Sorry Lola

Last night was the end of the month long yarn bombing Lola style contest and the winner was to be announced today.  There is no winner to announce, as there were no participants I'm sad to report.  I had hoped we'd have some fun pictures to look at, but apparently it just wasn't what people were interested in doing.

Sorry Lola.

Pop in tomorrow and check out what's happening, and remember even when you can't knit or crochet due to time constraints or lack of knowing how, you can still help Bridge and Beyond by visiting and leaving comments.  Please let us know you were here.

Thank you.

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Lola and Yarn Bombing, Bridge and Beyond Style

Not to make light of the sad situation of Homelessness, but.....we knitters and crocheters can always use a little laugh to keep us going.  Spotted this the other day in my email from Lion Brand and thought it was cute and worth sharing.  Love the play on words about yarn bombing.  Oh Lola, she's such a joker!

Ok.........this gives me an idea.  We've not had a contest here in quite awhile.  How bout everyone actually do some yarnbombing...Lola style ( you knitting or crocheting, holding yarn) and email me your pictures.  We'll display them here on Bridge and Beyond.  Each person who participates gets an entry into the yarn bombing photo contest and a name will be drawn the winner.  Take your pictures through the end of the current month, May, and on June 1st we'll announce the first winner.

On June 2nd, I'll post all the pictures so folks can vote for the photo they like best for yarn bombing and that will be the 2nd winner which will be announced on June 10th!  Quick, go mark your calendars, I'm doing the same so I don't miss the dates I told you.

Rules for the Contest:

1. One entry per person (email me 1 photo of you yarnbombing).  My email for this contest is: SandyBridgeContest1@gmail.com
2. Entries can begin today May8th and run through May 31st
3. Winner will be announced here on the blog on June 1st
4. Once the winner is announced you must email me, at the special email addy listed above your snail addy and whether you're a knitter or crocheter or both.  Deadline June 4th.
5. If response hasn't been received by June 4th, then a 2nd drawing for the winner will be announced.
6. All entries will be posted (without names) on June 2nd for voting.
7. Voting for favorite yarn bombing photo runs from June 2nd through June 9th.
8. Winner for favorite photo announced on June 10th.
9. Winner of photo contest must email snail addy to me by June 14th, along with whether you're a knitter, crocheter, or both.
10. If no response by June 14th, the runner up will be announced.

The Prize...........Yarn of course!

2015 DONATIONS:
Hats: 191
Scarves 73
Mittens/Gloves/Wrist Warmers: 45
Slippers: 63
Rain Poncho's:  53
Cotton Washcloths: 115
Afghans: 8
Socks: 126
Cowls/Hoody Combo's/ 17
Shawls 1
Misc: items like personal care and things don't fit into above categories aren't counted

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Ohio's Homeless Thank Denise F from Louisiana

And another cute cartoon for us crazy knitters and crocheters.  I know...I'm not the only one that relates to this.  Have seen this posted a time or two over on Facebook.  In fact a few folks posted it on my wall and or tagged me.  lol

Today I want to say Thank you Denise F from the state of Louisiana...our 4th winner of the recent contest.  Yippee, we've now heard back from everyone.  Winning packages have been mailed to Marjorie M. and Sue S.  Next post office trip will be mailing out winning packages to Sally B, and Denise F.

Denise is a crocheter, which makes it 50% 50%, not that it was planned that way.  Denise and Marjorie are our crocheters, and Sally and Sue the knitters.  Couldn't have planned that if I tried.

Denise started donating to us back in the fall in of 2011.  Correct me though if I'm wrong or memory failing me again Denise, but we knew each before that.  I believe you and I first became acquainted through Find A Grave?

Thrilled to have you with us, and please keep up the good work ladies.

Let me once again encourage EVERYONE to visit, to read, to stay current with the right size, color etc. of items needed.  Changes happen based on need.  Please stay current so you don't spend time making something that doesn't serve our needs.  AND, please don't be shy.  Post comments, take time and cheer each other on and admire each others work.  We all enjoy that.  It is easy, you do not need to be a blogger to leave a comment.

• Type comment
• Select name and url in the drop down box
• leave url empty
• click on or publish

2013 Donations:

Hats:  344
Scarves: 260
Socks: 152
Afghans: 17
Slippers: 112
Rain Ponchos: 202
Mittens: 22
Cotton Wash Clothes: 215
Shawls, Sweaters, Vests, Poncho's: 4
Misc. Items: include personal care, headbands, handwarmers, cowls/gators and all meal prep related items, etc aren't tabulated


All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

And The Winner Is

This pretty pink mallow is in my Dad's backyard. He's quite the Gardner. I have mallows in my yard, starts from his; but his are prettier this year. Thought they were particularly pretty with the rain drops still on them. Anyway, this beautiful flower is for our winner. SSeger! Woot Woot!

