Afghans, Family Heirlooms

 Meet Great Aunt Viola and her husband Harry.  They were married back in 1932, 83 years ago.  Notice the afghan to Viola's right...the left side of my old picture.

 This is Great Aunt Viola's Mother, Mary Florence, my Great-Great Grandmother who was born 4 days before the start of The Civil War in 1861.  Mary Florence crocheted that afghan.  Likely 83 years ago as a wedding present for her daughter, Viola.  Though it's possible, she made it before or after that; that's a logical conclusion given family history.

That afghan was made by my Great-Great Grandmother, used by her daughter, my Great-Aunt, given to my Dad and used alot!  And now I have the honor of owning it.

Though it's in need of some repair, it's still around and is probably at least 83 years old!  Afghans, knitted or crocheted are family heirlooms and carry a-lot of sentiment and meaning.  We here on Bridge and Beyond knit and crochet afghans to bring meaning, and hope to those less fortunate.  We donate our Afghans to Homeless Families Foundation as a way to say congratulations and best of luck.  Congratulations because they have moved forward, they are transitioning from shelter living to their permanent living situation.  That's certainly something to celebrate and commemorate.  We also hope these afghans we make and donate give them hope for a brighter future, to know someone cares for them, and made something special for them.  We hope the afghans we donate carry a special meaning to those who receive them, must like this special afghan does for me and my family.

Today is the first day of the annual A-Z Challenge for the month of April A=Afghan.  Welcome to those in the challenge who may be seeing this blog for the first time.  The blog is dedicated to helping the homeless through knitting and crocheting.

**We call this project, "Welcome Home", you can use those words and or afghans in the search box to see some of the afghans that have been donated in the past.

2015 DONATIONS:
Hats: 179
Scarves 67
Mittens/Gloves/Wrist Warmers: 45
Slippers: 50
Rain Poncho's:  53
Cotton Washcloths: 109
Afghans: 6
Socks: 126
Cowls 12
Shawls 1
Misc: items like personal care and things don't fit into above categories aren't counted

This is the starting portion of the 2nd square to "Learning Logs", my regular readers will remember the fits this ghan has given me, but.....I can say things are improving with the various changes I've made to the pattern.  Comparison to square #1 is HERE

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.

Blue Horizon

When last I posted an update of Blue Horizon it was 21 inches, it's now 26...seems like it's growing slowly, but it is growing and it is now officially over the half way point.  The brown stripe is the middle and so we've moved onto the large aqua section, followed by the small salmon stripe and are now on the light blue band.  It's folded over as there are too many stitches on the needles to stretch it out without fear of losing stitches off the ends of the needles.

Nothing fancy in this all garter stitch afghan, but I love the colors and it's quite soft.  Am using donated yard that is Bernat Satin.

For any new folks to blog (possibly a-z challenge folks), these afghans are all donated as a welcome home gift to families leaving shelter living and moving into a permanent housing situation.  The project is called Project Welcome Home.  If you'd like to see some of the afghans (ghans) donated in the past, simply type the word afghans in the blogs search window and you'll see some blog posts and pictures.

**Tomorrow will be the first official A-Z challenge post, see you then.

2015 DONATIONS:
Hats: 179
Scarves 67
Mittens/Gloves/Wrist Warmers: 45
Slippers: 50
Rain Poncho's:  53
Cotton Washcloths: 109
Afghans: 6
Socks: 126
Cowls 12
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.

Sandbox isn't Child's Play

2012 Donations:
Hats: 632

**Looking for a John R. from Minneapolis, or his wife.  If you're out there, please make contact, leave a comment here on the blog with your email addy, or email me directly at sandycrochet@gmail.com...yet another unidentified donation**

Been awhile since I've shown you the fruits of your labors folks with regard to your donated squares.  These squares come from a variety of people.  I know off the top of my head quite a few of the crocheted granny style squares come from my high school classmate, Joy, but there are others both knitted and crocheted.  Some of these squares vary a bit in size as they were made before I changed the size requirements.  Currently plan is to do 1 row of variegated in the granny stitch around the true granny style squares, then measure them to see how much more needs to be added to the sampler style crocheted squares, and the knitted corner to corner squares for things to fit together.  My quess is the other squares are going to need about 3 rows of stitching...but, we'll see as time continues.  I've named this afghan Sandbox with shades of brown and perhaps the blue represents the sky.  This afghan will be donated to Homeless Families Foundation, as all our afghans are for Project Welcome Home.

