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MARCH 2007

MARCH 29--Heard from Mary Beth in St. Louis, MO, and in between many days on a major house project, she has put another blanket together. The picture is at the left. Kathy from New York has also put together two more, and I will add those to our totals when I have them in hand. And as always, my local helpers Ruth and Carroll are steady and good for a blanket or two each week. Carroll has been taking care of her parents (in their nineties and still living independently); so when she has a minute to sit down, she puts a few rows together.

Thanks also to "Ghost" for her beautiful square and our friend Pat from Oscoda, Michigan--who continues to surprise us with squares. I will UPS the box Monday afternoon, so the new batch of blankets should arrive in Louisiana on Friday.

News on the Spay and Neuter front: WOW MEOW! This Saturday it's another Cat Clinic--we did 32 (17 females and 15 males) last weekend and have 28 (19 females and 9 males) scheduled for Saturday as well as another twenty cats (18 females and 2 males) in two weeks at a third clinic we decided to have because of the response. Our shelter group hopes we see less abandoned kittens and cats next Fall!

I cannot believe it is almost April, but I am ready to dig in the dirt, see some daffodils, and enjoy the birds. All the fish (but one) survived the winter in my pond, even a few frogs too. I have it cleaned, the water lilies are back in, and I am ready for some warm weather.

Keep Knitting and Crocheting!

MARCH 22--Hey all, I mailed a box with 17 Blankets yesterday to UnMet Needs in Hammond, Louisiana. A non knitting friend--Pat from texas--donated the postage costs! I will get the rest of our Easter/Spring shipment mailed by the end of next week! I hope to get two more blankets done in the week ahead , but I am behind grading papers and have two cat spay and neuter clinics coming up. So we will see. There are a few out there with helpers being completed, so numbers should go up next week on our talleys. Big thank yous to Carrol and Ruth. Thanks also to knitters in Ithaca, New York for a box of beautifully knit squares. After a long winter, the people in New York have been busy!

MARCH 18--My grandmother's birthday; she would have been our biggest supporter. She was a Red Cross Knitting Instructor in WW II and brought home bags of socks to repair and bags of yarn to make into socks and other items for soldiers and refugees. She also taught me how to knit. And I remember her spending hours unraveling knotted balls of yarn to recycle. My cousin inherited that patience from her. (When my puppy got into a cone of purple mohair a few years back, I heard my grandmother's voice say, "Pick it up, and bag it; then start unraveling the mess. I also dismissed the voice quickly and threw out the cone now a purple cloud of mohair. My dear cousin told me she would have gladly unraveled it for me.) Apparently, according to family stories, the sound of metal needles clicking became the way my grandfather fell asleep!

At any rate, there are some new photos below of blankets heading South very soon. I will take another batch of photos this week, including pictures of three beautiful complete afghans sent to us by friends in New Jersey and New York (a long snowy winter has been beneficial to CLOSE KNIT HUGS!).

Also I have a bunch of rug yarn which is too scratchy for blankets; any ideas? I was thinking about small rugs for the animal shelters in the Gulf States. Email me your ideas!

 

MARCH 17, 2007--Happy St. Patrick's Day; I love Irish literature, and one of my favorite poems describing why Ireland is important to many imaginations is by W.B. Yeats--"The Lake Isle of Innisfree." Enjoy!

I lay out and bagged 17 blankets (595 squares) last night to be sewn/crocheted together. Thanks to all who have sent squares in the last two months. I still have about 120+ squares I am awaiting companions for--red, white or blue and any solid colors would be terrific as well as some of the bigger squares--10 and 12 inch.

It's just amazing to lay out the blankets and to see how well squares made from people all over the country blend together so well and all for a greater purpose: a task which we expect no more than the silent, personal knowing we have done something good, decent and right. Well done you all!

For any non-knitters who want to help, yarn is always appreciated. If you are a bargain shopper and have always wondered what you do with that yarn that's on sale, send it to us. We can always use it!