Congratulations to you SSeger. Thank you for taking time to enter the contest. The participation in the month long contest has been very disappointing. Only a hand full of people participated. I'll be putting another contest together and hope to have a better participation. So, please do keep checking in, often.

A new blog post appears 99.9 % of the daily, so the need to check in often is indeed important. Additionally, I'd like to remind people to leave comments when they do visit. We have no way of knowing you were here if you don't leave a comment. I like everyone to support each other with nice comments about their projects, their thoughtful donation etc. You do NOT need to be a blogger to leave a comment.

Leaving a comment is easy:

1. type your comment
2. click the drop down box
3. select name and url
4. type name in the name space and leave the url space blank
5. hit ok or publish..........that's it!

SSeger, remind us if you're a knitter, or a crocheter, or both....will help me put your winnings together. Leave a comment here, and email me your snail addy.

Thanks to all who did participate.

2012 Donations:
Hats: 490
Scarves: 274
Slippers: 125
Shawls: 2
Sweaters 3
Vest 1
Afghans: 30
Mittens: 258
Squares: 359
Socks: 122
Rain Poncho's 209
Cotton Washcloths 369
Misc Items are not counted individually (such as personal care items, headbands, gators, yarn, wrist warmers/fingerless gloves, face-masks, neck warmers, t-shirts, soap, deodorant, shampoo, toothbrushes etc).

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated, and all donations keep someone warm. We help, one stitch at a time. YOU truly DO make a difference. THANK YOU!

And the Winners

TODAY'S THE DAY TO ANNOUNCE THE 3 WINNERS

1 Boxes of yarn and or yarny things will be mailed to each our three winners! Once you determine if you're winner...please make email contact with me and provide your snail address as well as whether or not you're a knitter, or a crocheter or both....and whether or not you're a sock knitter.


The winner from Hat I (a fabulous black wool hat purchased in Charleston on vacation), was drawn from the following participants: (those who donated between Feb 14th and March 14th)
DaMarys
Karen B.
Sherry K.
Bonnie R.
Sandie in Florida
Bonnie B.
Diana K.
Sally B.
Kathryn V.
Patty L.
Gail B.
Otterbein's "Stiches to Share"
Suzy in Ohio
AnneMarie
Cheryl S.
Trudy S.
Wendy H.
Shannon P.
Martha M.
Paula K.
Elizabeth R (I need you to contact me)
Sue F.
Theresa A.
AND THE WINNER IS: Bonnie B! Congrats Bonnie B on your win. We're thrilled to have you and your thoughtful hands and hope to see you here often on Bridge and Beyond, with your donations, as well as your comments. Please remember to email me within the next 3 days. (after that time a new winner will be announced). **Added link to Bonnie's Rav page if you want to pop over and congratulate her**

The winner from Hat II (a fun hat purchased in Palm Springs to keep the sun off my head), was drawn from the following participants (those who donations included slippers and or scarves, the two highlighted items for the month of February and March):
Bonnie R.
Diana K.
Otterbein's "Stitches to Share"
Sandie in Florida
Gail B.
AnneMarie
Trudy S.
Wendy H.
Paula K.
Karen B.
Damarys
Sherry K.
Kathryn V.
Suzy in Ohio
Cheryl S.
Patty L.
Shannon P.
Elizabeth R (I need you to contact me)
Sue F.
Theresa A.
AND THE WINNER is Wendy H. Wendy be sure and email me your information within 3 days. Congrats to you, hope to see you here often with your comments as well as your wonderful donations. **Added link to Wendy's Facebook Profile, if you want to pop over and congratulate her.** Edited to add, I've already heard back from Wendy and have her address...1 down and 2 to go.

The winner of hat III (The chatty Cathy portion, those who left comments, each comment counted as 1 name in the hat, so the more comments the more times your name was in the hat--one of hubby's golf hats):
SSeger, Sue F, Patty L., Damaris, Allyson, Sally, Sherry, Liz, AnneMarie, Harvest Hill, Yvonne, Sandie P, Joy D., Jessica, Jen, RoseMarie, Sandie in Florida, Kathleen V., Trudy S., Theresa A., Crochet Princess, Kim, Wendy H.

And the winner is........SSegar. Congrats Sue, and please keep visiting and chatting along with your donating!
**Added link to Sue's Rav. profile page if you want to pop over and congratulate her.** Popped back to edit again...have now heard from Sue as well. 2 of the 3 winners have checked in.

