in their childbearing years (ages 15-45).
Women are five times more likely to die from lupus than men, and African Americans are three times more likely to die from lupus than caucasians.
That's right, folks, LUPUS KILLS!!! Yeah, I look fine right now, but I hurt and this stupid disease kills! Help me find a cure!!!
Clarification
Yes, HMPCWD does need mittens/scarves and slippers/socks!!
However, that does not mean that people should not still work on hats and scarves. I just promised to put calls out based on what I had received and what FO's had been posted.
Please DO NOT think that I will not accept anymore hats and scarves. After all, I am trying to work my way past scarves and into hats ;)
Lastly, the deadline is tentatively set for November 15, 2007. I would like to have the items sorted and shipped no later than the first week of December. This way our awesome items will be warming as many people as possible for the winter holidays!!
Thanks again for all the hard work that is going into each item you all craft :)
However, that does not mean that people should not still work on hats and scarves. I just promised to put calls out based on what I had received and what FO's had been posted.
Please DO NOT think that I will not accept anymore hats and scarves. After all, I am trying to work my way past scarves and into hats ;)
Lastly, the deadline is tentatively set for November 15, 2007. I would like to have the items sorted and shipped no later than the first week of December. This way our awesome items will be warming as many people as possible for the winter holidays!!
Thanks again for all the hard work that is going into each item you all craft :)
Saturday, September 8, 2007
quick update
Hey everyone!
I am really happy to see all the recent posts regarding HMPCWD. I will post pics soon of all the items received so far :)
Now I need to put a call out for mittens/gloves and socks!!! We have crafted some really beautiful hats and scarves, but only one pair of mittens and no socks. For all of you who are super with socks and masterful with mittens, I look forward to seeing your handiwork :)
I am bummed because I wanted to take a hat class tomorrow and next Sunday. I really want to my broaden my knitting repertoire. Unfortunately, I have a work conflict tomorrow and a picnic/fundraiser next Sunday. Oh well. Maybe next month ...
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
I am really happy to see all the recent posts regarding HMPCWD. I will post pics soon of all the items received so far :)
Now I need to put a call out for mittens/gloves and socks!!! We have crafted some really beautiful hats and scarves, but only one pair of mittens and no socks. For all of you who are super with socks and masterful with mittens, I look forward to seeing your handiwork :)
I am bummed because I wanted to take a hat class tomorrow and next Sunday. I really want to my broaden my knitting repertoire. Unfortunately, I have a work conflict tomorrow and a picnic/fundraiser next Sunday. Oh well. Maybe next month ...
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Monday, September 3, 2007
Message from Treehugger06
Treehugger and blogspot are fighting, so I am copying this post on Treehugger's behalf. We are hoping that someone will help moderate so that Treehugger and blogspot can once again cooperate with each other ;)
************************************************************************************
Treehugger06 from LJ, here....
Jorie and I emailed yesterday, talking about adding another ongoing project to the list of ongoing projects; specifically Bag O' Sunshine and How Many People Can We Dress (HMPCWD). The idea is to make Bag O'Sunshine Sweets which would call for making 3 inch x 3 inch cloth drawstring bags and filling them with 4-5 pieces of wrapped holiday candy.�
I'd like to stay away from Christmas Theme materials, so that everyone can be included and no one is offended. So... snowflakes, snow-people, penguins, winter birds, plaids etc. would be great for bag material.�
We'd also like that the candy be donated, as well. I was thinking Hershey's Kisses or other wrapped candy like Starbursts would be great fillers for the bags.�
I'd appreciate any help with this project. If you want to make bags, I'll be happy to collect, fill and send to Bag O'Sunshine and HMPCWD. If you'd like to donate fillers, that would be awesome, too.�
Please contact me at happy_frog@comcast.net if you'd like to help out in any way.
Thanks!
************************************************************************************
Treehugger06 from LJ, here....
Jorie and I emailed yesterday, talking about adding another ongoing project to the list of ongoing projects; specifically Bag O' Sunshine and How Many People Can We Dress (HMPCWD). The idea is to make Bag O'Sunshine Sweets which would call for making 3 inch x 3 inch cloth drawstring bags and filling them with 4-5 pieces of wrapped holiday candy.�
I'd like to stay away from Christmas Theme materials, so that everyone can be included and no one is offended. So... snowflakes, snow-people, penguins, winter birds, plaids etc. would be great for bag material.�
We'd also like that the candy be donated, as well. I was thinking Hershey's Kisses or other wrapped candy like Starbursts would be great fillers for the bags.�
I'd appreciate any help with this project. If you want to make bags, I'll be happy to collect, fill and send to Bag O'Sunshine and HMPCWD. If you'd like to donate fillers, that would be awesome, too.�
Please contact me at happy_frog@comcast.net if you'd like to help out in any way.
Thanks!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Dream of September, it's nice to remember
Hello! echo echo echo echo
I know not many folks are probably around this weekend, between school years starting, the holiday, family...all that jazz. Still, just like on Broadway, the show must go on. And therefore, I humbly submit to everyone some goals for September as we say goodbye to a much much much better August than expected!
