How do I fix this?

I’m sewing diligently on my charity blanket these days, hoping it will be completed before I turn gray.  So I finished sewing together another 2 rows and was straightening it out, looking at the seam, when I see this:

That, my friends is a granny square that has started unraveling.  Turns out the unknown crocheter didn’t tie it down as well as it could have been, and it’s started coming undone.  Problem is, it’s sewn into the blanket already, that’s the seam above it.  Oy vey.

That was not a fun fix.  Or as my coworker might say, a Phun Phix.  She likes to have Phun with Words.

In related news, I think that most things on earth are easier than trekking through afghan projects.  They never seem to end!

Crafting for Charity: The Preemie Project

This post is inspired by a friend of mine, Monique, who recently had a baby. Not so recently, now, Jose was born about three weeks ago now. The thing about Jose is that he was 1.5 lbs, and wasn’t supposed to be born until June 20. For a baby that was born three months early, he’s doing really pretty well. He had a hole in his heart and a hernia, but it could be a lot worse. He started breathing on his own just a day or so after he was born! So in honor of Jose and other preemies, let me introduce you to …

This lovely charity donates handmade items to preemies and critically ill infants at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. Items are donated to the Neonatal ICU and the Pediatric ICU, and include such volunteer-created items as little hats, booties and blankets. The charity was started in 2005 by Iowan and knitter Laura Aker. You can subscribe to their blog and keep up with current news items. They have workgroups (like the June 2007 one pictured here), an annual craft-a-thon and other events.

The Project has expanded over time: there’s a branch in Michigan now and they also collect donations of supplies for children to send home with folks - diapers and clothing and the like. Finally, they have a special project to provide handmade bereavement and remembrance items for families who have suffered a loss.

Some Stats

The site states that they have “received donations from over 250 volunteers totaling over 1,700 hat and bootie sets, over 1,500 blankets, and 300 bereavement packages.” Wow!

Help Out

They have volunteer information, guidelines and accepted items, including a suggested yarn list for those interested in donating some lovely items of your own. DO note the yarn requirements - preemies have very soft, thin, delicate skin, and all yarns much be machine washable and not wool.

You can also choose to donate using their list of needed items. They need not just funds (though appreciated!) but also sewing and crafting items, and some items such as printer cartridges for their fundraisers.

(Must confess, warm fuzzies for the University of Iowa, where both my parents graduated!)

Charity, Ravelry-Style and Crochet Guild-Style

I logged into Ravelry a couple of days ago and was greeted by the recent Ravelry update (This Week in Ravelry #8), which happened to feature/lead to several charity thingies… (thingies is a technical term).

Generous Ravelers

If you have a Ravelry membership (sorry, this won’t work if you can’t log in), then check out the Vintage Crochet for Charitable Giving article. For example, I’d like to note this paragraph:

In 1916, the Home Needlework Magazine frequently included articles with “small things to make” for church charity fairs. Popular items were crocheted, because – it was explained – “crochet is so popular.”

Yay, popular crochet! Crocheters are generous! Anyway, the article goes on to list a bunch of threads about what Ravelry members are doing for charity! Very nice.

Crochet Guild of America / Charity Section

While I was reading, I found the following link for people who crochet, which lists a whole bunch of crafting for charity projects from the Crochet Guild of America. There are 82 projects/charities on there right now, although their links could use a cleanup. Some examples are …

• Angels for Hope sent 68,871 butterflies, angels and smiley faces to people in need of hope (people who are injured or ill) in 2007.
• Needle Arts Mentoring Program of the Helping Hands group pairs adults and youth to encourage building bridges across generations through the needle arts of knitting and crochet.
• Project Hope Afghan is a group focusing on cancer patients at M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, TX (I think I picked this because I used to work across the street). It started in 1997 - don’t know if it’s ongoing, but hey, this sounds like the Share A Square project, eh?