neadods | Entries tagged with charity

I've learned something more than a little shocking today - that Doctors Without Borders has set up its first US outpost in the shattered remains of Brooklyn and the Jersey Shore. That's how bad things are in the wake of Sandy.

And so I'm going to pass on something that I already knew -- if you knit or crochet, there's a website called Pennies Per Hour of Pleasure aka p/hop. It's a library of exclusive knitting and crochet patterns - download what you want, donate what you feel it's worth. Every penny goes directly to Doctors Without Borders.

I know that both Ravelry and fandom have long since started their auctions and relief efforts, and anything you can do to help is Of The Good.

But know that p/hop is out there too.

I may have just gotten some good news, but I'm afraid to go into detail and jinx myself. So, instead, a poll.

As y'all know, I think Covers and Soles is a great cause. Thing is... My wool allergy is definitely an issue. Whe I first pick up the project, it doesn't seem too bad to handle, but after about 10 minutes, it gets slowly so itchy that it's like fire. I'll put it down and then repeat the whole cycle again. I *can* knit -- well, in theory, I found a lumpy mistake and have to start over on this one -- and the pattern's fun, but... Well, but.

I wonder if I'm better off cheering from the sidelines (passing my wool on to someone who will complete the hats) or simply not working so fast on a hat (see icon) -- maybe working at two rounds a night so I don't get oversensitive or something like that. Thoughts?

[Poll #1786395]

Back when people were being crappy about girls not watching Doctor Who right, I turned off anonymous commenting on this journal. Which unfortunately meant that Bobbi, founder of Covers and Soles, couldn't respond to the previous post or the comments on it. So I am forwarding by request:

"Posting to the C&S blog (can be reached through the website or directly at www.blog.coversandsoles.org) is pending release that gives an overview of the weather in Afghanistan. Temps and conditions vary widely!

Stockings for Soldiers only sends to units that have made direct contact with them requesting shipments. The stockings they send are personalized to individual soldiers and the commanders requesting the shipments indicate where the unit is and the conditions they face... SfS has agreed to accept hats from our pattern as well as theirs, however, C&S will tag only covers from the C&S patterns and yarns with our label. We are considering making other options available in the future, but that will be a joint decision between the 2 groups that will occur after the 2011 shipping season ends."

I'm about to turn anon blocking off (once I figure out how). I think the people trolling Who blogs have moved on and Sherlock fandom seems delightfully troll-free at the moment. I'll leave it until spam or trolls roll through.

ETA: I've allowed anon commenting with CAPTCHA (the thing where you type a random word into a window) in the hopes that it'll cut down on spammers.

Pimp post for a new charity knitting project: Covers and Soles. Covers and Soles is a new charity that collects hand-knitted hats (covers) and socks (soles) for the troops. I'm attracted to it for two reasons beyond "I get to feel like my knitting has a purpose."

1) The woman running it says "I'm not asking you to agree with why they're fighting or approve of where they are; I'm just asking you to support them as people in a dangerous job." Which is good, because I don't agree and I don't approve, but I do *know soldiers,* I mean, I know *actual individuals* who've been deployed, and that I can't turn my back on.

2) There is a distinct minimum of "Our brave, noble, saint-like troops" or "Do it for Jesus" in this appeal. A paragraph of rah-rah ending "They deserve the best we can give" and "God bless America" show up -- once -- on the brochure and the website. But on the whole, I feel completely welcomed even being your basic commie pinko new deal democrat elitist liberal atheist... and yeah, we did very, very briefly talk about politics before all politely heading off into discussing Doctor Who.

The hat pattern - available for free at the website - dates back to the 1940s, with a slight modernization at the crown to make it fit more snugly under helmets. (I'm doing a test-knit right now; it goes easy and makes good "purse knitting.") Covers and Soles can take only military-approved yarn and colors, listed at the website, for deployable hats and sells kits at cost. (There is apparently a possible need for "undeployable" hats for returning injured veterans; I'm looking into that.)

Covers and Soles has also teamed up with the Delaware-based Stockings for Soldiers, which sends personalized stockings overseas stuffed with goodies. They have a knitting pattern as well, but Firefox has crashed twice when I try to open it, so I can't talk about that. However, SfS also wants gently used DVDs, CDs, and mass market non-romance paperbacks, so if there are any of those you're looking to send to a new home...

(Yes, I name-dropped The Book Thing!)

Stockings for Soldiers has asked Covers and Soles to try to come up with 10,000 hats for them in addition to what C&S is already knitting. So if you're interested, take a look and cast on.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28

Creature of Mad Enthusiasms

a wittie & learned lady which her many bookes do well testifie

Entries tagged with charity_knitting

Pick up your pointy sticks or hook and help

Charity knitting poll

Charity Knitting: Covers and Soles follow-up

Knitting Charity Pimp Post: Covers and Soles

Profile

February 2023

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags