Recent Distribution of our Finished Projects

We are happy to announce our group has made and given away the following items in Sept. and Dec. -

Homeless: Hats 60, Scarves 32, Gloves 23 pr

Babies: Blankets 18, Hats 26, Jackets 13

VA facility: Lap covers 9

We are happy to have been able to do this.

July 2024 Finished Charity Projects

During July, I managed to at least do a few charity crafting items -
Rolling along...

2 scarves for the homeless

1 baby jacket

One of our at-home workers emailed to say she has a bunch of things as soon as it's cool enough for her to bring them to the clubhouse - she's very productive and has the following items finished (since April)...

9 blankets (some babies, some VA lap covers)

3 baby jackets

9 scarves

10 preemie hats

5 pair fingerless gloves

13 hats for homeless

Can't wait to see them, take pix... will be another month at least and she will have added more to that stash...

June 2024 Finished Charity Project, Me & Louise

Ok - during the month of June, I made and finished these 4 charity crafting items:

2 hats for the homeless

2 pink baby jackets

And Louise, in spite of her troubled and sore hands, made and dropped off:

3 pairs fingerless gloves

1 nice long scarf

1 purple baby jacket

One photo is of my items and one is of Louise's. I'm hoping to remember to post each month's projects along the way now that I'm back to crocheting after my 5 weeks out of commission during Jan/Feb because of my hospital/rehab stays due to my 3 falls.

I am so happy to be doing this again even though I am not as productive as I used to be -

Rolling along.

May 2024 My Finished Charity Projects

Ok - during the month of May, I made and finished these 4 charity crafting items: 

3 hats for the homeless (adult sm, adult med, adult lg) 

1 nice long wrap around scarf

    I'm hoping to remember to post each month's projects along the way now that I'm back to crocheting after my 5 weeks out of commission during Jan/Feb because of my hospital/rehab stays due to my 3 falls. 

I am so happy to be doing this again even though I am not as productive as I used to be - Rolling along.

April 2024 Made by Me

 
I didn't re-start crocheting, after my medical issues earlier this year, until the first Friday in April, but I'm happy to have been able to re-start my Friday mornings at the mobile home park clubhouse plus working at home. 

These are the things I finished this month:

Lavender Corner-to-Corner scarf

Pink Baby Jacket

Black/Yellow hat for homeless plus fingerless gloves to match

Ribbed scarf in color blocks of various shades of green

I'm looking forward to what I can do in the month of May...  

2023: Total Items Distributed for Charity Last year

Once a year, I count the previous year's items that we finished and actually distributed. Last year, 2023, we were happy to donate crocheted items, in total, as follows:

Homeless: Hats 65, Scarves 38, Gloves 45 pair

Baby's Bounty: Blankets  9, Hats 57, Jackets 39

That's a total of 253 items donated for the year 2023.

And from when we began in April 2009, we report an overall total of 8459 overall!

It warms our hearts to warm these people who receive our finished items.

Most of our ladies are working from home these days but we are still rolling along...

Charity Crafting Items Documented, Packed, and Photos

I finally found the time to sort and document and pack the items we have finished so far this year. Usually, these days, we do not distribute these until October, except for the VA lapghans which can be any time.

These are from 2 gals who work from home. One has lots of time to crochet and the other, bless her heart, is having more and more troubles with crocheting.

The first photo is what Louise, my long-time gal for over 15 years, brought me earlier this year. She has now pretty much stopped crocheting for charity and tries to do some things for her family and loved ones but she has trigger finger issues and arthritis issues. We are so happy to at least received these from her:            

Louise 1 baby blanket, 5 prs gloves

The second photo are the things the gal with lots of time turned in, 2 weeks ago, Rosemary. We were pleased when she began contributing to the group.            

Rosemary  9 baby blankets, 2 VA lapghans, 3 scarves, 1 baby jacket, baby hats 6, homeless hats 2, gloves 2pr

I should also mention that in March we were happily able to have Louise and her hubby George take 18 lap covers to a VA facility.

            Distribution to VA: 18 lap covers 3/27/24

At the moment, I now have 2 fat bags of baby blankets in the closet for later distribution, and some smaller bags with sorted items.

Most of our ladies are working from home these days but we are still rolling along...

Another Distribution of Our Handmade Items

Yesterday, Baby's Bounty picked up several big white 13-gallon bags of crocheted baby blankets, hats and jackets for mothers/babies in need.