**Reminder squares should now only be mailed during the month they are highlighted, at least until I catch up a bit.  I'll sing out to let you know if that changes.  November will be the next time squares can be mailed.**

Donations 2012:
Hats: 632
Scarves: 347
Slippers: 138
Shawls: 2
Sweaters 3
Vest 1
Afghans: 32
Mittens: 274
Squares: 461
Socks: 169
Rain Poncho's 209
Cotton Washcloths 404
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, Teddy Bears and footies etc).

**Reminder to all to please check tabs across the top of the blog for suggested sizes, colors, and yarn type.  Don't miss the working calendar**

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!

Donating Afghans for Project Welcome Home

Please join me in once again saying thank you for your on going support, your thoughtfulness, and your skillful hands to our good friend AnneMarie from New York. This awesome ripple will be well received by someone as they transition from shelter living to their own place. The picture makes it look gray, but it's really more of a green. Not sure wade shade it would be called. This would work as a lapghan for an adult, male or female and or child to totally cover up in.
But, wait........There's more. I love the colors and texture in this 2nd afghan. Again, sized and suitable as above for adults, teens, or children. So nicely done. AnneMarie...your ROCK!
And no.........she didn't stop there! LOOK at this pretty Lilac/Lavender Afghan. To see it's message, please click to enlarge. This is larger then above afghans and will make a nice adult/teen afghan for a female and or a family afghan.

Anne Marie, please keep up the good work, we all truly appreciate you.

**Have you read about the change in square donation policy? If not, please do.
***Have you read about and gotten involved in the latest contest? Not much participation, though the contest was announced on July 1st. I'll be altering it to try to improve participation...please keep checking in. AND, if you're not gotten involved so far....DO IT NOW.


2012 Donations:
Hats: 476
Scarves: 269
Slippers: 121
Shawls: 2
Sweaters 3
Vest 1
Afghans: 24+3=27
Mittens: 257
Squares: 345
Socks: 120
Rain Poncho's 198
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!

Bountiful Harvest Afghan

Another afghan made from Liz's lovely squares for our project, "Welcome Home". I asked for opinions on the name of this afghan, just couldn't settle on one myself and am thrilled to say hakucho, one of my regular blog visitors to Sandy's Space suggested it's name. Bountiful Harvest. I really liked the name and appreciate her suggesting it. By the time you read this scheduled post I'm onto another one.

There is no end to the afghans that can be made from your creative and thoughtful squares. With what I have in que to assemble, I'll probably not set aside a month to focus on squares for a bit yet; please keep checking though. Many of you go ahead and mail your squares when you're mailing other items, and that's perfectly fine. Makes sense, most cost effective...we just won't be highlighting another month for squares for awhile.

Have you noticed I added a tab for afghans to the top of the blog? Some folks like to make full afghans themselves vs squares, that's fine and dandy. Please though, do read the requirements. I've not yet posted any patterns, but will on down the road. So do check back.


2012 Donations:
Hats: 118
Scarves: 47
Slippers: 26
Shawls: 2
Afghans: 7+1=8
Mittens: 88
Squares: 111
Socks: 98
Rain Poncho's 2
Cotton Washcloths 14
Misc Items are not counted individually (such as personal care items, headbands, gators, yarn, wrist warmers/fingerless gloves, footies etc)

4 more days in the contest....chances in hat 3, Chatty Cathy are as follows:
SSeger 22, Sue 4, Patty L. 5, Damaris 8, Allyson 9, Sally 21, Sherry 14, Liz 1, AnneMarie 2, Harvest Hill 12, Yvonne 8, Sandie P 3, Joy 1, Jessica 1, RoseMarie 2, Sandie in Florida 5, Kathleen 1, Autumngeisha 1, Trudy S 1, Theresa A 1, Crochet Princess 1, Kim 1, Wendy H 2, Emma 1
**Kim and Emma, please make contact I'm not finding you in the donations database

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!

Kaleidoscope, Childrens Play

Remember the fun you had as a child with a $.59 cardboard Kaleidoscope? That was the first thing that came to mind when I designed this afghan from these colorful little squares. They are indeed smaller squares then I typically get (size 7-10 inch being the requirements). These have been in my stash of squares for a good long while. The other day I decided it was time to dump squares out of the containers and do some designing.......also a good way to remind myself what I had on hand. As you probably know, I'm constantly working on assembling but always several designed and in que. I'll add several rows to these to make a nice child sized afghan for our project, "Welcome Home".

I also like to design ahead so I can grab a bag to edge for car rides, travels, and lunch at work. Particually when the squares are the same size, they make for a good grab and go project.

I could edge and join in pink...would look really girly then; or green or brown to make it more masculine? But, there's always ivory which would make it...either? Thoughts on this? Then again, black would be more like a Kaleidoscope wouldn't it? But, is black ok for a childs afghan?

Love some input on this, as I'm almost done (should be later today), with the current ghan I'm working on, and planned to do this one next.

***Here's a review of people involved in the 3rd portion of the contest (runs from Feb 14th-March 14th, please click HERE for details).
SSeger, Sue, Patty L, DaMaris, Allyson, pmsflowerlady, Sally, Sherry K., Liz, AnneMarie, Yvonne, Emma, Sandie P, Joy D., Jessica, Jen, RoseMarie, Harvest Hill (Jason), Sandie in Florida. Remember the more you chat, the more chances you have to win!
*****Emma I'm not finding you in my records, have you donated...I don't want to miss anyone, please make contact so I can get this corrected.

Tomorrow updates for part I and II of the contest.

2012 Donations:
Hats: 98
Scarves: 28
Slippers: 20
Shawls: 2
Afghans: 7
Mittens: 75
Squares: 79
Socks: 42
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!

Designing Afghans, Mother Earth and Christmas 2

**Check details of upcoming contest, announcement on Valentines Day, February 14th**

As I started to add Joy's squares from yesterday's post to my holding area of donated squares waiting to make friends and become a warm afghan.....my mind went into over drive. I figured heck, I might as well design, tag, and bag while I had the squares in hand. I've named this one, Mother Earth, blues for the sky, browns for the earth, green trees, and other colors represent flowers. Or at least that's what I see. I also figured since I had just taken out one bag of a previously designed ghan to begin working on I had room in the designed and ready to be made ghan collection area. I see this being edged and joined in either offwhite/tan or gray. Stay tuned.
Bet you guessed this one when you saw the pictures of Joy's squares from yesterday. Once again, ahead of the game here. I must make sure to get several Christmas Ghans designed and in the wings to work on in time for next years Christmas Holiday Season. What a perfect gift for a family moving into their new home during The Holidays. As time goes on, I'll either add additional squares to this, or add enough rows to make the ghan the appropriate size.

Currently working on a ghan I've named Red Brick. It's been in the wings, partially designed, but in need of added squares...added size with some of the recent donations found exactly what I needed for it.

***Remember to avoid the use of white and off white in your donations (a bit here there in squares that aren't solid white or off white is ok)***

2012 Donations:
Hats: 64
Scarves: 8
Slippers: 3
Shawls: 2
Afghans: 3
Mittens: 18
Squares: 78
Socks: 15
Misc Items are not counted individually (such as personal care items, headbands, gators, yarn, 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!

Feeling Royal!

WOW, this is post #594, only 6 left to reach 600!!