So, goal number one...I'd like to see us hit 2700 items in September. That way, in October, November, and December, we'll only have to 100 items each to meet the goal of 3,000, which would be pretty darned tootin' awesome. That's asking or 250 items for September, or there-abouts, which I know is pretty sizeable for this time of year, but a goal is just something to shoot for :)
I still would like us try to get up to 300 members. I'm going to be posting around to some communities to see if there is any interest in joining forces, as it were, but if you are part of any crafty or charity communities, perhaps you could try to get the word about us out a bit. As you all know, joining this community just means everything you do is killing 2 birds with one stone :)
I am very excited about the amount of people who have supported Warm Up Winchester and other projects that our members have posted about here. Let's keep that sort of cooperation going! We love for people to join us, but we can also join other people in their efforts, and well we should!
I am also excited about some projects we have going on. Doclegs is collecting hats and scarves to give to veterans around the holidays, and Jezebelsf is collecting items in order to make full "outfits", which will then be distributed to Afghans for Afghans, Warm up Winchester, and some homeless shelters in select cities. Jezebelsf is still looking for a volunteer who could be a collection point for non-crafted items that could be donated along with the outfits...someone who could collect granola bars or toiletries or whatever. I believe one of the ideas was to put items like that in the hats that we collect so that folks can have the hat and the stuff inside it...kind of a close cousin to the "bag o' sunshine" idea. If you are a member of this group but are not a big crafter, this would be an AWESOME way to help. Once you've collected stuff, you would send it all to Jezebelsf, who would then work it into her shipments.
I know September is going to be a busy time, just because it always is, and because as crafters, we are starting to sweat about the holidays already. Please know that I have every intention of keeping this community going for a long time to come, and we have already FAR surpassed everything I truly thought possible. Do what you can and what you want, but there is no pressure here.
Thanks, everybody!
I know not many folks are probably around this weekend, between school years starting, the holiday, family...all that jazz. Still, just like on Broadway, the show must go on. And therefore, I humbly submit to everyone some goals for September as we say goodbye to a much much much better August than expected!
So, goal number one...I'd like to see us hit 2700 items in September. That way, in October, November, and December, we'll only have to 100 items each to meet the goal of 3,000, which would be pretty darned tootin' awesome. That's asking or 250 items for September, or there-abouts, which I know is pretty sizeable for this time of year, but a goal is just something to shoot for :)
I still would like us try to get up to 300 members. I'm going to be posting around to some communities to see if there is any interest in joining forces, as it were, but if you are part of any crafty or charity communities, perhaps you could try to get the word about us out a bit. As you all know, joining this community just means everything you do is killing 2 birds with one stone :)
I am very excited about the amount of people who have supported Warm Up Winchester and other projects that our members have posted about here. Let's keep that sort of cooperation going! We love for people to join us, but we can also join other people in their efforts, and well we should!
I am also excited about some projects we have going on. Doclegs is collecting hats and scarves to give to veterans around the holidays, and Jezebelsf is collecting items in order to make full "outfits", which will then be distributed to Afghans for Afghans, Warm up Winchester, and some homeless shelters in select cities. Jezebelsf is still looking for a volunteer who could be a collection point for non-crafted items that could be donated along with the outfits...someone who could collect granola bars or toiletries or whatever. I believe one of the ideas was to put items like that in the hats that we collect so that folks can have the hat and the stuff inside it...kind of a close cousin to the "bag o' sunshine" idea. If you are a member of this group but are not a big crafter, this would be an AWESOME way to help. Once you've collected stuff, you would send it all to Jezebelsf, who would then work it into her shipments.
I know September is going to be a busy time, just because it always is, and because as crafters, we are starting to sweat about the holidays already. Please know that I have every intention of keeping this community going for a long time to come, and we have already FAR surpassed everything I truly thought possible. Do what you can and what you want, but there is no pressure here.
Thanks, everybody!
August Update
Hello everyone!
I didn't get as much done this month as I would have liked, but I did finish a few things.
This is an example of one of the 9 hats I made this month. 3 went to Afghans for Afghans, 2 are Chemo hats, and 4 are meant for the group project.
This is for the Red Scarf Project
A prayer shawl that I sent to the Chaplain at Walter Reed Family Outreach.
And I also completed another snuggle blanket for ARF. 13 items for me this month.
I'm trying to finish up a Project Linus blanket and a few more scarves during September. I also have to finish some Christmas gifts, so it should be another busy month!
Venka
solslett.blogspot.com
I didn't get as much done this month as I would have liked, but I did finish a few things.
This is an example of one of the 9 hats I made this month. 3 went to Afghans for Afghans, 2 are Chemo hats, and 4 are meant for the group project.
This is for the Red Scarf Project
A prayer shawl that I sent to the Chaplain at Walter Reed Family Outreach.
And I also completed another snuggle blanket for ARF. 13 items for me this month.
I'm trying to finish up a Project Linus blanket and a few more scarves during September. I also have to finish some Christmas gifts, so it should be another busy month!
