Monday, January 22, 2018

10 Charities That Need Your Knit or Crochet Work.





Volunteering and crocheting are two things I love to do. I recently made over a dozen little red hats to donate to the American Heart Association.  I have been doing a lot of searching recently, trying to find more places that I can donate my items to. 

I have found several places, and I wanted to share them with everyone else.

1. Carewear -  Care Wear is a nationwide group of volunteers who knit, crochet, and/or sew, providing handmade baby items directly  to hospitals. All Care Wear items are distributed by hospital staff  to infants, children and their parents.
There are patterns on their site, along with ideas on what they are needing most.

Link to their site.

2. Warm up America - ( Information copied directly from what they are currently in need of, off their site )
As a Texas-based charity, Warm Up America! feels a special connection to the people of Houston and all the Gulf Coast towns who have been impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Working with local shelters and other relief organizations, we plan to provide afghans to families as the rescue phase shifts to rebuilding.
Our goal is to assemble as many youth and adult afghans as possible and we need your help to realize this goal. If it is possible to crochet or knit an entire afghan, youth or lap robe (see size chart below) and donate to Warm Up America! that would be amazing. However, we always accept 7” by 9” sections, which our wonderful local volunteers will assemble.
We will be collecting afghans and sections plus assembling afghans at the upcoming Stitches Texas show, September 14-17 at the Irving Convention Center in Irving, TX.

Link to their site.

3. Hat Box Foundation - This charity is on a mission to make and distribute hand made hats to people with cancer and others in need.

Link to their site.

4. Red Scarf Project - This charity distributes red scarfs to children the foster care program
. They accept crochet scarves in any shade of red, fringe optional, sized between 5″ and 8″ wide and about 60″ long.
( Note that scarves are only accepted during the last four months of every calendar year; they are given to students in a Valentine’s care package. )

Link to their site.

5. Knitting Rays of Hope - A charity that gives hats ( any age, gender, and size ) to cancer patients. They take knit, crocheted, and loom knit items.

Link to their site.

6. Operation Gratitude - This charity sends care packages to our soldiers. They are looking for neutral colored hats and scarves ( They prefer fairly neutral colors, with scarves that are a maximum of 4″ wide and 36″ long and do not include fringe. ) to be sent in these packages.
These items go to  military members including those who are deployed, new members, veterans, wounded members and the family members of these people.

Link to their site.

7. Bridge and Beyond - This charity is a Central Ohio serving program that helps people who are homeless with basic clothing items to help them stay warm. They accept crochet scarves, mittens, hats and slippers for this purpose. They also accept crochet washcloths and afghans.

Link to their site.

8. The Snuggles Project - This charity accepts crochet donations for our furry friends that are currently living in shelters, them feel more comfortable, safe and cozy. The Snuggles Project has a worldwide directory of animal shelters and the donations they are seeking.

Link to their site.

9. Little Hats, Big Hearts - This charity is looking for people to make little red hats to give to babies born in February at participating hospitals. This is to raise awareness for Congenital Heart Defects.  You can knit, crochet, or loom knit these hats. They also take donations of yarn.

Link to their site.

10. Save the Children - This international charity collects donated crochet items for kids. These items are given to mothers, and babies.  It's an organization that helps to keep newborns cared for through providing education and supplies to new mothers in need. One thing that the mothers learn is how to keep their babies warm, that is why they are looking for crocheted hats.
Your items will be sent to Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Link to their site.


There are many other places that you can send items to! If you have a favorite please link them to me in the comments. I would love to write more posts like this!

Monday, January 15, 2018

Survival Skills - Ice Fishing

Alexzander was able to take an ice fishing trip with his Grandpa and his Uncle Buck. His Uncle Buck bought him some ice fishing equipment for Christmas, so Alexzander was pretty excited to use his gear!

We used this opportunity to have his Uncle Buck teach him a "class" about ice fishing. Before he left we watched the following videos about ice fishing safety.

Four Ice Fishing Safety Tips
Safe Ice and Signs of Bad Ice

During his trip, he took notes about his lesson.

Alexzanders notes:

Jigging is moving your line up & down to attract fish.
Line is kept in the middle of the hole.
Tieing line-Wrap the line 8 to 13 times, feed it through hole in line, put it through other hole, tighten, trim access.
Use tipups, jigging rods.
Ice should be 6 inches to walk on & snowmobile.
12 inches to drive on. If ice is dark it is not safe.
Look for open water & springs.
Springs are in constant movement & don't freeze.
We fished for for Northern Pike, Walleyes & pan fish.
Legal limit was 25 fish per person for pan fish.

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