Another Afghan delivered to The Homeless Families Foundation for our Operation "Welcome Home." As always such a nice team effort for our friends here on Bridge and Beyond. These purple, gold, and blue crocheted granny squares were donated by our friend Cheryl, and the dark forest green yarn used to edge and join the afghan was donated by Laurie (lovs2sing on Rav). I crocheted 2 additional rows around all 30 squares and crocheted the ghan together in the join as you go method. I crocheted an additional 2 rows around the full ghan for the border. This afghan should make a nice family afghan measuring just over 50 x 64. It's warm, sturdy and color appropriate for a family headed by a male or a female.

You might have seen this ghan previously, as it was highlighted just after being completed and delivered for Finished Object Friday over on Sandy's Space (my personal blog). As you know, blogs are written and placed in que here on Bridge and Beyond; so if often takes awhile for things to surface. Currently, we've got about a 2 week backlog of blog posts. I consider that a good problem. That means donations are numerous, so please don't get discouraged if you don't see you donation posted for awhile. I do contact everyone via email (if I've missed you, please contact me....sometimes I don't have your current email ady).

2011 Donations:

Scarves 467
Hats 941
Mittens 253
Socks 333
Squares 849
Rain Ponchos 216
Cotton Washcloths 340
Sweaters/Poncho's 10
Slippers 115
Afghans 50+1=51 (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, shawl, hot packs, or yarn etc.

**Please notice new tabs with information regarding our working calendar for the up coming year of 2012, scarves and more**

Few more days left in our December focus of Squares. Squares will then be put on hold. Once I catch up a bit with assembling....we'll start collecting again. But, please hold mailing squares after December....unless you check with me first...ie, you're mailing other items perhaps.

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!

Royalty Ghan in the Works

I've named this ghan, Royalty. The colors made me think of that. These gold, purple, and blue squares are being edge with dark green and should make a nice family afghan both in size and color when completed. It will be donated to our Homeless Families Foundation of course for Project Welcome Home.

Are you busy working on squares? It's the focus for this month in case you didn't know. All details available across the top (see tab labeled Give a Square), and or in the sidebar by clicking on the badge for Welcome Home. Please read BEFORE you knit, crochet and or mail. If you have squares that don't meet those guidelines but would still like to donate, please send me an email. Thanks!

2011 Donations:

Scarves 430
Hats 931
Mittens 253
Socks 327
Squares 641
Rain Ponchos 8216
Cotton Washcloths 339
Sweaters/Poncho's 10
Slippers 110
Afghans 46 (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, shawl, hot packs, or yarn etc.

Please share our mission with a friend. Hand knit and or hand crocheted items do more then physical warm someone up, it gives them hope. Knowing someone took the time to make something special for them....gives hope and HOPE is a powerful emotion.

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!

Pink Petuna "Welcomes YOU Home!"

You've probably read about our Welcome Home Project. Where Homeless Families through help are able to leave temporary housing and move into their more permanent housing. We, here at Bridge and Beyond, Welcome them Home with a gift of an afghan. Some are family afghans, some children directed and some are a combination there off. This ghan, Pink Petuna would be appropriate both in color and size for any girl -- from a youth to teenage.

I love the polka dots, I love the colors and I love that my friend and classmate, Connie donated yarn and partial finished squares to make this happen. You see it here, laying out in the works HERE... AND now being blocked after being laundered here in this post.........

Thank you Connie. Thank you for honoring our friend and fellow classmate Jack Otis with your donation during the month of November.

2011 Donations:

Scarves 420
Hats 914
Mittens 247
Socks 2322
Squares 567
Rain Ponchos 216
Cotton Washcloths 339
Sweaters/Poncho's 10
Slippers 100
Afghans 44+1=45 (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, shawl, hot packs, or yarn etc.

****Have you read all the updates in The People We Help? If not please do so HERE

December focuses on squares, remember squares should be made of washable yarn, all tails should be worked in as you go. Please don't leave tails when you change yarn. It truly slows down things at my end to tuck them in after the fact, and they tuck far better if you crochet or knit them in as you go. The only tail that should be visible is the very last one. Also, please please do not tie a knot and cut -- those squares always come undone and can't be used. Remember too, squares should measure no smaller then 7 inches and no larger then 10 inches. Avoid white. If you're squares don't fall into these guidelines, please contact me before mailing, thanks.

Can you believe this is post #573? WOW, only 27 post to hit the milestone of 600 POSTS!!!!

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!

Give a Square, Thank You Sandie

16 crocheted squares from our very good friend and long time supporter, Sandie in Louisiana. These wonderful purple, lavendar, pink, dusty rose squares will find their way into an afghan for our Project Welcome Home to benefit The Homeless Families Foundation. They may be group with other squares, they may be used on their own....I'm needing to check the stash of squares I have on hand to decide.

This is a perfect December 1st blog post, as it kicks off our month long focus on squares. Squares knitted and or crocheted are joined to make afghans that are donated to The Homeless Families Foundation as house warming gifts when they transition from their temporary shelter housing to more permanent housing. Squares will be collected for the month of December, then put on hold until. I prefer not to collect squares all year long, but I will periodically call for them to be mailed again. So, don't worry if you run into a time crunch during the busy month of December. I like to hold on squares to control how many I have on hand to join.

2011 Donations:

Scarves 407
Hats 903
Mittens 247
Socks 318
Squares 551+16=567
Rain Ponchos 208
Cotton Washcloths 338
Sweaters/Poncho's 10
Slippers 100
Afghans 44 (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, shawl, hot packs, or yarn etc.

Squares should be made of washable yarn, be no smaller then 7 inches or larger then 10 inches. Please avoid using solid white. Do not knot and cut when changing yarn, please leave appropriate tails of several inches when changing yarn and work all ends into your work, except the final tail. Leave a tail of at least 5 inches on the final tail. Any questions, please leave them in the comments and or email me.

*****Please avoid open and lacy stitches when making hats, scarves and slippers. If you can see your hand through the item, and or poke your finger through...it's too lacy and not warm enough. *****




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!

Pink Pentuna in the Works

Day 16 of Jack Otis Memorial Month

You may remember seeing some of these squares when my friend and classmate Connie sent her donation. I've spaced them out alternating the 2 color combinations. Rather then making more of the circle squares, I thought it would be faster to edge and join to get this ghan out to some little girl for our Project Welcome Home. I've named it Pink Petuna. The squares with centers of purple are edge with a row of green and 2 of pink, while those with green centers are edge with purple and 2 of pink. I'll then join them in pink and do a border. Believe that will make a nice size ghan and still have some yarn left from Connie's donation for other projects.

As you know posts are scheduled ahead and this project is packed as I write this for a out of town trip, in my carrying on bag; so plan to work on it a lot while gone.

2011 Donations:

Scarves 376
Hats 832
Mittens 206
Socks 185
Squares 543
Rain Ponchos 84
Cotton Washcloths 335
Sweaters/Poncho's 9
Slippers 91
Afghans 43 (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 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!

A Square Here, a Square There makes for a warm Afghan

Day 13, Jack Otis Memorial Month

Yippee, another afghan for our folks at The Homeless Families Foundation for project, "Welcome Home. This afghan is made from mostly crocheted squares. The squares come from about 3 different people. The bright purple squares are knitted. I edged each square with 2 rows of single crochet, used a version of join as you go with darning needle and yarn vs crocheting them together. I like that using a darning needle and stitching them together as they lay flat makes the join flatter then when they're crocheted together; but I'm not sure I'd use this method again. A lot more ends to work in at the end.
Here's a close up of the border. I've used this border alot in making afghans, it's one of my favorites, it's not open, or lacy, but adds some interest to the edge. Once all the squares were put together, I did 2 rows of sc around the outside of the afghan, then the decorative shells type row.

