My last 2008 Christmas project

And my last craft project of the year too!



I have worked on this project on and off for 2 years. I was worried the whole time about the final washing of the work because there are so many dark colors. The longer I worked on it the longer I worried about washing it. But, it has now been washed. Now it just needs to dry, be ironed, and be framed. And I'm a week early!! (It's going to be given at a family party on the 3rd :) )

I am so so so so so so so glad to be done with this project FINALLY!!!!

Operation Gratitude and Operation Bag of Home

Right around this time last year, I started another charity with a buddy called Operation Bag of Home. The organization has floundered quite a bit over the last year. It's hard to get the little items we wanted to send in the bags. It's hard to get the handmade bags. It's hard to get the money for shipping 25 bags at a time.

Enter Operation Gratitude.

Operation Gratitude basically does what we wanted do. They are an official organization and send boxes at a time.

So, I have decided it might be easier if everyone in Operation Bag of Home sends stuff on their own to Operation Gratitude, and we keep track as a group of how much stuff we've donated to them.

Operation Gratitude does 2 different drives. They accept items from April 15 to May 15 for their Patriotic Drive and then from September 8 to early December for their Holiday Drive. You can only ship items to them during that window.

I think this will help everyone feel a sense of accomplishment and it will take the burden off any one person to send a ton of stuff at once, though I'd be happy to be a collection point locally.

So, that's what's going on there. I think this will work better than anything we tried this year. Here's to hoping.

and Connecticut

A woman named Priscilla in Homespun Helpers belongs to a crochet guild, and they collect items for the Salvation Army. Here is my donation to that cause:



AlaAlabama
Alaska: St. George's Anglican Catholic Church Knifty Knitters
http://www.anglicancatholic.org/
8892 Duran Street
Juneau AK 99801 US
Arizona: Ninjasezzy preemie drive
Arkansas:Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Northwest Arkansas
2510 N. 17th St.
Rogers AR 72756 US
California: Twizittles local oncology ward drive
Colorado: Warm Hearts Warm Babies
Connecticut: Salvation Army w/Priscilla's Guild
Delaware:Newborns in Need, Delaware Chapter
http://www.newbornsinneed.org/delaware
13 Grace Court
Newark DE 19702 US
Florida: VA in St. Petersburg
Georgia: www.emmazinggracefoundation.org
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois: Greater Chicago Ferret Association
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas:Victory in the Valley
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine: Nest Jean Lee
NestMaine
P.O. Box 6011
Falmouth, Maine, 04105
Maryland:
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
Caroline Langrall,
Child Life Specialist
1708 W Rogers Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209
Massachusetts: www.afghanproject.org
Michigan: South Oakland Shelter
Minnesota
Mississippi: Wings Cancer Foundation through Caps For A Cure
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska: Robyn's preemie hat drive
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey:Ocean of Love (Chemo caps)
New Mexico
New York:Lincoln Medical Center Room 2D5, 234 E 149 St, Bronx, NY 10451 Attn: maria Edwards.
North Carolina: Newborns in Need
North Dakota
Ohio: Items made and donated for a local homeless women's shelter
Oklahoma: Crosh-aid
Oregon: Baby Love Blanket Drive
Pennsylvania: Bonnie's Ronald McDonald House (Danville, PA 17821)
Rhode Island: East Bay Community Action Program
South Carolina
South Dakota: Pretty Bird Woman House
Tennessee
Texas: Prayer shawls for Crazigriffen's mom's church
Utah
Vermont
Virginia: Warm Up Winchester
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming: Caps for Kids

Wyoming

Here are 5 hats that I'm sending to a member of Homespun Helpers. She is helping a cause in Wyoming called Caps for Kids:



