Crafting for Charity: Something soft to lie on …

Have you ever owned a dog or a cat that didn’t prefer to have something soft to lie on?  My dog finds the largest stack of pillows available.  My cats prefer carpet to floor.

If you too have noticed this phenomenon, you’ll understand some of the inspiration behind Lily Pads. Lily Pads are knitted and crocheted (or quilted or sewn!) blankets that will be given to shelters and veterinary clinics for the animals to lie on.

Suggested sizes for the Lily Pads are as follows, but animals come in all sizes, so you can feel free to make your own.  In case a full blanket seems like too much to take on, they also accept individual blocks that will be joined together.

Small: 14 X 14
Medium: 16 X 16
Large: 24 X 24

All yarn & the finished product should be machine washable and long-wearing.  Just so long as the end product turns out to be a cushy place for an animal to rest their heads, the choice is yours.  Please remember to tie off and weave in all your ends, and if you’re quilting, no tied or rag quilts since they won’t work out well.
There are some basic patterns and additional information over at the website, so please, check out the Lily Pads page.  It’s a project of Lily’s Friends, which is a project of the Lily M. Foundation.  The foundation was named after the foundation owner’s kitty – McKittycreek Lily McMunster, a Maine Coon who passed away in May 2006, a month short of her fifth birthday from undiagnosed HCM.

I’d also like to mention the Knitting Hope Yahoo! group.  In December, Lily Pads are the featured monthly project for the group.  They choose a cause every month, so if you’re feeling inspired you can get to know this great group better.

Action shot!  My own kitty in a contest with some yarn.  Callie loves to mess with my yarn.  Audrey puppy actually has a crocheted blanket of her own.  It surprises me, but Audrey often chooses to lie on the things that have been handmade.  I don’t know how she knows, but she has a definite preference.