Ummm.... HELP!! (Re: Local Needs)

Oh my, what have I done, what have I done?? LOL I stopped at several more places (it's actually part of my job and while I'm there anyway...) asking about their needs and now I think I'm stretching it a little too thin. You should have seen the administrators and social workers eyes light up when I told them what I wanted to do. So now I and my two neophyte crafters have two nursing homes, a residential care facility and two hospices to craft for. I left my number for the responsible person at another nursing home and another hospice and am waiting to hear from them about their needs.

Anyway the list of needs haven't changed much but it has expanded, if you could please take the time to make a few squares or a tote I would sure appreciate it.

We need:
6" or 12" squares for lapghans (may also be used for Project Linus blankets), if you have some of other sizes I will also take them.

Lapghans, lap robes or blankets A good size for lapghans is about 3' X 4' or somewhere in that vicinity.

**Wheelchair or walker totes** (This is what really made their eyes light up) Here's some links to patterns.

Activity aprons (see this post)

Summer weight Chemo Caps

The residential care facility asked for hats, scarves and mittens for next winter.

One nursing home also asked for items that could be sold in their Country Store, the proceeds go to their activity fund.

Donation of 30 6" Squares

The first donation of squares just arrived for our blankets and lap robes for our local hospice. Linda B. from Virginia sent these 30 lovely squares. Thanks so much Linda!! If you would be interested in helping out see this post for the list of things we need for our local programs.

I just finished my first wheelchair tote and as usual I'm not satisfied with it. I'll post more about them when I get the kinks worked out!

Local Needs, Would You Like to Help??

I made the rounds today and although I didn't get to see everyone on my list I did have several requests, I have two women working with me but we are only three so if you can help I'd appreciate it, here's what we are making and collecting:

Local Hospice: I was told the ladies love the crocheted lap robes and blankets so 6" and 12" squares or the completed items would be great! Also light weight summer chemo caps.

Local Nursing Home: They are overstocked with laprobes and blankets but could really use wheelchair and walker bags. Also activity aprons for their dementia patients. These are aprons that have various "activities" such as buttons, zippers, velcro tabs, laces  etc. for the patient to fiddle with. Use different textures and your imagination to make these as varied as possible. They also said they can use anything handmade that can be sold in their "Country Store", all proceeds go back into the activities fund for the patients.

Project Linus: 6" and 12" squares in pastels and brights. One of the ladies who works with me is a novice crafter but she can whip stitch squares together.

I still have several places to check with so I'm probably going to be adding to this list. If you can help please email me at debsstuff55 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Working on a New Baby Hat Pattern

These baby hats are the start of my next pattern. I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at the research and development stage of making a pattern. It, of course, starts with an idea. I wanted a baby hat with lots of texture. The hat on the left was the first one, I must have ripped out the first couple of rows of pattern a dozen times. Even so, when I finished it, I wasn't real happy with it. It just didn't "pop" the way I wanted it to. If you look at the one on the right you can see the "bubbles" are much more pronounced. But I am still not done. The way I started some of the rows is going to be hard to understand so I have an idea that I want to try in the next hat. I also want to try to change the spacing of the "bubbles" to see if it would look better. So that's at least one more hat and possibly two before I get it the way I want it.

So, that's the usual process, sometimes it comes out the way I want it on the first try but that is rare. Both of the hats I made are good hats, they'll be donated to some organization soon, but they weren't what I was trying for. So I'll be posting the pattern someday when I'm happy with it. I also have a couple of adult hat patterns I'm working on, but I'm not having a lot of luck with them.

Finished Blankets for Project Linus

I decided to try to finish up some of my (many) unfinished projects. The peach and white one wasn't too hard to finish, I was close to being done, but the pink and white one had to be frogged and started over so I pretty much did it from scratch! In case you didn't know Project Linus is a nationwide organization that provides security blankets to ill and traumatised children. It's a great way to become involved in charity crafting so check them out and find a chapter near you. Both blankets were made with the Never Ending Blanket Square pattern.

Readers Projects: 4th of July Sweater!

Isn't this great?? My facebook friend Denyse made this for her grandson. I love the way she used the colors in this Baby Bumpy Sweater. Especially the white band where the "bumps" are. I love seeing all the projects everyone makes from my patterns so maybe I should have another contest? I'll tell you what - I'll do it for the month of April. I'm working on another baby hat pattern, still have a few kinks to work out. I'm also working on a few more baby blankets for Project Linus and have talked a friend into joining me.

We Have a Winner!!!

Using a random number generator I have chosen the winner and it is Cindy who made the beautiful baby blanket I had posted earlier this week. Congratulations Cindy!

I still would like pictures of projects you have made with my patterns, so please send them in at debsstuff55 (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Reader's Projects: Beautiful Baby Blanket

My reader Cindy made this gorgeous baby blanket using my Never Ending Blanket Square. She has another picture on her blog Gardner's Ramblings. She donated it to her local pregnancy resource center.

Readers Projects - Manly Man Slippers

The first two entries for my contest were both the same pattern! Both readers had made my Manly Man Slippers for the men in their lives.




Tanya made these and says "I have used your Manly Man Slipper pattern to make my hubby's slippers. Loved the pattern It was quick and easy. He wears them all the time too, and he is picky"

This pair was made by Marie in NJ who says "I made another pair of your manly man slippers for Josh...he loves them because they are so warm. I used 1 strand of worsted weight charcoal gray, one strand black, gray, white variegated, and one strand of Symphony, I think the color was persimmon...kind of the colors of his favorite hockey team (Go Flyers!!). This is a fantastic pattern!!

To find out how to enter my contest for some beautiful cotton yarn go here.

Have You Made One of My Patterns? Do you have a picture? Contest!

I would love to feature pictures of my readers projects and have asked for them before. I got some and showed them off, but I need more!! I also have more of this yarn to give away. I have 8 skeins of this 100% Mercerized Cotton from Greece. It says Tahki Imports on it. Each hank is 50 grams (74 yards) and it says it's machine washable. The colors are deeper and richer than the photo shows, must have been the lighting when I took the picture. So send me a picture at debsstuff55 (at) Yahoo (dot) com for an entry! If you post your project on your blog (with a link to the pattern) and then comment on this post with the link it will count as 2 extra entries. Contest ends February 28th so if you haven't checked out my patterns you can try one and send me the pic! I will probably start showing off the pics before that but the winner will be drawn from a hat (actually it will probably be a plastic container) on March 1st.