2011 Donations:

Scarves 376
Hats 809
Mittens 200
Socks 185
Squares 543
Rain Ponchos 84
Cotton Washcloths 324
Sweaters/Poncho's 9
Slippers 91
Afghans 42+1=43 (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 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!

Fabulous Family Friendly Donations

This darling brown crocheted shells afghan is practically perfect in every way for some little guy needing a hug, needing a "special" blankie. Thank you Annemarie in New York for this donation. It's already been hand delivered for our Project "Welcome Home". Remember, these posts are scheduled, written and placed in que, so by the time you read this no doubt this has already brought a smile and needed huge to a young boy.
Another fabulous donation for our families again through Project "Welcome Home". Please click to see details in these special hand crochet afghans from Annemarie. This is perfect for families to snuggle under as they make their transition from the family shelter into more permanent housing. A wonderful house warming gift for sure!
Can you see how busy our friend Annemarie's been! 2 scarves, 3 hats, 2 pairs of mittens, and an adorable sweater. All beautifully made, all made with love and thoughtfulness. Annemarie.....love love love the sweater. What pattern did you use? Can you share it? My quess is this would be sized right for a 8 yr old? Maybe older? Just eye balling it, as they say. Would love to know what size you made so I can tag it that way.

Many thanks for your skillful hands. Keep up the good work!!

2011 Donations:

Scarves 359+2=361
Hats 738+3=741
Mittens 143+2=145
Socks 153
Squares 516
Rain Ponchos 84
Cotton Washcloths 324
Sweaters/Poncho's 7+1=8
Slippers 90
Afghans 40+2=42 (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 etc.

**Do you think it's possible for us to reach 500 scarves this calendar year? That popped into my head as I was updating our numbers. How fabulous that would be. Scarves for men, women, and children (not the wee ones...school age and up).**

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!

Making Jewels from Donated Squares

I've batted around names for this ghan and have finally settled on Jewels. I started out with pastel jewels, then someone said it reminded them of birthstones, which are gems, which are jewels.....right? All the squares/rectangles are crocheted except the bright purple and the mauve one. Many of the squares were donated by Cheryl S, just recently HERE; I added others on hand from others donations and
have started edging in off white/ivory, as you can see. This ghan will be donated to The Homeless Families Foundation for our Project Welcome Home.

The message behind a hand made item, be it knitted, crocheted or loomed is powerful. The message that someone you didn't know took time to make something especially for you is awesome, is powerful, is important. That's why we donated hand made items. We keep them physical warm...yes; but we offer hope because of the specialness with a hand made item. Thank you for all you do. Keep up the good work folks.

2011 Donations:

Scarves 356
Hats 736
Mittens 143
Socks 135
Squares 515
Rain Ponchos 84
Cotton Washcloths 324
Sweaters/Poncho's 7
Slippers 90
Afghans 40 (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 etc.

**Reminders:
Include a note with your donation
Do not tie and cut when changing yarn, leave several inches and weave in your ends
Avoid open lacy stitches, general rule of thumb if you can poke your finger throw the stitches, they aren't as warm as they could be.
Avoid white as much as possible, shows dirt too easily
Lots of info in FAQ and Before you donate

Did you know you can click on the tags of any post and be taken to previous posts from either that individual (if you click on their name), or other posts that have those words...ie. mittens, hats, scarves, socks, etc.? That way you can always look around the blog and see other items these folks have made, or see other similar items.


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!

Donated Squares = Rainbow Bright Afghan = Happy Little Girl

You may remember seeing these donated squares (thank you Cheryl S) and afghan start HERE. Here is another afghan that by the time you read this scheduled post has already been donated to our Welcome Home Project for The Homeless Families Foundation. Bright and cheery, I think Rainbow Bright (you know how I like to name all the ghans), should bring a smile to a little girls face.

While December is the month to donate squares, if you're mailing other items and want to include them with your hats, scarves etc. to save postage, please feel free to do so.

We have a few more days in October for our Mitten Focus, and November will be The Jack Otis Memorial Month, with a focus on Men. Please keep checking in.

