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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Thank you everybody!

I have really had a lot of fun and I hope that I can keep in touch with you all. I am going to keep on motoring with trying to spread the word about crafting for charity. Come join me here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Making-Crafts-for-Charity/286326832292

A round of hugs on me, and feel free to continue posting here. Like I said, I'm not going to close any of our accounts!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

In need of your input

Dear All,

I have been contemplating for the last month or so whether or not I should dismantle Homespun Helpers. There are a lot of reasons for this, the uppermost being that I feel like I can't designate the time that this cause really needs. This has been an amazing experience, but all wonderful things must come to an end. I have seen the use of livejournal slip in my own life and overall, it's difficult for me to find the time to grow the organization on blogspot, and Ravelry seems to be more active in groups that are not about crafting but are about things crafters have in common.

Because this is a community, I wanted to let you all know I was thinking this way to get your input. I have created a page on Facebook called "Making crafts for charity" that I would like to use to spread the word that there are millions of charities that depend on us crafters, and I'll be focusing some efforts there regardless.

Let me know what you think when you have a chance. And thank you!!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

How would you feel about a captains contest?

Hi there everybody,

As I sit buried in my house under a pile of snow, I am thinking about our Regional Summer Contest. Coincidence? :)

Anyway, I was thinking it might be fun to have a contest before the contest. It would be kind of like the individual contest we did a couple of years ago, but this time, the top 4 winners would get to be captains for the Regional Summer Contest. This would give you the power to a) Choose your region b) Name your team and c) Recruit! The contest would run from March 1st to April 1st.

I know that some may feel that 2 contests in a row would be tough, so if you don't this this is a good idea, just let me know. Just wanted to toss it out there :)

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Afghans for Afghans Needs Our Help!

Hey everybody,

I got an email from Afghans for Afghans. Their donations are way low so far, and Jan/Feb is usually their best time. They are trying to collect vests, sweaters, mittens, and socks for kids. They don't get to make shipments very often anymore, so this is super duper important.

Items should be made of at least 80% wool. No light colors. You can visit afghansforafghans.org to learn more. This is a truly remarkable organization. Let's see if we can help them out when they really need it!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Our first winner of 2010!

After some hat shaky shaky, it turns out that our first 2010 drawing winner is...


Becky_h!

Congratulations, Becky. Let me know what you would like as a prize, message me your addy, and it shall be done.

We are at a nice round 35 items already! Let's keep up the great work!!! :)

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Thought you'd want to know :)

For those of you keeping track, we are already at 33 items. That's a pretty good way to start the year!! Way to go everybody! :)

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Lots Of Hats This Week!

First, I wanted to say how honored I am that I was named the crafter of the month! I've been having so much fun with the One Hundred Hats project, I forget that others are watching sometimes!

Speaking of, here's the hats I've gotten posted up this week:



I'm also happy to report I've written another hat pattern, and this time all the proceeds will be going to helping out the Haitian relief efforts of Doctors Without Borders! You can read more about the pattern here, and here's a photo of the finished product:


Also, I love the idea of knitting up items to sell (on an Etsy account, perhaps?) to raise money for charity! I've got several hat patterns I've written recently I'd be glad to share toward that sort of undertaking, and would also LOVE LOVE LOVE to write a pattern or two that would be Homespun Helpers signature patterns for people to use. What do we think of that?

a 2-part post

Hi everyone!

We're halfway through the first month of 2010 already. That's pretty crazy. But, in addition to it being crazy, it's also time for us to celebrate our first star of the month! And that star is: Craftyone, aka Robyn :)

Why is Robyn our star? Well, have you checked out the project she has been working on?

http://www.onehundredhats.org/

I think you'll find it pretty darned amazing. I sure do. Robyn is sharing the wealth by posting her hats to our community so that we can also tally her work.

Way to go, Robyn!

Part two: I am rolling around an idea in my head and I'd like feedback. I'm thinking of seeing if we can team up with some designers of knitting or crocheting patterns. They would make up one design for us so that we could sell items and raise money for charity. There are a lot of situations, like the current on in Haiti, where unfortunately, money is needed more than anything we can do with our needles and hooks, at least for now. I would really like Homespun Helpers to be able to reach out in those situations, still using our hands, but in a different way. The items we would sell would count towards our tally -- I'd start a special etsy shop, probably.

Interested in your thoughts! Let me know 'em :)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Sure Is Cold Here!

How has everyone's week been going? It's super cold here in Nebraska, so we've mostly been hunkered down waiting for some sort of thaw. Today it got above freezing and we did a little happy dance!

The one good thing about all this cold is the knitting I've been able to get done! Last week I got two more hats knocked out for my One Hundred Hats project!


Hopefully this time next week I'll have THREE new hats to share, but for now these two have helped keep me a bit warmer - at least while I was taking the pictures!

What is everyone else working on this week? I hear it's pretty cold all across the US, so some knitting will help warm us all up for sure - plus, it highlights the need for warmth for all.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Item #1 for me

This is going to Project Snuggles :)



Photobucket

Two New Hats for 2010!

Happy 2010 everyone! One of my goals this year is to actually post everything I'm knitting for charity over here, share the love with you all. These two hats were knitted up just before the clock struck midnight, but because I'm sharing them now, they count for 2010, yes?

Both hats, modeled by my hot husband, are for the One Hundred Hats project. I'm just finishing up hat #30, but these are hats #28 and #29. I can't believe I'm already 1/3 of the way done with the project - although I'm a bit behind I think, and need to step it up!

With all the snow we've been having here in the Midwest, we've been spending tons of time inside, trying to keep warm, and that means tons of charity knitting projects for sure! Hopefully I'll have tons more to post to the blog soon!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Welcome to 2010!!!

Hi there everybody,

I wanted to announce, as you can see in our tallies, that in 2009 we made 2,655 items!!! We are almost to 10,000 items as an organization over 3 years -- 9,289! :)

However, we can't just sit back and enjoy our accomplishments! The tally is back to 0, and boy do people need our help. So in between eating healthier, exercising more, being happier, and having the best year ever...get those hooks and needles cooking! :)

Love y'all!