All winners need to contact me via email with their snail addresses. Additionally, please indicate whether you knit or crochet, or whether you do both. It could influence the box of goodies you get to make. Contact via email needs to be within 3 days, after the 18th, a new winner will be announced if contact hasn't been received.

THANKS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED WITH KNITTING AND CROCHETING AND DONATING, THANKS TO ALL WHO DONATED THE HIGHLIGHTED NEEDED ITEMS OF SCARVES AND OR SLIPPERS, AND THANKS TO OUR CHEERING SECTION OF CHATTERS. I continue to encourage all of you to visit, to chat. There are many of you, we never hear from here on the blog. Remember you do not need to be a blogger to leave a comment. Comments are nice, they show support for each other's skillful work, comments are helpful to the blog with regard to it's SEO (search engine optimization). Placing well in the SEO makes us easier to find for folks looking for some place worthy to donate their knitted and or crocheted items too. If you are not a blogger, type your comment, then click the drop down box that says name and url, type your name...first name and last initial is all that's necessary and leave the url space blank. Then click publish....quick and easy.

As I wait to here from our 3 winner, Bonnie B, Wendy H, and SSegar....I'll be looking through my stash and picking out some goods to get ready to mail.

**Reasons to launder your items: Yarn sits on shelves in stores collecting dust. Yarn gets stored in our various containers...our stash areas, collects dust, sometimes get musty. Yarn picks up smoke and other aroma's from the house like food and perfume. Yarn attracts furry friends, their hair, and their dander. Yarn picks up oils from our crafty hands as we knit and crochet. And, yarn needs to rest, laundering your items, blocking if need be improves the appearance as well as the freshness of your thoughtful donation. It's not possible for me to launder ever item that comes my way; though I do sometimes need to do that when I open boxes etc. All the afghans I make from your donated squares get laundered and blocked, which also helps me make sure things stay put together. Sometimes squares need a bit more attention in terms of tails being appropriately secured. Please avoid spraying your donations with perfume, air-freshner, and or Fabreeze, it really doesn't replace the benefits of it being laundered. I generally wash the afghans in cold water, on delicate, and lay out to dry/block. Even though most of the yarn says washable and dry-able. I find these gives a good result over the long haul.**

2012 Donations:
Hats: 130
Scarves: 56
Slippers: 28
Shawls: 2
Afghans: 9
Mittens: 97
Squares: 128
Socks: 98
Rain Poncho's 2
Cotton Washcloths 15
Misc Items are not counted individually (such as personal care items, headbands, gators, yarn, wrist warmers/fingerless gloves, etc)

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated, and all donations keep someone warm. We help, one stitch at a time. YOU truly DO make a difference. THANK YOU!

The Winner Is !!!!!!!!!!!!

**winner was chosen old school, small paper torn from envelope, thus the blue**

We've had several fun and productive contest here on Bridge and Beyond. Always the purpose is to have fun, to increase blog visits, to increase items being donating and to give away yarn and other goodies. We had a mitten contest, a comment contest, and now a scarf contest.

This scarf contest ran from Sept 8th to October 8th. The purpose was to beef up numbers for adults scarves, as I thought those numbers were a bit low, and because we get far more scarves for kids/teens then we do adults. I added a qualifier that the scarves should be at least 5 inches wide and 5 feet long, though I think I stretched that a bit with the list of entrants.

Thank you to all who participated: AnneMarie, Nancy, Denise, Gail B, Paula K, Jenn S, Bunny, RoseMarie, Suzy D, Liz, and Suzanne W.

Our winner is Gail B. Many thanks and congrats Gail. Your donations have all been appreciated. Gail hails from the state of Virginia and has been donating hats, scarves, squares, and cotton washclothis since April of 2010. I have 7 posts here on the blog tagged with Gail B, with the possibility of 8....Gail, is this you? Click Here please. If this is Gail B, she's been donating since Feb of 2010. Gail has donated 41 scarves, 12 hats, 14 cotton washcloths, and 25 squares for our homeless and those in need. Did you know you can click on her name in the tag section of this post (bottom of the post), and be taken to all other posts where she is tagged? Take time and have a look back to see all the goodies she's made and donated. You can do this anytime folks, click on anyone's name in the tag area.

Have had a round of anonymous comments of late so wanted to post a little reminder to you all. You do NOT need to be a blogger to leave a comment. Simply click the drop down box that says name and url and leave the url portion blank. Please use this option so we know who you are vs anonymous. Plus, many anonymous comments end up in the spam folder.

I'll be reviewing my stash, as well as lots of odds and ends that have been donated to get a box ready, Gail send me your snail ady so I can put your winning yarn in the mail next week. Remember Monday is a holiday, so it will hopefully go out on Tuesday.

CONGRATS AGAIN GAIL, AND MANY THANKS


TIP....avoid using white when possible, and non washable wool and suede fibers please with your donations

2011 Donations:

Scarves 319
Hats 631
Mitts 137
Socks 124
Squares 454
Rain Ponchos 80
Cotton Washcloths 309
Sweaters/Poncho's 7
Slippers 86
Afghans 33 (2 sent to our friends at Pine Street)
Misc Items I've not counted misc items like all the personal care items, the neck warmers, head bands or yarn.

Donations in que from: Bunny, Sherry K, Liz, Paula K, Sandy, Suzanne W, Nikki, Carol, Frank, Jenn, Jeanette J, Cheryl, AnneMarie, Sandy

October is mitten month
I've added November's focus to the working calendar, though details will follow. It will be The Jack Otis Memorial Month, it's a personal picture of homelessness and despair

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated, and all donations keep someone warm. We help, one stitch at a time. YOU truly DO make a difference. THANK YOU!

Boxes and Packages = Donations = Happy!

These 6 packages arrived while hubby and I were out of town at a wedding and then on vacation. Wanna guess what's in them? My fabulous trusty neighbor always takes such good care of your thoughtful donations in my absence. Six, count them. Six packages of goodies. Please stay tuned as I catch up with photo's and appropriate posts with donations from Rebeccah, Jaonie B, RoseMarie, Tammy (psmflowerlady), Sandie in Florida, Yvonne, Liz (minnisoda from Rav).

If you've not yet checked out April Showers, please click in sidebar and read all about it. A wonderful, and easy way to help. A way our non knitting and non crocheting friends can help.

This is post #395 , only 5 more til we hit 400! Can you believe it? PLEASE keep checking, when we hit post 400, I'll be announcing a special contest and you don't want to miss it. Pass the word.

Thank you all for continuing to support those in need with your efforts. Truly, they are greatly appreciated.

2011
Scarves 168
Hats 262
Mittens (gloves) 66
Socks 62
Slippers 36
Ghans 25 (2 went to Pine Street Earlier)
Squares 214
Sweaters 5
Ponchos 4

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated, and all donations keep someone warm. We help, one stitch at a time. YOU truly DO make a difference. THANK YOU!

Printable Bridge and Beyond Flyer!

We have a printable Flyer! I hope you've already seen it, that means you've been spending time here and looking around. A simple straight forward flyer that can be printed. I'm asking you all to print a handful. Is there someone you work with who doesn't get on line? Do you belong to a social group, or a church group? Are there parents you chat with at ball games, or a bulletin board at your local library? If so, please print and take along a couple of our flyers. Help us spread the word about the need to warm homeless people. We'd love to have more helping hands to knit and crochet. We'd love to find more bloggers to connect with to help spread the news.

As you've probably noticed, we are growing which is nice. Our list of helpers who don't blog has grown quite a bit; but I believe we can can continue to grow. Since we're growing, you've also probably noticed our mission has increased. An increased missions means we're able to help more people in need.

Our goals continue to be the same, warm the folks (men and women) living outdoors without a roof over their heads, to warm those in extreme circumstance being treated at 2 free clinics (women and children), warm and aid those being protected from homelessness and abuse at Faith Mission (mothers and children).

We had a blog contest awhile back which brought some additional attention to the blog and it's cause, which was great. We celebrated our 200th post, with that blog contest and yarn giveaway. Sandie, our long time supporter won the free yarn. We're now in the middle of a fun contest, a mitten challenge to call attention to October being mitten month; and to hopefully raise our numbers in an area in need. Beth, another long time supporter has designed a mitten pattern for us...actually her 2nd one. Both those patterns are available for free in the tabs on this page. Additionally another supporter, James designed a knitted mitten pattern which is also available there in the tabs. Again, free yarn will be the prize to the winner. The winner will be the person who makes and donates the most pairs of mittens. Many thanks Beth for idea and for issuing the challenge. Beth and I of course won't be in the running for the prize.

I'm also hoping you've poked round enough you've seen and read about, "Give a Square". An upcoming focus, for those who like to plan ahead, please take a look.

Please remember all donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated, and all donations keep someone warm. We help, one stitch at a time. It truly DOES make a difference. THANK YOU!

And the Winner .....is Sandie!!

Ok, I announced Sandie as the winner a few days ago but wanted to do a post about it.