How you can help-- even when your knitting and or crochet time is tight
Visit the blog, read, spend time, and post comments. Remember you do not need to be a blogger to leave comments. Simply type your comment, click the drop down box under the comment area that says name and url, leave the space for url empty. Please use this option and not anonymous. Anonymous comments often end up in the spam folder. Visiting, reading, spending time, and commenting help the blogs placement. Helping the blogs placement in search engines helps us be easier to find, being easier to find gets us more helping hands. More helping hands=more people in need we can help. Please share our blog link with your friends, family, and co-workers...even if they aren't bloggers or knitters or crocheters.

2011 Donations:

Scarves 355
Hats 735
Mitts 142
Socks 135
Squares 515
Rain Ponchos 84
Cotton Washcloths 324
Sweaters/Poncho's 7
Slippers 90
Afghans 39+1=40 (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 etc.

Please read how you can help if you've not read it recently, also check out FAQ, thank you!

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!

When Squares Grow Up, what do they Become?

These 17 crocheted Christmas colored squares donated by Cheryl S from Michigan will grow up into a Christmas Afghan. How perfect that will be for one of our families leaving temporary housing at The Homeless Families Foundation to make their way into permanent housing. What a true "Welcome Home" gift that will be. I may use just these squares, I may see what in my stash wants to join in.
And these 2 groups of squares also crocheted and donated by Cheryl S...the group closest to you, 8 colors and 20 squares most likely will be a ladies ghan for our Welcome Home Project. Possibly having other squares join them, possibly on their own. Very much still thinking stages there; but the 5 bright colors I grouped together in the upper right corner are 24 squares that started growing up almost immediately after I opened the box. Wham, this has to be a ghan for a little girl...I could see it immediately, it called out to me and has in fact already been named. Snow Cone. The bright green is lime, the yellow lemon, the pink would be cherry, the purple of course is grape, and the orange...........orange.
See...told you it's growing up fast. I quickly spread the squares and came up the traditional diagonal afghan, searched my stash for a color I liked with it and started edging and joining with a blue. Not really navy, sorta a dark aqua-ish blue. Edging adds about 5 inches to the length, as you can see, and about an inch in width to each strip. Once it's all joined, I should have enough to do a nice wide border. Snow Cone will make some little girl feel loved. What a wonderful "Welcome Home" gift this will be.

Thank you Cheryl for your support and your thoughtful donation, keep up the good work.

**edited, as you know my post are always written ahead, placed in que in the schedule...so, as I type this edit I can tell you, the more I worked on this little girls ghan, the more I decided it needed a different name...nix snow cone (though I may use that again on another ghan), This ghan is now named "Rainbow Bright". **

2011 Donations:

Scarves 343
Hats 657
Mitts 140
Socks 124
Squares 454+61=515
Rain Ponchos 80
Cotton Washcloths 318
Sweaters/Poncho's 7
Slippers 86
Afghans 34 (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.

For those who like to plan ahead, I've added November to our working calendar it will be a focus on men through The Jack Otis Memorial Month. Hats, Scarves, Mittens, Slippers, for men. Naturally socks. Keep checking in for more details.

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!

Donating Pink Poodle for Project Welcome Home

A traditional pattern, knitting corner to corner (like so many of us do for grandma's favorite washcloth), with a bit of a different twist here. Used 2 different skeins of JoAnn's Sensations Boucle', one the black, gray, and light pink combo AND the 2nd skein was the brighter pink and white combo. Knitted on size 8 this seemed to take forever and I was hoping it would be a bit larger. It appeared like it would be when I started the decrease....but sometimes its hard to measure well when things are still on the needle. Edged with about 5 rows of both single crochet and double crochet to give the ruffle border and you can see how much the colors change.

This will, I hope brighten some young girls eyes and be a nice "Welcome Home", as part of our Project Welcome Home through The Homeless Families Foundation.

2011 Donations:

Scarves 335
Hats 646
Mitts 137
Socks 124
Squares 454
Rain Ponchos 80
Cotton Washcloths 315
Sweaters/Poncho's 7
Slippers 86
Afghans 33+1=34 (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.

*Did you read the helpful hints and guidelines about color and size? If not please do, scroll to 10-9-11

**Have you checked our map recently? Is your state represented? Is your state listed with your name either on the bloggers list, the non bloggers list, or the Facebook/Ravelry list? If not, please leave a comment and let me know what state you're from. Do you see a state not represented where you know someone? Can you encourage that someone to join us?**

***A couple of additions to the working calendar have been added, have you reviewed it lately?***


Donations in que from: Suzanne W, Nikki, Carol, Frank, Jenn, Jeanette J, Cheryl, AnneMarie, Sandy

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!

500 Blog Posts!

PLEASE VOICE YOUR OPINION IN THE POLL TOP RIGHT SIDEBAR

Please enjoy this beautiful picture of Pink Mallows from my backyard to as we celebrate post number 500! Though this picture is several months old, flowers now being gone with the weather turning cold; I wanted to share it with you as a way to say THANK YOU! 500 blog posts represents how much you all have done, how much you've knitted, how much you've crocheted, and how much you've loom. It represents how much you all have donated to those less fortunate. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Let's keep up the good work with our skilled hands, spreading word about the need. You are all AWESOME!

Have you read the important blog updates..........click HERE

Have you read about the increase in our mission .......click HERE

Have you read about the shocking fact about homelessness.......click HERE

Have you read about " Operation Welcome Home".....click HERE

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!

Project WELCOME HOME

Operation WELCOME HOME with above picture/badge will be an on going program. It will utilize the squares you all have sent and will send (Give a Square). Afghans will continue to be assembled and donated; just as we have done through our Give a Square Program. Previously we donated to Faith Mission for those living in temporary housing. We will now be switching gears to donate these afghans to Homeless Families Foundation. These afghans will be given as a house warming gift to the families as they move from The Homeless Families Foundation Shelter (temporary housing for 3 months) into "their" home/apt. These afghans will be a true welcome home, and welcome to your new life.

Families receive assistance with education, food, lodging and guidance through out their stay in temporary housing to help with the transition to permanent housing-employment etc.

The next 3 families slated to move from their temporary to permanent housing are:

1. Mom, Dad, and 2 little boys
2. Mom and a teenage daughter
3. Dad and 2 kids (age 2 and 4)

With what we already had ready to go, we've supplied 2 adult ghans, and one ghan suitable for the teenage daughter in family 2. We will continue to try and be informed about a couple of families at a time. Current thinking is once we get rollin and have some extra on hand for them, they will have the ability to select appropriate ghans to go in their house warming package. Until we reach the extra stage, I'll be working towards specific families based on what we have here to assemble.

The volume of squares is still quite good. Therefore I do still need to restrict them to specific months. Our next month for collection here will be December 2011. If however, I start running low on your squares as I get more ghans assembled, I may alter that.

PLEASE read the guidelines for squares in Give a Square before sending your donations. If you have squares that don't meet those guidelines, and or are mailing a box of other goodies here and want to include squares.......please send me a quick email so we can make appropriate arrangements.

**September is Scarf Month, and we're having another contest.
From now until October 8, I'll toss names into a hat for everyone who donates a scarf for a teen or adult...male or female. Feeling like we need to bump those numbers a bit and will draw the winning name from the hat and send out another box of yarn. Contests are fun. We've had several fun, productive, and successful contests. Every scarf donated for a teen or adult (at least 5 inches wide and 5 feet or longer please), will qualify. **

2011 Donations:

Scarves 285
Hats 583
Mitts 133
Socks 115
Squares 454
Rain Ponchos 80
Cotton Washcloths 305
Sweaters/Poncho's 6
Slippers 86
Afghans 33 (2 sent to our friends at Pine Street)

Received unidentified donation from Seattle, Washington. If you know who that is, please make contact. Thanks!

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!