Alabama
Alaska: St. George's Anglican Catholic Church Knifty Knitters
http://www.anglicancatholic.org/
8892 Duran Street
Juneau AK 99801 US
Arizona: Ninjasezzy preemie drive
Arkansas:Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Northwest Arkansas
2510 N. 17th St.
Rogers AR 72756 US
California: Twizittles local oncology ward drive
Colorado: Warm Hearts Warm Babies
Connecticut: Salvation Army w/Priscilla's Guild
Delaware:Newborns in Need, Delaware Chapter
http://www.newbornsinneed.org/delaware
13 Grace Court
Newark DE 19702 US
Florida: VA in St. Petersburg
Georgia: www.emmazinggracefoundation.org
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois: Greater Chicago Ferret Association
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas:Victory in the Valley
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine: Nest Jean Lee
NestMaine
P.O. Box 6011
Falmouth, Maine, 04105
Maryland:
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
Caroline Langrall,
Child Life Specialist
1708 W Rogers Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209
Massachusetts: www.afghanproject.org
Michigan: South Oakland Shelter
Minnesota
Mississippi: Wings Cancer Foundation through Caps For A Cure
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska: Robyn's preemie hat drive
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey:Ocean of Love (Chemo caps)
New Mexico
New York:Lincoln Medical Center Room 2D5, 234 E 149 St, Bronx, NY 10451 Attn: maria Edwards.
North Carolina: Newborns in Need
North Dakota
Ohio: Items made and donated for a local homeless women's shelter
Oklahoma: Crosh-aid
Oregon: Baby Love Blanket Drive
Pennsylvania: Bonnie's Ronald McDonald House (Danville, PA 17821)
Rhode Island: East Bay Community Action Program
South Carolina
South Dakota: Pretty Bird Woman House
Tennessee
Texas: Prayer shawls for Crazigriffen's mom's church
Utah
Vermont
Virginia: Warm Up Winchester
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming: Caps for Kids

Homespun Helpers 2009 Poll

Hi there,

I know that not everyone that reads this blog is a member of Homespun Helpers, but if you care to give me input, I'd love to have it!

I have created a poll over at my livejournal blog...anyone can participate, or you can give me any ideas you have here.

The poll is at http://joriejc2.livejournal.com/424593.html?mode=reply

Thank you!

six

Here are six pairs of woolen mittens going to the short-notice Afghans for Afghans drive. They only need 294 pairs in addition to mine :)

A birthday present

This came together pretty darned quickly. It's amazing how a bigger hook and thicker yarn can make projects seem to go faster. Go fig.

The long view:



And a close-up:



This is called "Touch of Grey" (My own design and name) and it's for someone turning 50. I only realized later that it's Ohio State Buckeye colors...that was not intentional!

caps caps caps

For some reason, this felt like it took forever. I am SO glad to be done.

10 Chemo Caps, 5 kids sizes for Ocean of Love in New Jersey, 5 adult hats for Wings Cancer Foundation in Mississippi.

The kid hats



The hat on the left is the "josh groban beanie" from Bev's Country Cottage. The one on the right is an improvisation on the Jamie Baby hat pattern at Lionbrand.



This is from a pattern book, the name of which I can't remember right now.





These hats were designed by Andi Smith -- you can find her pattern at knitbrit.com/blog or via Ravelry. Apparently I knit tight because this pattern is supposed to be for bigger heads, but they work well for kids too :)

The adult hats







More of the design by Andi. I switched to larger needles (size 7 I think) and it worked great!



This is my own design but was based on a pattern I found at Head Huggers. The pattern is based on a prayer shawl pattern (knit 3 purl 3)



And an adult "josh groban beanie" from Bev's Country Cottage.

Woot!!!

