Crafting for Charity: Etsy for Charity Folks
I can’t say it enough, but there are really a lot of people out there interested in doing for others in a creative and otherwise generous fashion. Which is great! For example:
In January I posted about the Etsy for Charity folks, a street team that supports a variety of charities, chosen monthly. What I didn’t know (I should really do a Google search on things before hitting post) is that they have their very own social network through Ning. The Etsy for Charity Social Network has 67 members participating right now, and is of course connected to the Etsy shop that does the actual donations.What a great way to form community with people who are like-minded!
What does this social site offer? Well,
- you can get Etsy for Charity badges for your site like the one above and promote their work,
- you can get more information about their charity of the month (in February it’s Farm Sanctuary and Make It Right in New Orleans, and March will be Sightsavers International). Also see their Charity of the Month blog! aaand,
- you can link to their blog, which talks about what they’re doing and features some of the group memers, and also!
- you can get to know the people who donate their wares or link to the gallery of members. You can also get to know the folks that support these charity-minded folks.
I saw some familiar faces there – for example, Etsy for Animals is an advertiser. In fact, one of the organizers of Etsy for Charity runs Etsy for Animals!
I got to know some new folks there, like this Etsy shop called Creations4Causes. This shop is made up of a family of artists who donate 15% of their proceeds to rotating charities. They are a very active part of this network, and also do some of the posting to the Etsy for Charity blog, such as featuring members.
More new folks and connections: the Etsy for Charity network is run by Caged Bird Sings, with her coworkers/helpers- UniqueGrabs and Mvegan5 (who also runs Etsy for Animals).
A day in the life
It’s awfully nice when you can do something different with your day than you usually do. Even if it’s just going to the doctor, or just sitting at home in the morning cleaning up data files (wow, didn’t I have an exciting day?) Too much sameness drives me nuts. Actually met a doctor I liked today. Typically, no. We had some political excitement today just a quarter mile from my office…
… pause … I wonder what just crashed down off of my roof and down to the ground? That was alarming. Thinking about caring …. nah, I’m sure it’s fine …
Helicopters at the Alamo?
Well then! So as I said, UT’s Rec Center had the Obama-Clinton debate this evening. 
Now local news is completely beside itself with the local version of the talking heads. Definitely the locals haven’t figured out the talking head thing quite yet. It’s looking a teeny bit amateur. And of course they’ve brought out the helicopters. Wow. Ooh, there’s Huckabee in front of the Alamo (cliche!). People ususally ignore Texas, this is weird!
Saw bunches of students being … well, students, today. Excitable, activist, that sort of thing. Left my doctor’s office near campus and this huge group of people in front of a cafe started wailing and waving Clinton signs at me. I was pretty startled until I figured out what was going on. I wish Clinton hadn’t called attention to our local senator Kirk Watson freezing on camera. Kirk’s really nice, and has done a lot for people around here, and I think she could have left him out of it. It seemed like a cheap, unnecessary dig at the expense of a hardworking guy.
Brilliant Blocks
Amidst the doctors, political excitement and data, I kept working on adding black borders to squares. This has two purposes – one is aesthetic and the other unity. With all the different colors and styles, the black is there with the purpose of creating a common, unifying element. Whatever the pattern, the style, the texture of the granny squares, this border gives a finite space to the donors’ creations. In the end, it is supposed to give the effect of a stained glass window. Pretty cool, eh? It would also be a good way to build a sampler blanket, if you were into sampling granny square blocks.
With these squares, I’m amazed at the variety, yet really there are definite repeating patterns and colors. A lot of 3-dc, 2-ch in pinks. All sorts of yarn textures. You know, though, surprisingly it isn’t that hard to create these borders, just to create something similar for each square, no matter how it’s made or with what. Fiddle with it a bit, and they just sort of work.
I admit – it’s nice to see all these examples of people’s crocheting – now I know that my crocheting is, er, normal. When I teach myself things, I do wonder if what I do is totally unlike what others do. I’ve been very interestedly reading all the slips that go on the blocks, too. It’s really quite something to see all these squares from all these people, and to see the wonderful tags that people have added. Some cute things. I just did one square from Japan.
Well, off to listen to more helicopters. This can quit any time.
Back to crocheting
I’m back at the crafting this week. Headed on over to the local craft store tonight to buy some more black yarn for the Share a Square afghan to give all the squares a border. Remembered why I don’t like that particular store.
Most of the squares I was sent are already the same size (I was lucky), although a couple will have to have extra border to make them ready for stitching together.
My mother-in-law is already almost done with her share a square afghan. I was supposed to show her the technique for stitching squares together. Way too late! I managed to find a tutorial for her, but was supposed to do a video chat. Fail. She taught me this stuff, so I’m not entirely sure what I was teaching her …
I’ve been too preoccupied in general. I need to call my dad, my brother, respond to emails … instead here I am blogging, crocheting and watching bad TV. I turned the TV off though. This woman was buying a house (House Hunters) and her sister kept telling her she needed a man – to mow her yard, or I guess just to have one. Whatever. I love my husband, and I’m glad he’s around, but thanks, being single is quite fine as well.
Also back working on my flower afghan (those are most of the colors in the picture). Another square completed! I think I need to do some small projects next in order to have some more immediate senses of completion!
