Zilch....I got Zilch

A little humor for you all.  I don't have a picture or appropriate word for the letter Z.  The two previous posts were titled Zneesy and Homeless and Finding Zen.  I didn't come up with anything new to share with you.  

Doing a google search it gave me the words zero, zilch, and zone...but I got no where trying to tie those words to being homeless.

Thinking about knitting, crocheting, yarn, looming etc I can think we're in the zone when we're busy at work...but that's about as far as my mind goes.  Any ideas from you all?

By now, you've probably noticed the count down to Spring in the right sidebar is in fact counting down.......yippee Skippy.  Also by now, you've probably noticed the new goal numbers for the year of 2019.

**The counts on our progress bars are current. 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.

Yarn....truly Yarn Helps the Homeless

Blogging in alphabetical order brings us to today's letter Y.  In the previous round of blogging in alphabetical order,  the letter Y's post was titled Yarn, A poem.  I've posted it here on Bridge and Beyond a couple of times, the poem that is.  My darling SIL wrote it for me and I really like it.  Please check out the previous post and her poem.

Back when I was blogging in alphabetical order for the blog challenge, the post for Y was...Yarn Helps Homeless.  Always nice to have folks go back and re-read or read for the first time previous posts.

Soooooo, it seems I've not come up with anything new for the letter Y.  Before you is a picture of yarn...of yarn helping the homeless.  What you don't see here in this picture is the rest of it, lol.  I decided it was time to tame the stash and  brought up every container and bag from the basement and sorted the stash based on color.  It was sorted that way a few years ago, but with additional yarn being donated, my having bits and pieces left from projects, taking yarn out to use and finding it not quite the color I needed and it might not getting back in the proper place.......... it needed to be done again...........this yarn organization took almost a whole day.  

Additionally, I was making up projects bags by laying out projects to work on and selecting the yarn needed to put it in one of my many project bags.  I now ...drum roll...have filled 7 bags here in my office for 7 projects with the yarn necessary to complete them....all afghans.  There's still plenty of yarn, and plenty of empty bags...but I was trying not to go crazy with the idea, lol

This afghan was designed sometime back from stripes someone sent that were too short and narrow to be scarves.  They will be joined, and added to enough to make a afghan.   I laid out green, rose, and tan for possible colors to edge and join...stay tuned for which one I ended up selecting.

**The counts on our progress bars are current. 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.

Xenium, Xenophobia, Xanthic and Blogging in Alphabetical Order

In the previous round of blogging in alphabetical order, My blog title was Xenium and Homelessness.  That post was published on  April 2, 2018.  When I first blogged in alphabetical order as part of a blog contest April 2th, 2015, my X post was Xenophobia.  If you didn't read  those posts, or don't remember them, please click on the words to go to those posts.  

Currently doing a google search for another X post word I came up dry.  In that I found a list of 340 vocabulary words connected in some capacity to homelessness and X was blank!  Yikes.  Searching further, google tells me there are about 400 words in the English language that start with the letter X, and that includes names, and places, and words no longer used.

Digging a little deeper, I found a word I used once before for the letter X, just not on this blog.  One year when I did the blog challenge I entered all 3 of my blogs (once was certainly enough to do that, whew!).  On one of my other blogs, I used the word, XANTHIC which means yellowish....there's yellowish in my cartoon above, and the fact that's it's about sheep/yarn/fiber.........believe that's the best I can do for this round of blogging in alphabetical order in search of a word that starts with X.  

I thought the comic was cute, and perhaps you do as well.  Funny even, but certainly nothing about being homeless and cold is funny.  So please folks, do your best to keep busy with your yarn and crochet hook and or knitting needles.

**The counts on our progress bars are current. 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.

Woebegone and Wretched Homeless Emotions

Blogging in Alphabetical order (which if you're new to this blog is done on days when I am without donations to share).  I do this to have blog posts appear more often than we would if I only blogged when there were donations to share.  In so doing, Bridge and Beyond appears more often in the search engines which aids folks finding us.  The more people who finds us on the internet, the more helping hands we may have........and the more helping hands we have, the more people we can help. And by the way, do you see the tab across the top of the blog so titled.....if you open that tab you will see all the posts that have been written and the letters they represents.

So, blogging in Alphabetical order brings us today to W.

Doing a google search for words that start with the letter W that pertain to homelessness I find:
Without
Weighed down
Woebegone
Wretched
Withdrawn
Wrecked

Woebegone popped out to me, not a term we hear much these days, but a word I remember my grandparents saying.  The definition I found is: sad, miserable in appearance.  When I did a search for a picture that might represent the word, I go the above woman.  It's not hard to imagine how often homeless men and women feel this way, or do this exact pose with covering their faces.

Wretched also popped out as an extreme word.  This picture says a lot.  The defination I found says very unhappy or unfortunate state.