Venka
solslett.blogspot.com
Friday, August 31, 2007
August FO's
Ok y'all .... try not to faint, but I have FO's ... yup ... my first ever!!
13 squares for WUA (lucky 13)
10 made by me
3 made by memama
2 Scarves for HMPCWD
maroon wool made by me
scarf with fringe made by memama
I am taking a hat class in September at my local knit shop and I hope also to learn how to make mittens :)
Many thanks to those who have sent items. I am going to wait a few more days, and then I will post pics of items I have received so far.
13 squares for WUA (lucky 13)
10 made by me
3 made by memama
2 Scarves for HMPCWD
maroon wool made by me
scarf with fringe made by memama
I am taking a hat class in September at my local knit shop and I hope also to learn how to make mittens :)
Many thanks to those who have sent items. I am going to wait a few more days, and then I will post pics of items I have received so far.
Some FOs
The first set I posted and is already counted, but I didn't post it over here. The second set I just finished tonight. Both sets will be going to jezebelsf for "how many people can we dress."
Picture #1:
And tonight's set:
Picture #1:
And tonight's set:
August FOs
I have not completed as much as I would have liked in August but have managed to complete 6 squares (all of which need blocking). - 2 bright pink 12" squares which I will be sending to Priscilla who is making a Fibre Freaks afghan to donate to Blankets for the Gulf;
- 2 7" squares which I am going to send to The Ghana Project;
- and 2 blue squares which will be going to Close Knit hugs once I have completed a few more for them.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
fo's for august
hey there! it's been another super slow month for me where knitting/crocheting is concerned, but i've got a few fo's to share with you.
- i made a pair of socks for my boyfriend. i don't know if that counts towards the total, but i finished them.
- i made two blankets for the preemies at the local hospital. they're so tiny, but my contact said they needed them as small as 12 x 12.
- i made a hat and booties set, also for the nicu.
2 More for the Count
I haven't accomplished a lot this month, but I have finished 2 more items for Warm Up Winchester.
Both the hat and the scarf are made out of 100% wool, so they should be warm. And I got both patterns from Stitch and Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker.
Both the hat and the scarf are made out of 100% wool, so they should be warm. And I got both patterns from Stitch and Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker.Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Alright, I can't resist
We have 2 full days of August left. Right now we are at 2,385 items finished.
So goal number one...can we get to 2390?
Or...could we get to 2400???
Let's find out the answer to these and other questions :)
You all rock.
So goal number one...can we get to 2390?
Or...could we get to 2400???
Let's find out the answer to these and other questions :)
You all rock.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
9 More WUA Squares
I didn't have a lot of time for charity crafting earlier in the month, but this past weekend I sat down with 2 skeins of Plymouth Encore from my stash to see how many WUA squares I could make. My thought was that if needed, some or all of these squares could be used in the Patternworks challenge afghan. If they aren't needed for that afghan, then they can be used in any WUA afghan. By mixing and matching the two colors, I managed to get 9 squares.
The daisy square in the second picture is going to be sent to Krochet Krystal for one of her charity afghans. I made that one out of Caron Simply Soft.
I think this will end my "summer of squares". I am going to shift gears now and work on hats, mittens and scarves this fall.
The daisy square in the second picture is going to be sent to Krochet Krystal for one of her charity afghans. I made that one out of Caron Simply Soft.I think this will end my "summer of squares". I am going to shift gears now and work on hats, mittens and scarves this fall.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Clarifications/Questions
Hey all my lovely co-charitable-crafters!
I wanted to see if I could clarify the vision of the "how many people can we dress" thang...though this is certainly a democracy and if there are any thoughts that is totally cool.
The jist is that much like the Bags O'Sunshine was a separate project in which people could participate or not, the "How Many People Can We Dress" is also something separate. Now I think there is a little bit of confusion because one of the places this project will donate to is Warm Up Winchester, but the idea is to use the generous JezebelSF as the hub. She will organize hats, scarves, mittens, gloves, etc into outfits, which will then be sent to various city shelters around the nation. Whereas one-offs can certainly be sent, the idea of this particular goal is to be able to send actual outfit components out together.
As per Jezebel's most recent post, this project can also overlap with some holiday ideas...the hat part of the outfits can be used as a "bag" that could hold soaps or candies or granola bars or whatever, tying into a comment someone had made on my holiday post (I'm sorry, I can't remember who that was right now :( ) Check out jezebel's most recent post to learn more about that.
Of course, as usual, it is not a must that you send things for this project, but if you are sending your stuff direct to another charity, that *technically* is something different than what had originally been in my peanut head.
Is this making any sense yet? Should the description be revised slightly? Let jezebelsf and/or me know.
Thanks everybody!
I wanted to see if I could clarify the vision of the "how many people can we dress" thang...though this is certainly a democracy and if there are any thoughts that is totally cool.
