Mission Statement

Operations for Bridge and Beyond will cease on Dec 31, 2021, last mailing date should be Dec 24th

GOAL FOR AFGHANS

Afghans
Goal: 30
Start: #24
Current: 26
0.8666%
START
END

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Warming Homeless Feet with this Donation

Thank you Marjorie M for this thoughtful donation of crocheted cotton washcloths and socks.  It's awesome!  Cold, wet feet are very dangerous.  Having clean dry socks can improve health factors many time over for our cold homeless friends.  Even for those lucky enough to get a night here and there in a shelter, the ability to wash socks or dry wet socks is not a given; so having a supply of clean dry warm socks is greatly appreciated.

Love the soft cotton washcloths, they have many uses for those living out in the elements, those living in shelters, as well as those transitioning to permanent housing.  They are used as washcloths and as dishcloths.  Excellant!

Many thank Marjorie for your on going support.  Keep up the good work.

2015 Donations:
Hats: 59
Scarves:20
Mittens: 18
Slippers: 20
Rain Poncho's: 3
Cotton Washcloths:13+10=23
Afghans:1
Socks: 7+40=47
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.

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Matching Hats and Scarves Warm the Homeless

Awesome scarves and hats, matching sets!  I LOVE these nice dark colors for our cold homeless in need Ruth A.  Many thanks for your generous donation.  You can see Ruth's been very busy crocheting.  The scarves are nice and warm, and large enough to wrap up in........always a plus and so very much needed.  These are great colors and work well for both men and women.  Additionally they are colors that go with, blend it with lots of other colors.

Well done Ruth, please keep up the good work.  The folks receiving these beautiful items will be thrilled.

2015 Donations:
Hats: 55+4=59
Scarves:14+6=20
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.

Friday, February 27, 2015

O H I O Buckeye Scarves for the Homeless

O H I O.........Thank you Sandie P in Louisiana for these lovely Buckeye Scarves.  Scarlet and Grey are our Buckeye colors, how perfect is that!  These scarves are crocheted and donated by our good and long time friend, Sandie P.  Sandie's been Bridge and Beyond since the beginning and her long time support is so very much appreciated.    These scarves are nice and fluffy, super warm, and both wide and long enough to truly give someone the ability to wrap up to help keep warm.

The temps have been frigid these past couple of weeks, breaking record lows for this time of the year.  We considered it a real plus the other day when we warmed up to 8 above, as it started out 12- without considering the wind chill.  Believe the weather folks that day the wind chill made it about 34-. Folks, those conditions are truly brutal and very dangerous.  I've recently read about deaths of the homeless as a result.  I'm in the process of putting together the information I can find on the sad subject.  Please keep checking in daily.  We need your support.

2015 Donations:
Hats: 55
Scarves:12+2=14
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.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Housework vs Knitting


For all my knitting, crocheting, looming, quilting friends.........thought you might enjoy this!  Spotted this cute chuckle on Facebook the other day and wanted to share.  Pretty sure, we can all relate to this.

Folks if you missed my post yesterday, please scroll back.  I'm in need of your thoughts and opinions.


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.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

A Troubled Afghan in the Making?