Alabama
Alaska: St. George's Anglican Catholic Church Knifty Knitters
http://www.anglicancatholic.org/
8892 Duran Street
Juneau AK 99801 US
Arizona: Ninjasezzy preemie drive
Arkansas:Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Northwest Arkansas
2510 N. 17th St.
Rogers AR 72756 US
California: Twizittles local oncology ward drive
Colorado: Warm Hearts Warm Babies
Connecticut: Salvation Army w/Priscilla's Guild
Delaware:Newborns in Need, Delaware Chapter
http://www.newbornsinneed.org/delaware
13 Grace Court
Newark DE 19702 US
Florida: VA in St. Petersburg
Georgia: www.emmazinggracefoundation.org
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois: Greater Chicago Ferret Association
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas:Victory in the Valley
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine: Nest Jean Lee
NestMaine
P.O. Box 6011
Falmouth, Maine, 04105
Maryland:
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
Caroline Langrall,
Child Life Specialist
1708 W Rogers Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209
Massachusetts: www.afghanproject.org
Michigan: South Oakland Shelter
Minnesota
Mississippi: Wings Cancer Foundation through Caps For A Cure
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska: Robyn's preemie hat drive
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey:Ocean of Love (Chemo caps)
New Mexico
New York:Lincoln Medical Center Room 2D5, 234 E 149 St, Bronx, NY 10451 Attn: maria Edwards.
North Carolina: Newborns in Need
North Dakota
Ohio: Items made and donated for a local homeless women's shelter
Oklahoma: Crosh-aid
Oregon: Baby Love Blanket Drive
Pennsylvania: Bonnie's Ronald McDonald House (Danville, PA 17821)
Rhode Island: East Bay Community Action Program
South Carolina
South Dakota: Pretty Bird Woman House
Tennessee
Texas: Prayer shawls for Crazigriffen's mom's church
Utah
Vermont
Virginia: Warm Up Winchester
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming: Homeless Coalition

e-newsletter

Well, my crafting doesn't seem to be progressing like I want, but my ideas are! That's something, right?

I'm thinking about starting a monthly e-newsletter that focus on Homespun Helpers as well as charitable crafting in general. If you are interested in receiving something like this, please click below and enter your e-mail address...if I get enough responses I'll try to have the first one out by the end of November.

Join our FREE Email Mailing List

For Email Marketing you can trust

Another non-charitable FO!

And a close-up:



I used Red Heart yarn (light sage), Vanna's Choice (dusty purple), and Palette white & silver.

I'm rather happy with how this turned out. And I'm rather happy it's done since it's for a wedding I'm going to on Sunday! :O

I'm still here!

My charitable crafting has been slow of late. I know, I know. I was working on an afghan for my cousin, and then a friend of mine got some bad news, so I made a couple of prayer shawls for her...Here is a peekshure:



And now I am working on an afghan that I must have done by next weekend. Sheesh.

Projects are on the near horizon for charity, however. I've made one bag for Operation Bag of Home so far and I'm halfway done with another one. I'm going to be working on chemo caps for a location in Mississippi through Caps for a Cure and many other things as well.

Stay tuned! It won't be another month. At least, I hope not!

Operation Bag of home

Hi everyone,

Some of you may recall mentions about another charity I am working on with a friend of mine. The project is called Operation Bag of Home, and the idea is that we hand-make bags, fill them with little toiletries and/or fun stuff, and then ship the bags to troops overseas.

We are changing our approach a little bag and have come up with a few "themed" bags with exact lists of what would go into each bag. I am going to be making prototypes of each type of bag shortly...bags are basically like making 2 squares and sewing them together :) We are also going to be working on bags intended specifically for female troops...we were thinking of including some small hair doo-dads in there. If anyone is into sewing but hasn't really felt like there's a charitable need for quick projects I think it would be neat to include some homemade pony tail or bun holders in these bags.