The jist is that much like the Bags O'Sunshine was a separate project in which people could participate or not, the "How Many People Can We Dress" is also something separate. Now I think there is a little bit of confusion because one of the places this project will donate to is Warm Up Winchester, but the idea is to use the generous JezebelSF as the hub. She will organize hats, scarves, mittens, gloves, etc into outfits, which will then be sent to various city shelters around the nation. Whereas one-offs can certainly be sent, the idea of this particular goal is to be able to send actual outfit components out together.
As per Jezebel's most recent post, this project can also overlap with some holiday ideas...the hat part of the outfits can be used as a "bag" that could hold soaps or candies or granola bars or whatever, tying into a comment someone had made on my holiday post (I'm sorry, I can't remember who that was right now :( ) Check out jezebel's most recent post to learn more about that.
Of course, as usual, it is not a must that you send things for this project, but if you are sending your stuff direct to another charity, that *technically* is something different than what had originally been in my peanut head.
Is this making any sense yet? Should the description be revised slightly? Let jezebelsf and/or me know.
Thanks everybody!
checking in
hey all. i haven't been doing much knitting/crocheting lately, because we've been busy with some home improvements and i've been busy with some new writing ventures, but i wanted to check in anyways. i'm starting to slowly get back into the groove, finishing up a pair of socks that were supposed to be a mother's day present!
wanted to also see if anyone who's sent scarves to my mom for the "overwhelm patty with scarves" thing could e-mail me at robyn.charles@gmail.com and let me know how many scarves they sent to her. i want to ask her if she's recieved any, but as she didn't know about the whole thing i'd hate to ask her and no ones' sent them out yet! so please let me know so i know how many she should be expecting. and that project of mine is an ongoing thing, so if you're thinking of doing it, fully feel free! we make the scarves all year round!
that's about it. i'm hoping to get back to knitting like a mad-thing soon enough. until then .. keep on knitting like mad for me!
wanted to also see if anyone who's sent scarves to my mom for the "overwhelm patty with scarves" thing could e-mail me at robyn.charles@gmail.com and let me know how many scarves they sent to her. i want to ask her if she's recieved any, but as she didn't know about the whole thing i'd hate to ask her and no ones' sent them out yet! so please let me know so i know how many she should be expecting. and that project of mine is an ongoing thing, so if you're thinking of doing it, fully feel free! we make the scarves all year round!
that's about it. i'm hoping to get back to knitting like a mad-thing soon enough. until then .. keep on knitting like mad for me!
Monday, August 20, 2007
Update and Request :)
Hello!
I hope everyone has had a wonderful first couple of weeks of August and the transition back to school and/or the autumn routine has not been too bad!
Jorie posted a week or so ago about a holiday theme donation. Many great ideas came her way including the idea of combining crafty and non-crafty items (a la Bag O' Sunshine). Jorie asked if the "See How Many People We Can Dress" initiative could be woven into the holiday idea. The thought is that so many of us are busy with the end of the summer shift and may be trying new projects that will take us a little more time to complete, so it seems appropriate to plan for a holiday deadline for this project.
Thus, I need to ask if there is anyone out there who would be willing to collect the non-crafty items and then send them to me in a few months. I am thinking around the first of November. I will then combine these items with the craft sets and send them to the charities in SF, Chicago, Philly, and Atlanta.
Thanks!
I hope everyone has had a wonderful first couple of weeks of August and the transition back to school and/or the autumn routine has not been too bad!
Jorie posted a week or so ago about a holiday theme donation. Many great ideas came her way including the idea of combining crafty and non-crafty items (a la Bag O' Sunshine). Jorie asked if the "See How Many People We Can Dress" initiative could be woven into the holiday idea. The thought is that so many of us are busy with the end of the summer shift and may be trying new projects that will take us a little more time to complete, so it seems appropriate to plan for a holiday deadline for this project.
Thus, I need to ask if there is anyone out there who would be willing to collect the non-crafty items and then send them to me in a few months. I am thinking around the first of November. I will then combine these items with the craft sets and send them to the charities in SF, Chicago, Philly, and Atlanta.
Thanks!
Howdy!
Well, I'm sure a lot of you are either getting ready for school or getting your kids ready for school. I hope the various transitions go as smoothly as possible!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
FOs
I posted some FOs over at livejournal, but here the scarves I made for "overwhelm patty." I hope I'm not too late...they'll likely go out on Saturday...:)
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
We're changing names!
ETA: We are all moved now!! Everyone should still have all the same access as before! Thanks for your patience as we worked through this. And yes, we are still working on name changing things like the frappr map - I am but one girl.
On August 15th we are moving this blog to go with our new name. Please be aware the new community name will be Homespun Helpers.
I will be moving the information on the 15th and will post when the new blog is ready. Thanks.
Aimee
On August 15th we are moving this blog to go with our new name. Please be aware the new community name will be Homespun Helpers.
I will be moving the information on the 15th and will post when the new blog is ready. Thanks.
Aimee
something else to consider
Does anyone have any non-denominational ideas that could correspond with holiday time?
I was thinking we could make 3-4" wide, 6" deep pouches and put in m&ms or kisses or something like that..maybe just the ones in the silver or gold wrapping...just to add a little sweetness. Maybe a little card as well. These could be sent enmasse to shelters everywhere, really. Still, the pouch might seem a little to "stocking" like.