 Think I'll call this afghan (you all know I name them), Sandy's learning curve log cabin.  That's awful name actually, so if anyone has a suggestion, I'm all ears.  We've made progress......I think from the initial square which is called the center square (the two shades of blue).  It seemed fine...but due to beginning and ending stitches being slip stitches holes appeared when picking up stitches along the side for the first log (the grey one).  There was much discussion in the class about this problem, which made me feel better, that it wasn't just me.  Two schools of thought were to pick up stitches of the central (blue) square so you didn't diminish the size.  The bulk of us did that....but found the holes to be a problem.  A few folks ripped out and re-did picking up stitches farther down  a row or two in the central square, some left the holes wove in a piece of yarn or two to fill the holes.  I ripped out, and tried to using my crochet hook vs knitting needles a bit of both...ie picking up on the edge followed by picking up further down to try and minimize the holes...and to try to avoid the 2nd problem people were reporting which was a bumpy ugly ridge (seem) on the back side.
 Not a good solution, to my way of thinking.  When and I made the 2nd central square I plan to change the count so I have no slip stitches at the beginning or ending or rows, but decided to play through, as it was "liveable", if not repeatable, the ridge on the back that is.  The first log (grey), was a real problem for me.  It was going to be the navy you see in the central square, but......it's been so long since I've used Caron Simply Soft yarn, I'd forgotten how much I dislike it.  How badly it frays, and how truly not to size/gauge it is with other worsted weight yarns.  I also found it doesn't have any gives when doing cables or twists.  The first log was lots of RT and LT and all the Simply Soft did was pull in and look knotted...plus it was really hard to see what I was doing, having never done RT and LT before.  So I ripped out and used the grey and it's ok....not perfect.  The instructor actually didn't give correct instructions on doing the stitch...several of did searches and found other instructions and video's on line sooooo there's a texture design, but not quite what it was suppose to be, as I have a rule about how many times I'll ripped out (tough on the yarn), and I'd already hit that limit on this one log...so again, played through.
 By the third log, the pink on the left (3 strands of colorwork), things were improving.  The first row of gray color, not quite right, believe I must have switched my yarn and used the wrong color for a row, but it's a least neat, so left it and continued and as you can see the colors (grey and rose) pop more thereafter...yeah me I did it.  However, the log was knitted a bit too tightly....a common problem with new knitters........which I'm not, but learning new techniques I was too tight.  Guess it's a tension thing, plus this log sorta breaks a very commonly rule of thumb knitting principal....you don't use purl stitches at the beginning and ending of rows, or the first and last rows without several of off setting garter stitches to anchor it.........otherwise it curls.  We all know that.  Given that, this pattern from Lion Brand has been disappointing, because it seems to do alot of that.  That coupled with the slip stitch problem and several places where the stitch count was wrong, believe they need to rewrite, rethink this pattern.  If you notice how badly the bright blue and green log is curly in the first picture, you'll see what I mean.  That bright green and blue log was the third log, and while I didn't have to rip it out, I would say it was a mixed success.  Still too tight on my part, learning curve I guess AND nothing again to anchor those purl stitches and their placements.  This I believe was compounded by it being the very next log, so the pink and bl-gr log are pulling badly against each other.  But.........The 4th log, the solid tan on the left is a nice basic stitch without pulling, without holes, without slip stiches and I think I'm beginning to see some hope.  The left side of the pink log seems to be straight now except where it meets the blue-green log.
I'm just getting going with a different 3 colorway in the 5th log.....fingers crossed it helps pull out the blue-green.  However......in true log fashion these are the only 2 sides where logs are added.  Not to the right side of the central square, which I think would help the curling problem??I'm trying to decide whether to continue to follow the pattern, alter it and add logs to the right side, OR???  In any case it's going to require some heavy duty blocking.  The instructor has told people not to blog, something I've never heard of with regard to afghans, particularly where things are pieces together.  She's been very dismissive about all the problems surrounding this pattern, hasn't been good at answering questions in class etc.  A very disappointing class, especially for my first one.  She's not been getting, nor has the pattern been getting good reviews.  So, toss in your opinions here folks....I'm really opened to them.  I don't want to waste donated yarn so feel that I should continue...but also wonder if I'm better off nixing the project completely??  The pattern calls for a 6th log and then to make 6 of these large squares and join them.


  • Do I rip out and forget it completely?
  • Do I change the pattern and add logs to the other sides (perhaps several to the right and the bottom, making this large enough for a childs ghan?
  • Do I continue the pattern and hope for the best, is their enough confidence in blocking to fix the problem...along with the completion of  log 5 that you see, and adding log 6?
  • Do I add the logs to the right and bottom......and make 4 large squares for an adult ghan?
  • Do I continue to finish this square and use it as a focal point square in a poncho?
Sorry for the length of this post folks, but.........I need your help.

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.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

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)

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.

Where are You and Your Yarn From?

I'm trying to identify where everyone is from, partially for fun. Take a look at the map. Also, believe it will aid me in cases where we have several people with the same name. Please look at the lists of bloggers and non bloggers and see if I have the state you hail from. If not, please leave a comment and let me know.

Additionally, we've had help from Scotland, England, Germany Puerto Rico, Canada, and France! They don't appear on the map, but their help is still greatly appreciated.

Where The People Who Donate Come From, is your state represented?