When we help a homeless person with warm hats, scarves, socks, mittens etc I believe we help them not feel or look as woebegone or wretched.

We can not eliminate it all, but we can make a difference.  Please keep your knitting needles, your knitting looms, and your crochet hooks busy.
**The counts on our progress bars are current. 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.

Thank You Knitters and Crocheters

Thank You, Thank you to each and every person who knitted, crocheted, or loomed and made a donation to Bridge and Beyond and Ohio's Homeless.  Thank you to all who sent personal care items, to all who told a friend, or neighbor or co-worker about Bridge and Beyond to help spread the word.  Thank you to all who take time to visit the blog and leave comments........to cheer us on, to support those who do knit, crochet or loom.

Yes...so many involved to keep Bridge and Beyond going, even if we didn't meet our goals for the year of 2018, Thank you!

Thank you:
Ann M
Anna W
AnnMarie D
Barbara F
The Barry Family
Christina D
Cynthia B
Damaris
Donna P
Emily K
Gail B
Gayle T
Jeanette T
Joy D
Juli B
Karen N
Karen S
Laura J
Lisa N
Marlene R
Mary H
Melinda G
Mimi T
Nikki S
Peggy F
Phyllis G
Robyn G
Sandie P
Sandra R
Sarah S
Sharon H
Sheelagh S
TammyM
Tammy S
Sue S

I mentioned all the people that help keep Bridge and Beyond going.  It occurs to me some of you may not know the history of Bridge and Beyond.  On Dec 2, 2008 I started this blog and made a post asking fellow bloggers to lend a hand.  Most of the people I had gotten to know through blogging were knitters or crocheters.  I had donations in a matter of a few days and so this past Dec 2, 2018, Bridge and Beyond had been in existence for 10 years!

When I started Bridge and Beyond, I had no idea we would still be operating 10 years later.  We began by supplying items to my friend Rae who prepares hot meals for those living out in the elements.  Initially we asked for items for those men.  Occasionally a woman was in need.  We grew from that to include shelters throughout the years.

I looked back through our first couple of blog posts and looked at the names of bloggers who made comments on that first blog post, Dec 2nd.  Our good friend Sandie P was among them!  Yes...she has been with us since the very beginning.  None of the other names on that first blog post have continued with us.  In fact most don't blog anymore.......I checked.  But, I'm going to list those names, as some of the bloggers who visit here may remember some of the names.
Margie the Ladybug
 Sunnie fairy (who I think is the person who made our logo for us...the toboggan and muffler and mittens.
Bunny
Kristin
Sissie
Rachele
Shamna
Crochetn Quilt...though they seem to be gone from blogland and Bridge and Beyond, I thank them for helping us get started.


**The counts on our progress bars are current. 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.

Ripple Afghan in Need of a Name, and New Donation Goals for 2019

ITEM	Prev Average	Goal %	6 years totals	6th yr. Average
Hats	675	40%	3649	608
Scarves	415	53%	2303	383
Afghans	35.8	94%	213	35
Socks	169	39%	912	152
Slipper	104	12%	536	89
Cotton Clothes	383	43%	2083	347
Mitten	156	48%	856	142

In my previous post you'll see the numbers from the last 6 years, the averages, as well as our % of goal reached in 2018.  Goal being the average of the last 5 years.

This graphic shows our previous average (the 5 year average), the percent of the goal we reached for 2018, the total number of each item collected in the last 6 years, and the new average.  You can see the average has gone down in each category with the exception of the afghans which stayed constant.  Technically we were a strange 35 point something but I think saying 35 is fine, and easier to deal with, lol.

Reviewing last year, I realized I made 8 afghans, so I will endeavor to make more than 8 for the coming year.  Last year I made, Crocheted Eclectic Afghan, Orange Julius, Mountain Sky, Blanket of Many Colors, Learning Logs, Jeweled Lines, Earth and Sky, and Cardiac Collage.

Hopefully, by the time you read this post, our goals ...the graphs here on the blog will have been updated to reflect the 6th year averages...the number being our goal for the year of 2019.

Currently working on this one.

Barely started.  It's a ripple, a knitted one.  I've not made a true knitted ripple before.  I have made a feather and fan style which falls into the category of ripples, but this is a bit different.  Click to enlarge so you can see the detail from going from garter stitch for the border to the purl patterned stitches.  Current thinking is stripping it with both the blue and the brown variegated.  Trying to use up some stash.  Maybe...a 3rd color?  Since this is scheduled, as all posts typically are; but the time you read this post....I hope to have completed more. 

I just tested this light.  You ware it on your neck.  The light is very helpful on dark cloudy days, or at night when you're forced to try and see dark colors by the light of lamps.  It's a Minger Light.  Suggested by our friend, Sandie P who's been such a long time supporter of Bridge and Beyond.  I add my recommendation to hers if anyone has trouble seeing yarn at night.


**The counts on our progress bars are current. 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.