What do you all think?
Also, I will change name of the lj community (not the User ID for now) and the myspace page tomorrow first thing so that it will jive with the new blogspot address.
Thanks everybody!
I was thinking we could make 3-4" wide, 6" deep pouches and put in m&ms or kisses or something like that..maybe just the ones in the silver or gold wrapping...just to add a little sweetness. Maybe a little card as well. These could be sent enmasse to shelters everywhere, really. Still, the pouch might seem a little to "stocking" like.
What do you all think?
Also, I will change name of the lj community (not the User ID for now) and the myspace page tomorrow first thing so that it will jive with the new blogspot address.
Thanks everybody!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Jokes and stories and presents, oh my!
So, since we are all so busy in August, I thought this month might be a good time to share things other than FOs to tally (though we still like those too). If you are working on presents for new babies, new homes, new couples, or Christmahanakwanzika, post peekshures! (Just make sure no one counts them :)) If you have a funny or inspiring story about crafting, share!
I hope everyone's swampiness is not getting them down, and I hope the weather is not beating anyone down, too!
:)
I hope everyone's swampiness is not getting them down, and I hope the weather is not beating anyone down, too!
:)
Sunday, August 12, 2007
ohhh the temptation
So my mom and I did our craft circuit today, and holy smokes was there some nice yarn at Jo-Anns...on SALE! :o I stood in the aisle for what had to be about 20 minutes, tormented by what to buy and how much. They had some chenille on sale, some sophisticates wool...ugh. I was troubled in part because I couldn't decide if I should buy enough of everything to make whole sets or buy more variety and just make one-offs out of it. These are the kinds of troubles that meet me when I go shopping :)
Id like to suggest that the "how many people can we dress" thing just become kind of an ongoing goal, much like the squares...what do you think? I think August is going to be hectic for a lot of folks and i don't want the idea to go kerflooey, nor do I necessarily what the concept to last just a month :)
Additionally, for lj folks...I am seeing that a lot of people that voted in our poll wanted to change the name, but our dear leftygirl brought up a good point. For the remainder of 2007, anyway, the "3000 in 2007" thing is very relevant. So as a compromise based on her statement, I'd like to propose that on August 15, we just change the community NAME here to "homespun helpers." In 2008 we can do the whole user ID change. I hope that will meet everyone's approval.
I think that's all of my odds and ends for today. That's enough, isn't it?!?
Id like to suggest that the "how many people can we dress" thing just become kind of an ongoing goal, much like the squares...what do you think? I think August is going to be hectic for a lot of folks and i don't want the idea to go kerflooey, nor do I necessarily what the concept to last just a month :)
Additionally, for lj folks...I am seeing that a lot of people that voted in our poll wanted to change the name, but our dear leftygirl brought up a good point. For the remainder of 2007, anyway, the "3000 in 2007" thing is very relevant. So as a compromise based on her statement, I'd like to propose that on August 15, we just change the community NAME here to "homespun helpers." In 2008 we can do the whole user ID change. I hope that will meet everyone's approval.
I think that's all of my odds and ends for today. That's enough, isn't it?!?
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
*Edit
Our total was wrong on the blogs. I neglected to tally a big 34 item post because it happened when I was in a stir on my business trip. We are at 1990 items as a result.
Sorry for the confusion.
Also, from now on, in order to help me help nehnhaa keep track of our tally, I am going to have to make myself comment on every single FO post, because that is how I know I counted your items. If you post FOs and I do not comment, PLEASE let me know so i can make sure I did see your post. Sometimes I check livejournal and it hides posts from me, especially in here.
Sorry for all of the confusion!
Sorry for the confusion.
Also, from now on, in order to help me help nehnhaa keep track of our tally, I am going to have to make myself comment on every single FO post, because that is how I know I counted your items. If you post FOs and I do not comment, PLEASE let me know so i can make sure I did see your post. Sometimes I check livejournal and it hides posts from me, especially in here.
Sorry for all of the confusion!
July totals
The amazing Nehnhaa has posted our July totals here! Thank you, Nehnhaa!!!! And thank you to everyone who has done so much people and pets in your communities and around the world. My heart is full of love, respect and happiness at your generosity!
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Faces
One interesting thing about watching both Democrat and Republican debates is that you can see actual faces of American citizens that represent all of these kind of nebulous "issues" we talk about. Tonight's debates featured questions from a man who was laid off by a company that later claimed bankruptcy, so he has no pension and no healthcare. There was an Iraqi veteran who came home to find that his job had been moved to Mexico. There was talk of poor VA assistance and many other issues.
I have to say, seeing these comments from people who could easily be me or people I know is really spurring me on these days. It is heartbreaking, in a way, because I know we can't help every single person who needs it...but having a face or a name to go with issues like "homelessness" or "no healthcare coverage" drives home the idea, to me, that the things we are making, the time we are spending...these are all going to THOSE real, very much in need people. And that is pretty darned amazing.