We were happy to be able to pass along the following:

Baby Hats 57

Baby Blankets 9

Baby Jackets 39

This organization supplies mothers/babies in need with diapers and many other things that are donated from local companies/businesses but they tell us that their mothers always love the handmade items especially.

Latest Distribution of our Handmade Items for the Local Homeless

On Sunday, the 12th, we were happy to drop off 4-1/2 big white 13-gallon bags filled with crocheted hats, scarves, and gloves to our contact. Diane and her friend will now take them to the priest(s) before Thanksgiving. It is already cold out there on the streets at night.

I paced myself and packed those big stuffed bags into the trunk of the car yesterday and today it was an easy drop off. The priest(s) hand them out directly to the homeless. Sorry to say I forgot to take photos this time.

This time we donated:

Hats                74

Scarves           38

Gloves            45 pr

We really love passing these along to them. Thanks for the items made for this drop by Louise, Evie, Malinda, Rosemary and Randi...

Rolling along...

Great Stuff from Work at Home Charity Crafters This Year!

We received some great items from our work at home gals this year, including 4 more lap covers for the VA, bringing our total, so far, to 11.

A while back, we received some needed things for the homeless from one of our team: 5 scarves, 7 hats, for the homeless...

This gal makes the warmest hats ever and she is the only one of us who makes great long pocket scarves. We are always glad for her contributions!

The other gal dropped off the 4 lap covers for the VA, plus 8 hats, 3 scarves, and 4 glovs for the homeless, and 11 baby hats and 4 baby jackets for Baby's Bounty.

These came in while my camera still needed fresh batteries, so no pix this time.

Almost time to pack some more 13 gallon bags for the closet for later distribution.

Rolling along...

Charity Crafter Items Documented and Packed

I finally found the time to sort and document and pack the items we have finished so far this year. Usually, these days, we do not distribute these until October, except for the VA lapghans which can be any time.

Anyhow, here are some photos but they are not my best - I was in a hurry, it's hot in this back bedroom, and I wanted it finished and out of my way...LOL.

This is what I now have finished and stashed in the closet...

Homeless:

Hats                               39

Scarves                          29

Fingerless Gloves          28 pr

Babies

Hats                               44

Jackets                           20

Blankies                           3

VA     Lapcovers                        7

Some of our ladies are working from home these days but we are still rolling along...

Distribution Yesterday of Our Handmade Baby Items

Yesterday, we happily distributed a lot of our handmade baby items to Baby's Bounty, an organization that is amazing in our area. 

We've been donating to them ever since September of 2014, and over the years we have made and donated over 800 items to them, not including yesterday's donation.

Yesterday, we donated:

Baby Hats                   9

Baby Blankets             2

Baby Jackets               37

We are always so happy to do this particular distribution because this group loves handmade items. 

Latest Distribution of our Handmade Items for the Local Homeless

On Tuesday, the 15th, we were happy to have Louise and Georgie come by and pick up several big white 13-gallon bags filled with hats, scarves, and gloves. 

I take them out of my back closet and they take the bags from me and make the actual trip to the gal who distributes them to the two priests who hand them out directly to the homeless. Sorry to say we forgot to take photos this time.

This time we donated:

Scarves            20

Hats                 57

            Gloves             27 pr

We really love passing these to them. Thanks to Louise, Evie, Donna, and Malinda...

Rolling along...

 

Update on Our Charity Crafting Stash

It was time to pack and document and stash our latest batch of finished projects.

Homeless: 

tossed a bag into the closet for mid-October; will add along the way. This bag contains:
Scarves            7
Hats                 14
Gloves             15

Babies: 

we already have 3 full bags in the closet. I just finished packing this current bag and tossed it in. We plan to take these to Baby's Bounty in the Fall. So far, we have
Jackets             53
Hats                 28
Blankets          8

The pix here are what went into the latest bag...
Rolling along...

What We Sent to the Local VA This Month!

Here's a pair of pix of the 5 Lap Covers (Lapghans) that our Charity Crafting group made and Louise and her hubby took to the VA for their folks in wheelchairs, this week.

I meant to take full photos of the Lapghans opened up, each one, but life got in the way.

We really like doing these because they are always so grateful and it gives us warm fuzzy feelings.

Rolling along...