Here is the list of themed bags we are working on:

General Sanitary Package - MALE
1 bottle 1 - 2oz hand sanitizer
travel size toothpaste & toothbrush
travel size kleenex pack
travel size q-tips
1 tube chapstick

General Sanitary Package - FEMALE
1 bottle - 2oz hand sanitizer
travel size deodorant
1 small package hair ties and/or bobby pins
travel size toothpast & toothbrush
1 tube flavored chapstick
travel size comb

Extreme Weather - HOT
2 tubes chapstick
travel size sunblock
8 - 10 flavor drink mix pouches (20oz bottle size)
1 bottle 1 - 2oz hand sanitizer

THEME - Thanksgiving
letters and cards (not for bags, but to send with box)
small bag individually wrapped candies (no chocolate March through September)
2 pouches tuna fish
1 small box goldfish crackers
8 - 10 flavor drink mix pouches (20oz bottle size)
1 bottle 1 - 2oz hand sanitizer

Silly/Fun Bag
small bag individually wrapped candies (no chocolate March through September)
1 small canister silly string
2 small sized slim jims
1 SMALL water squirt guns


Visit us over at http://community.livejournal.com/operationboh if you are interested!

I need Alabama again, but got Rhode Island!

Alabama
Alaska: St. George's Anglican Catholic Church Knifty Knitters
http://www.anglicancatholic.org/
8892 Duran Street
Juneau AK 99801 US
Arizona: Ninjasezzy preemie drive
Arkansas:Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Northwest Arkansas
2510 N. 17th St.
Rogers AR 72756 US
California: Twizittles local oncology ward drive
Colorado: Warm Hearts Warm Babies
Connecticut: Salvation Army w/Priscilla's Guild
Delaware:Newborns in Need, Delaware Chapter
http://www.newbornsinneed.org/delaware
13 Grace Court
Newark DE 19702 US
Florida: VA in St. Petersburg
Georgia: www.emmazinggracefoundation.org
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois: Greater Chicago Ferret Association
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas:Victory in the Valley
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine: Nest Jean Lee
NestMaine
P.O. Box 6011
Falmouth, Maine, 04105
Maryland:
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
Caroline Langrall,
Child Life Specialist
1708 W Rogers Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209
Massachusetts: www.afghanproject.org
Michigan: South Oakland Shelter
Minnesota
Mississippi: Wings Cancer Foundation through Caps For A Cure
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska: Robyn's preemie hat drive
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey:http://www.hats4thehomeless.org/about.html
New Mexico
New York:Lincoln Medical Center Room 2D5, 234 E 149 St, Bronx, NY 10451 Attn: maria Edwards.
North Carolina: Newborns in Need
North Dakota
Ohio: Items made and donated for a local homeless women's shelter
Oklahoma: Crosh-aid
Oregon: Baby Love Blanket Drive
Pennsylvania: Bonnie's Ronald McDonald House (Danville, PA 17821)
Rhode Island: East Bay Community Action Program
South Carolina
South Dakota: Pretty Bird Woman House
Tennessee
Texas: Prayer shawls for Crazigriffen's mom's church
Utah
Vermont
Virginia: Warm Up Winchester
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming: Homeless Coalition

States Update

Got Arizona items officially mailed off. As you can see...still needing causes for a lot of states. Help me out with any ideas!

Incidentally, I found this Alabama CSNA charity on Lionbrand.com, but after repeated attempts to contact them, I'm not convinced they exist. Other ideas or information are welcome!