I have to say, seeing these comments from people who could easily be me or people I know is really spurring me on these days. It is heartbreaking, in a way, because I know we can't help every single person who needs it...but having a face or a name to go with issues like "homelessness" or "no healthcare coverage" drives home the idea, to me, that the things we are making, the time we are spending...these are all going to THOSE real, very much in need people. And that is pretty darned amazing.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
I have the itch
Hey everybody,
Hope y'all are having good and restful weekends so far!
I have to admit, I'm itching to officially change our name to Homespun Helpers. I know the plan was to wait for the website, but I'd like to have our logo revamped so that jezebelsf can tag those outfits when they go out around the country. Whether or not we have a site by then, I'd like there to be a blogspot, lj, and myspace page that goes with the name.
With all of that said, if you think I should wait a bit longer, let me know. I know things probably won't be shipped out till the first week of September...but, this whole identity crisis is starting to bum me out! :)
Input desired. Thanks ever'body!
Hope y'all are having good and restful weekends so far!
I have to admit, I'm itching to officially change our name to Homespun Helpers. I know the plan was to wait for the website, but I'd like to have our logo revamped so that jezebelsf can tag those outfits when they go out around the country. Whether or not we have a site by then, I'd like there to be a blogspot, lj, and myspace page that goes with the name.
With all of that said, if you think I should wait a bit longer, let me know. I know things probably won't be shipped out till the first week of September...but, this whole identity crisis is starting to bum me out! :)
Input desired. Thanks ever'body!
Thursday, August 2, 2007
My July Update
The last few weeks have been very hectic around my house, since we're down to just one car. My husband was involved in an accident on his way home, the other driver merged into him. Husband is fine, the car was totaled. So, for the time being, I have to pick up the slack. I just feel very blessed that he sustained very little trauma. Of course, I want to fuss and he certainly hasn't complained.
I have had ample opportunity to knit while waiting for him at the train, doctor's office and therapy. I did a couple of things for myself, but mostly I dedicated this time to charity knitting.
After the square challenge was over, I still did 3 more for Warm Up America.
I also did 3 hats for children as well as a pair of socks that will go to Afghans for Afghans.
I completed 1 hat for the Ship's Project.
I completed 1 scarf for the Red Scarf Project.
I complete 1 preemie hat.
I completed 1 - 36" by 36" Snuggle blanket for ARF.
I completed about 2/3rd's of a prayer shawl that I am sending to a chaplain at Walter Reed. I also have another hat on the needles that will be going to Afghans for Afghans.
Not a bad month. And I did two pairs of socks for myself!
I will certainly work on some items for the August "challenge".
Have a good month everyone!
Venka
I have had ample opportunity to knit while waiting for him at the train, doctor's office and therapy. I did a couple of things for myself, but mostly I dedicated this time to charity knitting.
After the square challenge was over, I still did 3 more for Warm Up America.
I also did 3 hats for children as well as a pair of socks that will go to Afghans for Afghans.
I completed 1 hat for the Ship's Project.
I completed 1 scarf for the Red Scarf Project.
I complete 1 preemie hat.
I completed 1 - 36" by 36" Snuggle blanket for ARF.
I completed about 2/3rd's of a prayer shawl that I am sending to a chaplain at Walter Reed. I also have another hat on the needles that will be going to Afghans for Afghans.
Not a bad month. And I did two pairs of socks for myself!
I will certainly work on some items for the August "challenge".
Have a good month everyone!
Venka
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
1 or 3 other things
I created a tag for the dressing people challenge (for livejournal). It's 0001How many people can we dress, I do believe.
I have a couple of other goals for August as well.
#1: Website! Cacunai, can you let us know what is going on when you get the chance? If we can't get the site up, I'd still like to officially change our name so we can tag those outfits we will be sending out.
#2: I'd like to see our membership get up to 300 this month. This should not be very hard, I don't think. Heck, if all of us got one person to join we'd be up to around 500. Post around to different groups you are in, spread the word, whatever. We count membership between both of our blog communities, so we are probably pretty close to reaching this goal anyway.
And now I be quiet :)
I have a couple of other goals for August as well.
#1: Website! Cacunai, can you let us know what is going on when you get the chance? If we can't get the site up, I'd still like to officially change our name so we can tag those outfits we will be sending out.
#2: I'd like to see our membership get up to 300 this month. This should not be very hard, I don't think. Heck, if all of us got one person to join we'd be up to around 500. Post around to different groups you are in, spread the word, whatever. We count membership between both of our blog communities, so we are probably pretty close to reaching this goal anyway.
And now I be quiet :)
Intro and Further Instructions
Greetings amazing crafters!
Believe it or not, I have been a member of this community for some time now but have yet to post. Initially, I joined to support my 'online' friends jpettibone and joriejc2. However, I was inspired to put down my needlepoint and start knitting again (something I had not done for many, many moons). I do have some completed scarves and several squares, but I have been remiss in photographing and posting. I have also been busy recruiting some offline people to donate to the community -- details will follow once I have procured said items.