We Made Two December Charity Crafting Distributions!

We were so happy to have a chance for my long-time member, Louise, to get to the VA center and pass along our lap covers for the veterans in the facility. We make these lap covers about 36x48, long enough to cover lap and legs but not drag on floor when in wheelchairs, and ditto the width, wide enough to cover most laps but not wide enough to tangle in wheels.

We donated 13 in May, then last week, we gave them 7 more, so 20 in total this year!

Then, a week later, Louise and Georgie came by and picked up 10 big white 13-gallon bags filled with hats, scarves, and gloves. I take them out of my back closet and they take the bags from me and make the actual trip to the gal who gives them to the two priests who hand them out directly to the homeless. This time we donated:

Scarves            119

Hats                 108

Gloves             45

We really love passing these to them.

Rolling along...

Some Recent Charity Crafting Projects Finished

Thought I'd share this pic of some recent things we've finished in our charity crafting group. There are lots of cool hats, cute baby sweaters, and lap covers for the VA facility. We always have fun making doing these projects with the donated yarn we receive. The items in this particular group were made mostly by myself and Louise...

Our May Charity Crafting Distribution!

We were so happy to have a chance for my long-time member, Louise, to get to the VA center and pass along our lap covers for the veterans in the facility. We make these lap covers about 36x48, long enough to cover lap and legs but not drag on floor when in wheelchairs, and ditto the width, wide enough to cover most laps but not wide enough to tangle in wheels.

These take a while to make and only 2 of us make them, but we were still happy to give them 13 this time.

I take the big white 13-gallon bags out of my back closet, Louise comes over, and they take the bags from me and make the actual trip to the center. Usually it's her husband tossing them into the car but he was waiting for a defibrillator implant surgery so his son came with her for the loading.

We really love passing these to them.

Rolling along...

Tri-Color Baby Jacket - The Story - LOL

Those of you who crochet know the feeling. I'm calling this jacket my "The Yarn-I-Thought-I-Had-Enough-of-in-the Color-I-Needed-But-I-Was-Wrong" Jacket - Yep, you all know that feeling!

Started with white. Was absolutely CERTAIN I had enough white. Didn't take long to know I was wrong.

Grabbed nice perky hot pink and was absolutely CERTAIN I had enough to finish jacket. Didn't take long to know I was wrong.

Finally found another pink, a lighter shade, to finish sleeves. Thankfully I was finally right. (sigh)

The good thing is, it is a great pattern for changing colors, our group's favorite baby jacket pattern.

We also love it for the desperate young Moms-in-need that get these from the local charity we donate them to. Those moms usually either don't have time to hand wash fancy things or they don't even know how to handwash fancy things and most would never even think of it.

Added to that, the pattern uses a sturdy but not bulky string (chain stitch) tie which is very forgiving no matter whether baby is small or large, and no tiny buttons for mom to fuss with if baby is crying or fussing.

Yep - love, love, love this pattern.

Rolling along...

Always SO Happy On Distribution Days!

This morning, Louise and George picked up 7 boxes and 8 13-gallon bags of our handmade hats, scarves, and gloves for our local homeless. We usually make this distribution in mid-to-late October. Even though some think our group is small, we seem to accomplish more than we expect. Two of us meet each Friday morning for two hours, and two work from their homes. We use only donated yarn which we have been continually blessed with. We will make another smaller distribution possibly in late February or early March, but that's unsure at the moment.

This time, our counts were:

Scarves            109

Hats                 324

Gloves             52 pr

I am very careful when bringing them out. At this point, at 81, I am not planning to do anything stupid, so I take my time. The boxes were relatively light but bulky for my short frame/arms. But usually the most difficult is hauling 8 bags out of my large back bedroom closet, then through the house to the pantry in the middle, and out the door and down the steps. I can only do 2 bags at a time, so that is four trips up and down the steps just for the bags. So I just make sure I have plenty of time and patience - that's all I need for most things these days, time and patience.

We are so happy to have this large amount once again. Our "hat" lady has been undergoing a lot of dialysis activity the past year and we were not expecting her to deliver 300 of them! Considering that early on, they were making 60 mile trips for dialysis every other day until they were finally approved to do the dialysis at home, that is amazing. Our ladies are so loving and compassionate and dedicated! I keep them each in my heart and prayers for special blessings.

Rolling along