Alabama
Alaska: St. George's Anglican Catholic Church Knifty Knitters
http://www.anglicancatholic.org/
8892 Duran Street
Juneau AK 99801 US
Arizona: Ninjasezzy preemie drive
Arkansas:Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Northwest Arkansas
2510 N. 17th St.
Rogers AR 72756 US
California: Twizittles local oncology ward drive
Colorado: Warm Hearts Warm Babies
Connecticut: Salvation Army w/Priscilla's Guild
Delaware:Newborns in Need, Delaware Chapter
http://www.newbornsinneed.org/delaware
13 Grace Court
Newark DE 19702 US
Florida: VA in St. Petersburg
Georgia: www.emmazinggracefoundation.org
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois: Greater Chicago Ferret Association
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas:Victory in the Valley
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine: Nest Jean Lee
NestMaine
P.O. Box 6011
Falmouth, Maine, 04105
Maryland:
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
Caroline Langrall,
Child Life Specialist
1708 W Rogers Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209
Massachusetts: www.afghanproject.org
Michigan: South Oakland Shelter
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska: Robyn's preemie hat drive
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey:http://www.hats4thehomeless.org/about.html
New Mexico
New York:Lincoln Medical Center Room 2D5, 234 E 149 St, Bronx, NY 10451 Attn: maria Edwards.
North Carolina: Newborns in Need
North Dakota
Ohio: Items made and donated for a local homeless women's shelter
Oklahoma: Crosh-aid
Oregon: Baby Love Blanket Drive
Pennsylvania: Bonnie's Ronald McDonald House (Danville, PA 17821)
Rhode Island: East Bay Community Action Program
South Carolina
South Dakota: Pretty Bird Woman House
Tennessee
Texas: Prayer shawls for Crazigriffen's mom's church
Utah
Vermont
Virginia: Warm Up Winchester
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming: Homeless Coalition

I'm such a square...

A friend of mine and a co-member in Homespun Helpers, Robyn, is collecting 7x7 squares for a project she is driving called "Warming Omaha". I had just enough tiny little remnants that I was able to make 10 squares, leaving only one little remnant ball left (I'm very excited).

So here they are!

Actually not for charity

But a finished project, nonetheless...



Thanks to the US Men's Gymnastics team for keeping me up so I could finish :D And it's not for charity. *shocking*

Florida!

I now have a Florida cause thanks to my aunt!

Alabama: Crisis Services of North Alabama
http://csna.org
P.O. Box 368
Huntsville AL 35804 US
Alaska: St. George's Anglican Catholic Church Knifty Knitters
http://www.anglicancatholic.org/
8892 Duran Street
Juneau AK 99801 US
Arizona: Ninjasezzy preemie drive
Arkansas:Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Northwest Arkansas
2510 N. 17th St.
Rogers AR 72756 US
California: Twizittles local oncology ward drive
Colorado: Warm Hearts Warm Babies
Connecticut: Salvation Army w/Priscilla's Guild
Delaware:Newborns in Need, Delaware Chapter
http://www.newbornsinneed.org/delaware
13 Grace Court
Newark DE 19702 US
Florida: VA in St. Petersburg
Georgia: www.emmazinggracefoundation.org
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois: Greater Chicago Ferret Association
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas:Victory in the Valley
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine: Nest Jean Lee
NestMaine
P.O. Box 6011
Falmouth, Maine, 04105
Maryland:
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
Caroline Langrall,
Child Life Specialist
1708 W Rogers Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209
Massachusetts: www.afghanproject.org
Michigan: South Oakland Shelter
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska: Robyn's preemie hat drive
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey:http://www.hats4thehomeless.org/about.html
New Mexico
New York:Lincoln Medical Center Room 2D5, 234 E 149 St, Bronx, NY 10451 Attn: maria Edwards.
North Carolina: Newborns in Need
North Dakota
Ohio: Items made and donated for a local homeless women's shelter
Oklahoma: Crosh-aid
Oregon: Baby Love Blanket Drive
Pennsylvania: Bonnie's Ronald McDonald House (Danville, PA 17821)
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota: Pretty Bird Woman House
Tennessee
Texas: Prayer shawls for Crazigriffen's mom's church
Utah
Vermont
Virginia: Warm Up Winchester
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming: Homeless Coalition

Arizona

Once upon a time, earlier this year, a lady joined Homespun Helpers. She explained that her son, who had been born premature, is turning ten this year, and to honor him she was going to make a ton of preemie sets for a local contact.

Not content with this goal, this lovely lady has now also undertaken the task of making beautiful hats for sailors on her sister's ship. She has recruited friends to help her in both goals, and she has added a great sense of humor, not to mention dedication, to our little group of crafters.

Choosing a cause for Arizona, her home state, was of course a no-brainer. And so, , five hats with 5 pairs of socks will be coming your way.

Kansas

Thank you, Juniper. Now I have a cause for Kansas!

Here's the list:

Alabama: Crisis Services of North Alabama
http://csna.org
P.O. Box 368
Huntsville AL 35804 US
Alaska: St. George's Anglican Catholic Church Knifty Knitters
http://www.anglicancatholic.org/
8892 Duran Street
Juneau AK 99801 US
Arizona: Ninjasezzy preemie drive
Arkansas:Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Northwest Arkansas
2510 N. 17th St.
Rogers AR 72756 US
California: Twizittles local oncology ward drive
Colorado: Warm Hearts Warm Babies
Connecticut: Salvation Army w/Priscilla's Guild
Delaware:Newborns in Need, Delaware Chapter
http://www.newbornsinneed.org/delaware
13 Grace Court
Newark DE 19702 US
Florida
Georgia: www.emmazinggracefoundation.org
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois: Greater Chicago Ferret Association
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas:Victory in the Valley
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine: Nest Jean Lee
NestMaine
P.O. Box 6011
Falmouth, Maine, 04105
Maryland:
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
Caroline Langrall,
Child Life Specialist
1708 W Rogers Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209
Massachusetts: www.afghanproject.org
Michigan: South Oakland Shelter
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska: Robyn's preemie hat drive
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey:http://www.hats4thehomeless.org/about.html
New Mexico
New York:Lincoln Medical Center Room 2D5, 234 E 149 St, Bronx, NY 10451 Attn: maria Edwards.
North Carolina: Newborns in Need
North Dakota
Ohio: Items made and donated for a local homeless women's shelter
Oklahoma: Crosh-aid
Oregon: Baby Love Blanket Drive
Pennsylvania: Bonnie's Ronald McDonald House (Danville, PA 17821)
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota: Pretty Bird Woman House
Tennessee
Texas: Prayer shawls for Crazigriffen's mom's church
Utah
Vermont
Virginia: Warm Up Winchester
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming: Homeless Coalition

They keep on coming

Thanks to Cindy over at 25thingsforcharity.blogspot.com, I now have my Maine charity lined up :) Items due by 9/1!

Still waiting/hoping/looking for suggestions! :D

Alabama: Crisis Services of North Alabama
http://csna.org
P.O. Box 368
Huntsville AL 35804 US
Alaska: St. George's Anglican Catholic Church Knifty Knitters
http://www.anglicancatholic.org/
8892 Duran Street
Juneau AK 99801 US
Arizona: Ninjasezzy preemie drive
Arkansas:Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Northwest Arkansas
2510 N. 17th St.
Rogers AR 72756 US
California: Twizittles local oncology ward drive
Colorado: Warm Hearts Warm Babies
Connecticut: Salvation Army w/Priscilla's Guild
Delaware:Newborns in Need, Delaware Chapter
http://www.newbornsinneed.org/delaware
13 Grace Court
Newark DE 19702 US
Florida
Georgia: www.emmazinggracefoundation.org
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois: Greater Chicago Ferret Association
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas:Victory in the Valley
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine: Nest Jean Lee
NestMaine
P.O. Box 6011
Falmouth, Maine, 04105
Maryland:
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
Caroline Langrall,
Child Life Specialist
1708 W Rogers Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209
Massachusetts: www.afghanproject.org
Michigan: South Oakland Shelter
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska: Robyn's preemie hat drive
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey:http://www.hats4thehomeless.org/about.html
New Mexico
New York:Lincoln Medical Center Room 2D5, 234 E 149 St, Bronx, NY 10451 Attn: maria Edwards.
North Carolina: Newborns in Need
North Dakota
Ohio: Items made and donated for a local homeless women's shelter
Oklahoma: Crosh-aid
Oregon: Baby Love Blanket Drive
Pennsylvania: Bonnie's Ronald McDonald House (Danville, PA 17821)
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota: Pretty Bird Woman House
Tennessee
Texas: Prayer shawls for Crazigriffen's mom's church
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming: Homeless Coalition

I can make the socks now :)

This pair, although I really want to keep it for myself, will be going to "Warm Up Winchester," my charity for Virginia which was started by a member of Homespun Helpers. More will accompany these socks, but since I won the yarn that made these socks in the WuWinc blog community, I figure it's only fair :)

My updated state list: If you have any recommendations, please let me know...just got a Massachusetts suggestion today!

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona: Ninjasezzy preemie drive
Arkansas
California: Twizittles local oncology ward drive
Colorado: Warm Hearts Warm Babies
Connecticut: Salvation Army w/Priscilla's Guild
Delaware
Florida
Georgia: www.emmazinggracefoundation.org
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois: Greater Chicago Ferret Association
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine: Nest Jean Lee
NestMaine
P.O. Box 6011
Falmouth, Maine, 04105
Maryland:
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
Caroline Langrall,
Child Life Specialist
1708 W Rogers Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209
Massachusetts: www.afghanproject.org
Michigan: South Oakland Shelter
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska: Robyn's preemie hat drive
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey:http://www.hats4thehomeless.org/about.html
New Mexico
New York:Lincoln Medical Center Room 2D5, 234 E 149 St, Bronx, NY 10451 Attn: maria Edwards.
North Carolina: Newborns in Need
North Dakota
Ohio: Items made and donated for a local homeless women's shelter
Oklahoma: Crosh-aid
Oregon: Baby Love Blanket Drive
Pennsylvania: Bonnie's Ronald McDonald House (Danville, PA 17821)
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota: Pretty Bird Woman House
Tennessee
Texas: Prayer shawls for Crazigriffen's mom's church
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming: Homeless Coalition

I still need suggestions!

Hi everybody!

Thanks to all of you who have given me charities dear to your hearts in your home states/states of choice. My list is filling up, but there are still a bunch of states I need a cause for! Any state not in bold is ready and waiting. Let me know if there is a charity in any of these states that are close to your heart. Any address info you can give me would be awesome so I can keep the information all together in one place. Thanks for your help!!!

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona: Ninjasezzy preemie drive
Arkansas
California: Twizittles local oncology ward drive
Colorado: Warm Hearts Warm Babies
Connecticut: Salvation Army w/Priscilla's Guild
Delaware
Florida
Georgia: www.emmazinggracefoundation.org
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois: Greater Chicago Ferret Association
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland:
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
Caroline Langrall,
Child Life Specialist
1708 W Rogers Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209
Massachusetts: www.afghanproject.org
Michigan: South Oakland Shelter
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska: Robyn's preemie hat drive
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey:http://www.hats4thehomeless.org/about.html
New Mexico
New York:Lincoln Medical Center Room 2D5, 234 E 149 St, Bronx, NY 10451 Attn: maria Edwards.
North Carolina: Newborns in Need
North Dakota
Ohio: Items made and donated for a local homeless women's shelter
Oklahoma: Crosh-aid
Oregon: Baby Love Blanket Drive
Pennsylvania: Bonnie's Ronald McDonald House (Danville, PA 17821)
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota: Pretty Bird Woman House
Tennessee
Texas: Prayer shawls for Crazigriffen's mom's church
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming: Homeless Coalition

Illinois and Nebraska!

Alrighty, so here we go...

Items 1-5 = my first preemie hats. The back 2 are a little bigger and may be suitable for "regular" sized babies...but anyway, these will be headed to Robyn for her drive. These also represent my Nebraska charity!



And then my Illinois charity -- 10 ferret toys. Now, the directions said to use plastic Easter Eggs. Well, I looked all over and couldn't find any even though there was a lot of Easter clearance stuff around (ain't that always how it goes???). I kept thinking that there had to be SOMETHING crafty people use that would be plastic-like, and sure enough, I found these:



They are bead holders, and they have little lids at the top. They're even Easter-colored, kind of!! So, I filled up 10 of these little tubes with beans and then crocheted around them. I hope these are okay!



Hopefully all of this will go out in the mail this week. So there we go! :)

Here is my updated state list then:

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona: Ninjasezzy preemie drive
Arkansas
California: Twizittles local oncology ward drive
Colorado: Warm Hearts Warm Babies
Connecticut: Salvation Army w/Priscilla's Guild
Delaware
Florida
Georgia: www.emmazinggracefoundation.org
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois: Greater Chicago Ferret Association
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland:
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
Caroline Langrall,
Child Life Specialist
1708 W Rogers Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209
Massachusetts
Michigan: South Oakland Shelter
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska: Robyn's preemie hat drive
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey:http://www.hats4thehomeless.org/about.html
New Mexico
New York:Lincoln Medical Center Room 2D5, 234 E 149 St, Bronx, NY 10451 Attn: maria Edwards.
North Carolina: Newborns in Need
North Dakota
Ohio: Items made and donated for a local homeless women's shelter
Oklahoma: Crosh-aid
Oregon: Baby Love Blanket Drive
Pennsylvania: Bonnie's Ronald McDonald House (Danville, PA 17821)
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota: Pretty Bird Woman House
Tennessee
Texas: Prayer shawls for Crazigriffen's mom's church
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming: Homeless Coalition

My next project

I have given careful thought of what I want to attack next. In the end, the decision seems pretty obvious.

For the last few months, I have been working on making things for a very local cause. Now, I want to do something for a cause in every single state.

I need your help with this...if you have a cause in your state that is particularly close to your heart, let me know and I will gladly support it.

In this day and age of the internet, the old phrase "not in my backyard" has changed. Surely your country is now your backyard.

I'm calling this project Crafting the Nation.

So here is a list of the states. Help me find a cause in each one.

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona: Ninjasezzy preemie drive
Arkansas
California: Twizittles local oncology ward drive
Colorado
Connecticut: Salvation Army w/Priscilla's Guild
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois: Greater Chicago Ferret Association
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan: South Oakland Shelter
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska: Robyn's preemie hat drive
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina: Newborns in Need
North Dakota
Ohio: Items made and donated for a local homeless women's shelter
Oklahoma: Crosh-aid
Oregon: Baby Love Blanket Drive
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota: Pretty Bird Woman House
Tennessee
Texas: Prayer shawls for Crazigriffen's mom's church
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming: Homeless Coalition

My local drive is finally done! :)

I finally heard back from my contact at the shelter, and all of the donated items I've collected this year for my local drive are going to be saying goodbye to me tooday. She is going to use the weekend to take pictures of some of the residents in the stuff that was made in order to make a special card for my dad.

Here is everything together:



I've got approximately 40 items here, including several sets, either of hats/mittens/scarves or hats/scarves.

I am so very pleased.

Now my big question is: what do I work on making next?!? :)

If you're in the mood to make baby blankets...

Homespun Helpers is making an effort to donate 50 afghans/quilts/blankets to Afghans for Angels by July 1. So far we are at 14. If you want to participate, just post a picture and tag it Afghans for Angels.

We are also still collecting items for a local drive that I'm doing, and someone else is working on a preemie hat drive...

If you want to pursue any of these options, let me know or check out homespunhelpers.blogspot.com.

Great Lakes Fiber Festival

Today I got to go to my very first fiber festival!!! It was a spectacular experience.

I got to see my first alpacas:



And my first angora rabbit:



I bought myself a new lovely bag, new wooden size 2 dpns, and my very first skein of merino superwash yarn. It has been a momentous day :)

Well...

Now that I am hooked up into Ravelry, I guess I could actually start using this blog. This is my crafty blog. Um...yeah. :)