I am so excited about this month's project! I will be acting as the "craft depot" for all items made. Essentially, I will sort items into sets and then sort them further based on destination. I live in San Francisco and can easily drop-off appropriate items to Afghans for Afghans as well as a local battered woman's and children's shelter which is always in desperate need of items. We have already found a spot in Chicago and will be looking for appropriate recipients in Atlanta and Boston. The idea is to cover all the regions in the U.S. I will update through out the month the total of specific items and make a call for any needed items. Please label your donated crafts with appropriate yarn specifications as some charities are quite specific about what they will and won't take.
Aside from the obvious clothing items, I think it would be wonderful to include jewelry. Something shiny and pretty is always a boost to the spirit, and that is exactly what so many people need :)
The address for shipping and my email:
"Jezebel's Craft Depot"
133 Alpine Terrace
SF, CA 94117
jezebelsf@yahoo.com
Thanks in advance for all the great work that I know y'all will be doing. I look forward to updating you all soon!
*smooch*
Believe it or not, I have been a member of this community for some time now but have yet to post. Initially, I joined to support my 'online' friends jpettibone and joriejc2. However, I was inspired to put down my needlepoint and start knitting again (something I had not done for many, many moons). I do have some completed scarves and several squares, but I have been remiss in photographing and posting. I have also been busy recruiting some offline people to donate to the community -- details will follow once I have procured said items.
I am so excited about this month's project! I will be acting as the "craft depot" for all items made. Essentially, I will sort items into sets and then sort them further based on destination. I live in San Francisco and can easily drop-off appropriate items to Afghans for Afghans as well as a local battered woman's and children's shelter which is always in desperate need of items. We have already found a spot in Chicago and will be looking for appropriate recipients in Atlanta and Boston. The idea is to cover all the regions in the U.S. I will update through out the month the total of specific items and make a call for any needed items. Please label your donated crafts with appropriate yarn specifications as some charities are quite specific about what they will and won't take.
Aside from the obvious clothing items, I think it would be wonderful to include jewelry. Something shiny and pretty is always a boost to the spirit, and that is exactly what so many people need :)
The address for shipping and my email:
"Jezebel's Craft Depot"
133 Alpine Terrace
SF, CA 94117
jezebelsf@yahoo.com
Thanks in advance for all the great work that I know y'all will be doing. I look forward to updating you all soon!
*smooch*
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
How many people can we dress?
So, we are getting ready to embark into August. July was just a fantastic month. In fact, this whole Summer...this whole YEAR, has been just incredible. Thank you all so much!!
I'd like to propose something a little different for August. There won't be a numerical goal to shoot for for August. I know, *gasp* :) Also, there won't be any contests. What there will be is a single question. How many people can we dress?
This idea mostly stems from funfairiegirl's comment about how many blankets all of those squares would make, and the fact that each of those blankets would warm up a person. While the goals and the contests have been really fun, I worry that we have kind of lost touch a little bit as a group (not as individuals) with what this is really all about.
So here is the idea...over the next month, we are going to make whatever parts of warm outfits we feel like, be those socks, hats, scarves, ponchos, blankets (not really part of an outfit, but whatever), mittens, etc. All of these items are going to go to jezebelsf who has MOST GENEROUSLY volunteered to receive and sort these items. The goal would be to have sets that would include a hat, a scarf, mittens, etc. These items will be distributed to a few different places.
• Wool items will be dropped off at Afghans for Afghans
• Moderately warm items will go either to a shelter in San Fran or a shelter in Atlanta
• Acrylics that are warm will go to chicago, warm up winchester, or Boston.
We need shelter names and addresses for Chicago, Atlanta, and Boston
So, what jezebelsf will do is keep us posted on what missing pieces of outfits she needs. Then she'll put out a call. "We need more hats" or "we need more gloves." She'll gather items into outfits and send them to whichever place.
The only rule? Make sure you indicate what your materials are made of so that jezebelsf knows where to send them. At the end, her reporting, together with our tally here, will reveal how many people we can dress.
The items will likely be shipped in September.
The hope is that this will give people a chance to work on different kinds of things. Maybe you want to make vests or cardigans or whatever -- this is a great chance to do just that! And no, the different parts of a set don't have to match, but if you want to send a whole set's worth of stuff yourself, i'm sure that'll be okay :)
Once we have names and addreses for good shelters, we will post the address for jezebelsf so you can send stuff her way. That is, of course, if everyone is okay with this kind of new approach.
Let me know what you think!
I'd like to propose something a little different for August. There won't be a numerical goal to shoot for for August. I know, *gasp* :) Also, there won't be any contests. What there will be is a single question. How many people can we dress?
This idea mostly stems from funfairiegirl's comment about how many blankets all of those squares would make, and the fact that each of those blankets would warm up a person. While the goals and the contests have been really fun, I worry that we have kind of lost touch a little bit as a group (not as individuals) with what this is really all about.
So here is the idea...over the next month, we are going to make whatever parts of warm outfits we feel like, be those socks, hats, scarves, ponchos, blankets (not really part of an outfit, but whatever), mittens, etc. All of these items are going to go to jezebelsf who has MOST GENEROUSLY volunteered to receive and sort these items. The goal would be to have sets that would include a hat, a scarf, mittens, etc. These items will be distributed to a few different places.
