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It's Not That I Don't Want To...

I suppose I could say that I haven't been doing much Blogging because I have been very busy teaching classes (which would be true)...Or that I have been spending a good bit of time working on writing up design projects (also true)...Or learning more knitting-type stuff, or getting my stash under control...All of which I have been plugging away at for the past month or so...

But honestly, it's mostly that I don't feel very computery right now...I don't know what it is...I sat down some time ago and planned out about 15 different posts for the Fiber Blog, but I haven't done anything past that...My Ravelry account and pics are in desperate need of some sort of update, and I've been putting that off as well...I finally did some work on my Etsy shop yesterday, and put a few of the stitch markers I've made in there, but I wasn't really feeling it...

It's not a lack of inspiration, just the opposite, in fact...I'm not in the middle of some sort of creative frenzy, but the ideas are coming along nice and steady, and I am kind of enjoying that, since usually I run around doing this and that and some of the other too...They're 98% fiber-related art too, so I'm hoping I can sort this out and organize myself enough to share some of it...

I just got a new camera this weekend, and though I have some lighting issues to work out, I can already tell that the pictures are going to be about 150% better...Maybe that will inspire me to get some things organized and photographed and up on the Blog/Ravelry/Etsy/etc.

Warm and Fuzzy???

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What Do You Do?

A couple of months ago, I was reading some article in a regional newspaper where a group had started doing charity knitting for U. S. military personnel...One of the founders of the group was quoted as saying something along the lines of "Knitters don't really do very much charity work, so we thought this would be a good idea!"

It totally blew me away, since everyone I know who does any sort of fiber art is big into knitting/crocheting for charity...I would guesstimate that at least 40% of the yarn stuff I do is for charity...And anyone who took a peek at Ravelry would be mightily impressed at the number of groups steadily toiling away, producing literally hundreds of beautiful items for dozens of different charity projects all over the globe...

If you like animals, you can make cuddly soft blankets for dogs at animal shelters...Dulaan makes warm items for homeless children in Mongolia...Afghans for Angels helps grieving parents cope with the loss of their child...The Ships Project sends warm items to deployed servicepeople...

Comfort for children going through traumatic events? Binky Patrol!

Something soft and warm for a seriously ill child? Project Linus!

Hats 4 the Homeless! The Mother Bear Project! Warm Up America!

Hell, even Plimouth Plantation needs knitters to help out with period stockings for their historic reenactors!

Even if you just need to destash, places like Interim House will take your excess yardage off your hands for their (way cool!) knitting and crocheting rehabilitation groups! (Check out the beautiful projects made with donated yarn here.)

My friends and I have a couple of charities that we work for, the newest one being Mittens for Akkol...Children in orphanages in the former Soviet Union face a very bleak future--Russians rarely adopt children and the common view seems to be that orphans are "defective" in some way...There is no support system when the children leave the orphanage around age 16 or so...Mittens for Akkol makes warm items for all the children in the Akkol Orphanage in Kazakhstan, and puts together special 'graduation gifts' for the teens who are aging out of the system...There's some more info about the project here as well...

Personally, my very favorite charity project is one I've Blogged about several times before, Afghans for Afghans...You can find the latest news about the group's work on a recent NPR radio segment...Also, a Very Cool slideshow with pics of the volunteers out in San Francisco!


"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone."--Dr. Loretta Scott

Best! Comic! Ever!!!

Check out Teacosies With Irony...A crafty comic!

Spidey 'Ghan!

There's one particular Little Man, who stole my heart quite some time ago...Apparently, the Very Best Thing In The Whole Wide World, according to this young gentleman, is Spiderman...We have Spiderman jammies, and brand new Spiderman snow boots, we dance and sing to the Spiderman song, it is all about Spiderman...

So, when his momma found this pattern on Ravelry, I absolutely had to help out...*enormous grin*




It's going more quickly than I thought, actually, but I have now passed the easy part of the rounds and they are just going to get bigger and bigger...Luckily, it is not going to be a full-sized Spideyghan, so there might even be a chance that Santa could put it under the tree...

The downside to all this is that I have had the Spiderman song running through my head all afternoon and evening... What's worse is that I only really know the first line...The Momma tried to teach me the rest today (of course, she has the song down pat at this point, poor thing!) but that just got me to "Spider Man! Spider Man! Na na na something-something a spider can!" Which I suppose is some improvement...

Happy Merry Turkey Hat

Holy.

Crap.

Get the pattern here.