DISCLAIMER

Robin Andersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Saturday, August 06, 2005

You only get what you give & other scraps of yarn

First, some fun stuff. This comic strip is "Pickles" and this particular one has to do with crochet. I thought it was funny so here is the info:


http://www.comics.com/webmail/ViewStrip?key=38625826-e7df60b5f4-FF

This disclaimer: I get no kickback from anybody mentioned here.


That being said, now for the other part - "you only get what you give". I won't bore you with my religious beliefs, except to say I have them. One thing I definitely believe is you have to "serve somebody", that if you can, you should give back to the world / community anyway you can. Maybe it's teaching crochet to kids. Maybe it's donating yarn to "Warm Up America" (http://www.warmupamerica.com/). You can pick a charity such as "Project Linus" (http://www.projectlinus.org/) to make blankets for kids. Or maybe you would prefer "Hugs for Homeless Animals - the Snuggle Project" (http://www.h4ha.org/snuggles/). I've dealt with all of these organizations at one time or another and feel I can recommend them to you, if that's what you're interested in.

I also make preemie hats for the hospital my sons were born in - no, they weren't preemies but my sister-in-law is a NICU nurse and there's always a need for that sort of thing. Lion Brand Yarn website has a free preemie hat pattern available (http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/cja-preemie.html) Sometimes I donate items for craft fairs where all the money is going to support a particular charity. Those invitations usually come over a crochet list - if I can, I try to support these groups*.

For those of you who have a competitive edge, I suggest "Bev's Charity Challenge" (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bevs-charity-challenge/). I participate in this group and I am amazed that thru the challenge, I was able to accomplish more than my original goal for this year. No one forces you to make a certain amount, you set your goal and you chart it. Occasionally, there will be a challenge for "how much can be made" by a certain deadline, but you choose whether you want to participate in that challenge. I find that keeping track of what I am doing helps me do more.

One final group I'd like to mention is "The Chain Gang" (http://www.thechaingangs.org/), a group of kids with various problems trying to earn money to go to the Special Olympics. I have donated some items for them to sell thru their craft fair and they sent me a very sweet thank you note with a granny square attached.

You can pick your own group, go off and do your own thing or even start your own group for charity crochet. You can only crochet so many afghans before your family pleads "No more" as the afghans tumble around them. I hope my little essay / rant has inspired you to pick up the hook for charity. Even if you only make _1_ hat, that's one more person's whose head will be warm because of _you_.


*Suggestion for those soliciting for donations from other crafters. Please be sure to send a thank you, perhaps with a few lines on how the item received was handled. Yeah, I _know_ it sounds petty but it lets the crafter know the item(s) were received and put to good use, as opposed to beung worn by the gnomes on a remote, windswept Wyoming guinea pig ranch.

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