MARCH 16, 2007--BLANKETS TO BE SHIPPED TO HAMMOND , LOUISIANA MARCH 30! 14 DAYS to see how many blankets we can do! THANKS to CHERYL from New Jersey for one pink complete blanket! A beginning knitter, she did an outstanding job!

A good movie to knit/crochet by is a sleeper I ran across at 2 A.M. one morning this week--The Ballad of Little Jo. Filmed near Red Lodge, Montana (my husband's birthplace), it's about a woman who hides her female identiy for forty years in the West. Lots of good actors in small (and sometimes nasty character) roles, it's a pretty amazing story. A long movie, I almost got one blanket all crocheted together! Another good one if you like slow British movies, which I do, is one with James Broadbent (Bridget Jones' father) in Longford. It's dark and covers a horrific crime, but Broadbent is incredible in this role. It's amazing to see his characterization of this English Lord who becomes an advocate for prisoners in England.

MARCH 15, 2007--Kathy from New York surprised us today with four blankets; they are beautifully done and certainly prove what can be accomplished with a few skeins of yarn and a great deal of talent. I promise pictures soon!

For some reason, in the past few days, the inquiries about our organization have been coming in from new sources and contacts. We are thrilled; and be assured (anyone who reads my ramblings) that we are in this project until we cease hearing about the hurricanes and their effects. Sadly, I don't see this happening anytime soon.

It was 65 degrees here two days ago, and it's supposed to snow this weekend. So much for green on St. Patrick's Day. Luckily, the two cat spay and neuter clinics which we have scheduled have been pushed back a week--next weekend and the following one will be wild. We received a grant and are offering the spays for $25.00; anyone who owns a cat and has paid the standard veterinary rate can imagine the response. We have scheduled over 28 cats for our little town and another 20 the following week. My son's old phone line is now the neuter/spay line--some of the messages that are left are priceless. One man called from a bar--I could hear the glasses and jukebox in the background--and wanted to get his cat fixed, but he couldn't remember his phone number and left me another man's number. Boy was the stranger surprised when I called and asked him when he wanted to schedule his cat's neuter. For some reason, men often never hear the word cat before the word neuter. At the end of these clinic days, I come home (forget how I smell after twenty or so male cats), feeling we have accomplished something, but boy am I tired and have new respect for projects such as knitted squares that can easily be done in front of the TV in a comfortable chair.

MARCH 8, 2007--After three days of very cold temperatures---25 degrees below zero--I heard the mating call of a chickadee yesterday, so perhaps Spring is coming. Either that or the bird is just tempting fate!

The moon was so bright last night, the dogs began baying to it about 4 A.M.--There's nothing like the mournful wail of three rottweilers who want to be crooners in the early morning hours. They all have different tones, so I guess if I got a fourth one, we could have a fire hydrant quartet.

I heard from Kathy in New York that she has a couple more blankets completed as well as some more friendship knot squares. Obviously, with the rough winter New York has had, Kathy has been busy and snowbound! I also heard from Yvonne in New Mexico--she's back at school/work but promises a few squares. It's great to hear from so many of you who have stuck this project out with me. In fact, Shelly in Minnesota contacted me that she was saddened over a story she heard from Hammond, Louisiana and families being removed from FEMA trailers--Here's a link to an update on the story-- I have written the editor of the paper to track down the group which helped these people. It seems to me that these folks may need some blankets from all of us!

I sent five new blanket pictures to my cousin to" fix up"; and while I am at it, she gets some congratulations as two of her photgraphs were accepted in a juried show in Missouri, and she was awarded along with with three other photographers with a prize to do a four-person show. We're sure lucky to have her talents as well as all of yours!

UPDATE: I just talked with Beth from Unmet Needs Committee In Hammond, Louisiana; this is where we will send our Easter shipment of blankets! She said with so many residents still in trailers and so many people who suffered damage from the Hurricanes, this will be a great "shot in the arm." So I guess I better get back to the crochet hook and blankets!