Remembering Grandma

This afghan was recently delivered to Homeless Families Foundation.  I wanted to share a sweet story with you all.  So many of you were involved in the making of this afghan.  While I may have knitted it (Feather and Fan),  the yarn comes from multiple caring hearts.  The light gray was in my stash, but all the other yarn (please click to see how many different colors there are), came from many of you.  Somehow it had gotten buried on my shelves or would have been delivered previously when it was completed vs the most recent delivery.

I received this message on my Facebook wall (this is a cut and paste folks)

Karie Gallegos

18 hrs ·

Sandy Mader Holladay - I wanted to share a story with you...Today one of our clients came in and he was picking out some scarves and hats from what you brought in for us. He started talking about how he use to have a blanket that his grandmother had crocheted for him and due to moving around a lot he had lost it. When I pulled out one of the wonderful blankets you had brought into us and told him that his grandmother didn't make it but hopefully he could think about her when he uses it he was so thankful. He darn near started to cry which gave me the goosebumps. So thank you once again for all that you do for us at The Homeless Families Foundation. It truly means a lot to our families!

Karie Gallegos is our contact person there at Homeless Families Foundation folks.  She is the one who always helps me unload the packed car of goodies.  I asked her which ghan she'd given him so I could share the story with you all and the picture.  If ever you doubt what you do matters, please remember this story and know that YOU make a difference each and everyday in the lives of others.  THANK YOU!

2015 Donations:
Hats: 55
Scarves:12
Mittens: 18
Slippers: 20
Rain Poncho's: 3
Cotton Washcloths:13
Afghans:1
Socks: 7
Fingerless gloves/wrist warmers:
Cowls/Infinity scarves: 11
Shawls: 1 (just realized it wasn't listed, don't think I missed any?)
Misc: personal care items and anything not listed above

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.

Using Donated Yarn

This is the start of a patch work style afghan.  Truly only a start.  These blues are from my stash of donated yarn.  This will indeed be a long term project, as it's a learning project for me.  I've not knitted with multiple colors before so this grill stitch using 2 colors is a first for me.  It's always nice to learn new skills or techniques.  Sometimes I find I don't do that, I stick with what I know in order to move through the process faster.  So this got me thinking, wondering what your knitting and or crocheting style is with regard to donating?  Do you stick with the tried and true or do you venture out of your comfort zone?

As I age, I realize how important it is to keep learning, so am going to work...probably pretty slowly through this patchwork sampler style afghan learning new techniques as I go.  I ripped this out and started over after about 2.5 inches...but think I'm ok now with this beginning stage.  Will let you know how I progress...or not, as the case may be.

Tell me about your style in the comments below.  Tried and true or adventurous?  Neither is right or wrong, but I am interested.

**I should note mixing yarns like I did for this square, probably wasn't the best of ideas.  Been so long since I've used Caron Simply Soft I'd forgotten how untrue to gauge it is.  Wonder why they classify it as WW, seems like it should almost be in the sport weight class or perhaps DK?  Thank goodness this is a pretty stretchy stitch, otherwise using it with Red Heart WW would probably not work at all**

2015 Donations:
Hats: 55
Scarves:12
Mittens: 18
Slippers: 20
Rain Poncho's: 3
Cotton Washcloths:13
Afghans:1
Socks: 7
Fingerless gloves/wrist warmers:
Cowls/Infinity scarves: 11
Shawls: 1 (just realized it wasn't listed, don't think I missed any?)
Misc: personal care items and anything not listed above

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.

Crocheted Donation from a High School Friend

Thank you Joy for this lovely donation of crocheted goodies.  Joy's a high school friend of mine and while we don't get to see each other often, it always feels special when I open a donation from her.  I feel like we're visiting.   Look at all the time she spends with hook and yarn thinking about us here in Ohio.  That's pretty special to me.

Love the colors you used in your hats and scarves Joy.  Wonderful soft hats of various sizes to warm many heads.  Please keep up the good work my friend.

2015 Donations:
Hats: 47+8=55
Scarves:9+3=12
Mittens: 18
Slippers: 20
Rain Poncho's: 3
Cotton Washcloths:13
Afghans:1
Socks: 7
Fingerless gloves/wrist warmers:
Cowls/Infinity scarves: 11
Shawls: 1 (just realized it wasn't listed, don't think I missed any?)
Misc: personal care items and anything not listed above

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.