Mad Scientists

I'm in the D.C. Metro system all the time, but yesterday, this ad caught my eye:  "If mad scientists can endanger the world, then nice scientists can save it."  What a nice sentiment.  And, I think it holds true for so many different areas.  Now, I can't think of any mad crocheters or knitters, but we sure have a lot of nice ones who do a lot of good in the world, and this ad got me thinking again about some new charitable projects I want to work on this year. 

Since the Homespun Yarn Party is coming up again on March 24th, I thought one of the projects I could work on would be for HomeStretch (http://www.homestretch-inc.org/) a 501(c)(3) that serves homeless families in Falls Church, VA. They will be collecting hats for adults and children. You can drop off your hats at the Knitters and Crocheters charity table.  If you prefer, they will also accept other cold weather wearables, such as mittens, gloves, socks and sweaters.  And, if you get a chance to de-stash, they'll gladly accept yarn too!

One Really Cool Lady

I love the internet because it makes it possible to get in contact with really amazing and interesting people.  I got a Ravelry message the other day from Barbara Payne Shelton, asking if she could use my crochet bangle bracelet pattern to make jewelry to sell for charitable purposes.  She came up with a great adaptation to make a necklace as well.  After "talking" a bit by email, I was so happy to be able to help in this small way and thought that you all would enjoy hearing about Barbara's charitable endeavors on behalf of the MS Society.

1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. I am the married mother of three adult children (all married to great people, lucky me) and two grandchildren. Although I have had a wonderful career as a teacher and college professor, being a grandmother is definitely the best job ever!

2) When did you start crocheting? My college roommate taught me as she learned it, over 40 years ago. Unfortunately, she is right handed and I am left handed, and we did not realize I was bringing around the thread the wrong way. My second project was a traditional ripple afghan and I discovered the problem when the ripples didn't ripple! I simply relearned it the correct way and the rest is history. Everyone I know has gotten crocheted gifts from me over the years. I learned to knit at age 8 and while I still do that, it isn't as rewarding for me as crocheting...

3) When did you get involved with this particular charitable project? I have several friends and two family members with MS so I do a lot of fund raising for the MS Society. I have done their 5K walks for some time, but 5 years ago I started doing an annual 31 mile walk. My husband and I have done six of those now, but since I do multiple events each year I had to find another way to raise money than just asking my friends--you can only do that so much!

4) How did you decide to combine these two interests? Last year I knitted over 150 scarves and sold those but since crocheting is my first love, I thought I would try doing something in crochet this year. Although I suspect that crocheted jewelry has a narrower market than scarves, since just about any woman can wear those. I saw Phyllis' pattern and got so excited about it that I began making them in earnest. I thought it would be neat to have a coordinating necklace, so I played around with adjusting the pattern. It needed some adjustment in order to hang right. I have a few which are long ones, but I liked the "choker" style best, so most of the necklaces are that style. The necklace is adjustable (so it fits over the wearer's head) by sliding two beads which secure the ends. The necklaces are in a variety of colors, including white, silver, gold, gold metallic, black, read, rust, brown and a few blue. I sell the sets for $15. I donate the yarn and contribute 100% of the proceeds to the National MS Society. If people pay by check I prefer that they make out their checks to the society, not to me. I want it to be clear that I am not making any money here!

5) Where can readers find out more? I don't have a blog or a website, but people can e-mail me directly at barbarashelton@gmail.com.

 So, I really hope you'll consider contacting Barbara to purchase a necklace-bracelet set or contribute in some way!

It's Only Thursday

What a long week!  But at least it is the home stretch...

Last night was a lot of fun, though made for a long day.  I started a crochet group in my condo building, and we met in the community room from 8 to 10 PM.  We had about 10 people (we even welcomed the knitters ;-).  Everyone brought their projects to show off and work on, and a few of the crocheters said they are interested in doing some charity projects as well.  I'm really excited about that part because I've really been wanting to do something of that nature on a bigger scale for a while now.  I now need to do some research to see what the possibilities are.  At this point, we're planning on meeting just one night a month, but it's a start!

Otherwise, I'm finishing up some hats and mittens for friends and a really cool (if I do say so myself!) car seat blanket for an expecting mom -- pictures and pattern to be posted soon.

So I leave you today with an action item to follow up from last week's post:  you should now have a list of 3 or 4 specific goals you're going to focus on this year.  Now, start planning and writing down your first step towards one of those goals.  For example, I set as one of my goals to get 1000 followers.  Ok, so how am I going to go about accomplishing that?  One manageable step I can take is to go to three forums this weekend and comment on posts of interest to me so that people out there can meet me and start to get to know me, check out my site, and hopefully like what they see and "like" my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter.