Charity Begins at Home...

As usual, the gratuitus Cute Baby Picture!

 

DGS Brennan with his Poppy Mark on Easter Morning!

 

They say that charity begins at home and I usually try and donate some of my needlework to charity every year but I tend to give a lot of it away as gifts, so I have to set goals in order to make sure I knit or crochet for some worthy cause.  At a recent Houston Knitting Guild meeting, Knit at Night Out West (KNOW), the program was on Charity Knitting.  It is amazing what a thoughtful gift a baby hat, afghan, scarf, etc. can be to someone.  We even made Tit Bits, or breast prosthetic, for Breast Cancer victims for the ROSE Center here in Houston a couple of years ago.  

 

Recently, a knitting friend who is going through radiation mentioned that when a patient completes their treatment, a ceremony is held where they ring a bell & are presented with a certificate & small gift. she learned while sitting with them that they (I) look forward to the day we can wash away the marks. I’ve started knitting washcloths to present to as many as I can - a symbol if nothing else of a way to start their new day free of the neon marks that defined ther cancer. The staff at the Katy MDAnderson facility are very excited about this “New Start” project.  I believe this is going to be expanded to other Houston facilities as well.  Soft Cotton yarn washcloths can be dropped off at Yarntopia in Katy, TX or at the KNOW monthly meetings.

 

Here are the 3 washcloths I knitted up from a super soft ball of Cotton Supreme Batik in a nice pink variegated for Breast Cancer, from the Sugarland Yarn Co..  I found a really cute pattern, Double Bump, that is ridculously habit forming, and whipped out 3 of them from the same skein using my Denise Circular Needles size 7.  I like using the Denise's for cotton yarns.  I did 2 rows of crochet edging with a (SC, skip stitch, CH) pattern as a nice finish in a "G" hook. 

I also found a new washcloth pattern called Diamond Mosaic Washcloth that looks equally good in a variegated or a solid color and I used some Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn and my Denise Circular Needles size 7 as well.  This one is a gift, but I plan to make some for the charity above in this pattern.

 

 

 

At the KNOW meeting, another friend of mine mentioned that she crochets simple granny-square lapghans and donates them to a senior center where they use them as Bingo Prizes.  This appealed to me since I have tons of coordinating washable acrylic yarn, I like to crochet and wouldn't even need a pattern for that, and someone would "WIN" it.  Cool!  So here is the 34 row lapghan in what I think is Caron Simply Soft yarn crocheted with a "K" hook.  My friend Deb mentioned she does 35 rows but I ran out at 34 so decided to call it good.  I think some older gentleman would be happy to "win" this one...

 

 

So I have a bit of a start on the charity knitting, I have also donated a baby hat and a cowl this year.

 

Now if only I could have more time to knit and crochet or figure out how to do it faster!

 

For my friends and family who are still having gray days...Here is a pic of the lovely flowers my DD got me for Easter!  There are a vibrant Orange...one of my favorite colors.  Thanks Cheyenne!

 

 

 

Bunny Knitting is now an Official Easter Sport!

First, the gratuitus Cute Baby Picture...

DGS with his beautiful Mama on Easter Morning just before going into Church.

 

I crocheted some darling PEEPS pattern called Springtime Stuffies by Sally Ives a few years ago for my DD and was looking for something to put in DGS' Easter Basket since he is still pretty little to be getting a lot of candy and found the darling pattern for a knitted Chocolate Bunny. 

I made the first one from some acrylic dark chocolate brown worsted weight yarn using Magic Loop with size 6 circular needles.  This pattern is seamless and just requires a bit of kitchner stitch at the very top to finish.  It was a bit fiddley on the first one, so I thought, oh well, I'll give it to my Mama as a cute decoration and go back to knitting something else.  Well, my DD texted me and asked if I could PLEASE make 2 girl bunnies and 1 boy bunny for her neices and nephew's Easter Baskets.  So I couldn't say no!  So as you are aware, if left alone, bunnies will multiply!! 

I ended up making 7 altogether, one for DGS, one for me, and another for a friend.  I did learn a cool technique that I used on all the bunnies but I should caution that you want to be careful to do something else if the Bunny is going to be "loved" (chewed on, etc.) by a small child.  I used the same satin-y ribbon to make the eyes on each side as the bow around the neck.  Just thread the ribbon onto a large eye yarn needle, start from the inside and make 1 "stitch" over a single knitted "V" and then leave a 2-3" tail on both sides of the stitch on the inside and tie in a double knot.  Then stuff the body, and continue on with the instructions for the ears, etc.

I have decided that Bunny Knitting is now an Official Easter Sport!!

For those of you still having cold weather, here is a picture that personifies Texas in the Spring - Bluebonnets and a good-looking little boy...