First, I thought you all might like to know how long Sandie and I have known each other, and how we came to know each other.

Long ago I was reading a super long post on The Crochetville Forum. It was pages and pages and pages. I kept reading because I wanted to learn about a project. Squares 4 Survivors. But, it took me lots of reading to find out people who crocheting squares, sending them somewhere where they were being put together to help victims of Katrina. I made contact with her via a pm (private message). She informed me the group was no more. I was floored, after all that reading to learn about it. She and I chatted back and forth several pm/emails worth. Someone else had started the group and felt it had run it's course; but both Sandie and I (Sand ie and Sandy y) thought the need was still pretty great. Anyway she resurrected the project, and started a yahoo group. It was great we met lots of other wonderful people. Some are members here, like Bunny. You might also remember Ghost. She used to be a member here. Anyway we had a well organized and very productive group. Sandie lives in LA, so is well acquainted with the need from Katrina and many of our ghans were hand delivered.

Thankfully, that need was taken care of, the group was no longer needed. Sandie and I kept in contact through the beauty of the blogging world. She's continued to keep her hot hook moving at lightening speed and helped many many different organizations and charities; as well as being a long time and very active supporter here.

While Sandie and I haven't met face to face, I do feel like I know her after all these years of reading each other's blog's.

I'm thrilled to announce she is our winner. Thank you to those who took the time to enter the contest and help us celebrate our 200th post which was a neat milestone. This is now #203.

I'm not showing a picture yet of Sandie's winnings, don't want to ruin the surprise for her. It's going out in today's mail; but I will tease you all with these clues about her winnings.

There are 9 skeins of yarn, several different types of fibers and colors, and she'll have a total of 2,090 yards of winnings to enjoy! There is one stipulation however, 200 yards must be laid aside to be selfish and make something for yourself. I'm even marking those 200 yards. lol, but I think when you see them you'll know.

So pop over and Congratulate Sandie on her winnings, you'll enjoy yourself with all the cool stuff she has on her blog. AND be sure and pop back in, so you can see the picture of her winnings in a few days.

Knitting Scarves for the Homeless

These 2 light'n'lofty scarves were knitted. Originally I had planned to donate these scarves to Passions of the Heart, but they turned out warmer then I anticipated they would be. Guess it's been awhile since I've knitted with that yarn and had forgotten how thick and warm it is. So, since they're warm decided they were better suited for people in need of warmth; bodily warmth as well as emotional warmth and these have now gone to our Bridge and Beyond Charity to warm homeless here in Central Ohio.

The picture was taken just before I finished the 2nd scarf, had to tuck ends in and add fringe; but I was busy taking lots of pictures and decided to go ahead with the photo for convenience.

I finished the corner to corner ghan last night except for trim and tucking in ends which hopefully will happen in the next couple of days. So, keeping busy trying to stock pile items for the homeless here in Central Ohio. When the cold hits suddenly, we do want to be prepared.

Please keep your hooks and needles busy the remainder of the summer, help us by spreading the word, AND don't forget to enter the blog contest. We're giving away free yarn!! Read all about the contest and tell all your friends.

15 More posts to go, so get busy.


2010
Scarves 170+2= 172
Hats 205
Mittens 19
Socks 59

2008-2009
Hats 368
Mittens 66
Scarves 147
Socks 79 pair
*counts from day 1, Dec 2 2008

Chipping away

Chipping away at my corner to corner ghan. Put it away for awhile as I needed small items to take out of town, and small items to take to work to work on at lunch etc. But, wanting to show the progress here on the corner to corner ghan for our friends at Pine Street. Using up odds and ends, some from my stash some that folks have gifted and donated to me. Fun to see the variety of colors. I'm officially over half done as I'm now doing the decreasing part, though knitting is indeed slower then crocheting. However, knitting seems to bother my arthritis and carpal tunnel a bit less. What really seems to work is a nice blend of each so hand and arms, shoulders etc. don't get overly tired.

Natually am continuing to work on the Bits of This and That Ghan for the same cause picture here. AND, don't forget to read all about the contest where you can win yarn and related goodies. So far we have one our of members entered, Sandie. Best of luck to you Sandie and all others who get involved. Might have more by the time you read this, since this is a scheduled post. So this then makes it 16 posts needed to reach our 200th landmark which is why we're celebrating by having a fun contest and giving away goodies.

Hope you're all continuing to knit and crochet each and everyday to help those less fortunate. O truly believe together we can and do make a difference, one stitch at a time.

Blessings to all


2008-2009
Hats 368
Mittens 66
Scarves 147
Socks 79 pair*counts from day 1, Dec 2 2008