• Wool items will be dropped off at Afghans for Afghans
• Moderately warm items will go either to a shelter in San Fran or a shelter in Atlanta
• Acrylics that are warm will go to chicago, warm up winchester, or Boston.
We need shelter names and addresses for Chicago, Atlanta, and Boston
So, what jezebelsf will do is keep us posted on what missing pieces of outfits she needs. Then she'll put out a call. "We need more hats" or "we need more gloves." She'll gather items into outfits and send them to whichever place.
The only rule? Make sure you indicate what your materials are made of so that jezebelsf knows where to send them. At the end, her reporting, together with our tally here, will reveal how many people we can dress.
The items will likely be shipped in September.
The hope is that this will give people a chance to work on different kinds of things. Maybe you want to make vests or cardigans or whatever -- this is a great chance to do just that! And no, the different parts of a set don't have to match, but if you want to send a whole set's worth of stuff yourself, i'm sure that'll be okay :)
Once we have names and addreses for good shelters, we will post the address for jezebelsf so you can send stuff her way. That is, of course, if everyone is okay with this kind of new approach.
Let me know what you think!
We have another winner!!
I bet everyone thought I forgot about the vote! I didn't. I have just been crazy. The winner of the vote for favorite squares is...
treehugger06!!!
Congrats. I will be sending you some yarn as well as your gift card as soon as my new bank card arrives (which I hope it tomorrow since it wasn't today).
I will be sending out all of the prizes at the same time and I will let you know when they go out!thanks everyone for making this contest so much fun AND so successful!!!
treehugger06!!!
Congrats. I will be sending you some yarn as well as your gift card as soon as my new bank card arrives (which I hope it tomorrow since it wasn't today).
I will be sending out all of the prizes at the same time and I will let you know when they go out!thanks everyone for making this contest so much fun AND so successful!!!
A Round of Applause, Please?
Can we all voice our gratitude and appreciation for one sen_ichi_rei, aka knitter of shiny things? July has been one of our most successful months ever. We started with a goal of 1,650, and now we are sitting at 1,918. That is just...head-explodey. And I have no doubt that our mod for the month played a great role in this success as she spurred everyone on to new goals, new ideas, and new heights.
We will definitely revisit the mod for a month idea again, but we perhaps might wait until next year as the rest of this year will likely be crazy :)
I will be posting either tonight or tomorrow about some thoughts for August.
Thank you to everyone, and again, let's all say thanks to our lovely hobbit girl :)
We will definitely revisit the mod for a month idea again, but we perhaps might wait until next year as the rest of this year will likely be crazy :)
I will be posting either tonight or tomorrow about some thoughts for August.
Thank you to everyone, and again, let's all say thanks to our lovely hobbit girl :)
My July FOs
After the squares contest, I decided that I needed a wee break from making squares. So I decided to finish up some WIPs that I had lying around. Here's what I accomplished:
3 more preemie blankets and 1 preemie hat that will be donated to the Danbury Hospital in September. (There are pictures of each blanket on my blog, if you are interested.)
2 hats, a pair of mittens and a scarf that will be donated to Warm Up Winchester. I have one more pair of mittens on the needle that I will finish up later in August, and then I will send everything off.
So that makes 8 FOs since about July 16th. I'll get back to making afghan squares in August, once I get back from vacation.
3 more preemie blankets and 1 preemie hat that will be donated to the Danbury Hospital in September. (There are pictures of each blanket on my blog, if you are interested.)
2 hats, a pair of mittens and a scarf that will be donated to Warm Up Winchester. I have one more pair of mittens on the needle that I will finish up later in August, and then I will send everything off.So that makes 8 FOs since about July 16th. I'll get back to making afghan squares in August, once I get back from vacation.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
here are the 12 hats for the Head Huggers
Hi JorieJC2,
Here are the hats that I made- 12 of them are going to Head Huggers.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Well yah-freakin'-hoo!
So...I am currently away on a business trip. I haven't been able to check in really till late last night, and woah, what a shock!
I have tallied 117 items this morning, and there are actually two posts that I did not add to that tally yet (frenchnewwave and Robyn, I left my questions for you).
Apparently I should let you guys run wild and free more often because holy smokes!
To those of you who came out of lurkdom to post or to those of you who just joined, welcome welcome a million times welcome and hello! Don't go back into hiding, and thank you so very very much for posting and joining.
You are all very very awesome.
And by the way...way to cremate that whole 1800 thang :)
I have tallied 117 items this morning, and there are actually two posts that I did not add to that tally yet (frenchnewwave and Robyn, I left my questions for you).
Apparently I should let you guys run wild and free more often because holy smokes!
To those of you who came out of lurkdom to post or to those of you who just joined, welcome welcome a million times welcome and hello! Don't go back into hiding, and thank you so very very much for posting and joining.
You are all very very awesome.
And by the way...way to cremate that whole 1800 thang :)
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