One Design; Four Blankets

I've been trying to use up all my little bits of yarn before buying any more, and that means granny squares--lots and lots and lots of granny squares. Here are four blankets that are ready to go to the people who give them to new moms with low incomes. 

Share Your Garden Harvest

Every home gardener knows the problem. Everything looked good in the seed catalog and you grew way too many vegetables for your family. Suddenly you have too many beans or peas, too much lettuce, or (common problem!) more zucchini than anyone could have imagined.

Here is something that you can do with your overflowing harvest, to help those in need, and to help answer President Obama's call for community volunteerism (see Delivering on Change: 100th Day Challenge): Donate your extra harvest to your local food bank or soup kitchen. 

Here's all you have to do:

1. Find a local food bank by looking at Food Pantries; A Directory of Food Banks and Soup Kitchens Across America.

2. Check with them for any guidelines about donations and for the time of day when donations are accepted. 

3. Be sure that you donate produce that is in good condition--the very stuff you would serve to your own family. 

There! Garden away! Plant some extra rows! Don't hold back!

Delivering on Change: 100th Day Challenge

Start of a new day on the prairie

Here we are on the 100th day of the Obama administration. The President promised change and transparency and has been working very hard at providing both. Every time you turn on the TV, there he is, telling us what he is doing (transparency) and how things are being changed for the better. For an interactive map showing how the actions taken by the President and his administration have benefited people in your state, go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/foundationforchange. 

It's been a long time since I've felt so inspired by a President. Mr. Obama is a teacher at heart and that is always evident when he speaks--every speech I hear seems to have something in it for me, and I am left with things to think about--especially about how I can work toward helping with positive change in our country. 

I like the way he gives us all concrete challenges, such as this one in his April 21st speech on community service:

...[April 29] marks the 100th day of my administration. In [the] next eight days, I ask every American to make an enduring commitment to serving your community and your country in whatever way you can. Visit whitehouse.gov to share your stories of service and success. And together, we will measure our progress not just in the number of hours served or volunteers mobilized, but in the impact our efforts have on the life of this nation. 

I am lucky enough to have plenty of time to give to my community, and take great pleasure in doing so. It helps me to meet people and to make new friendships. I knit sweaters for children through Knit for Kids; knit and crochet with a group of women who make baby blankets for new mothers; work with a middle-aged man who is learning to read through the local Literacy Council; and I spend one morning a week at an elementary school tutoring young readers. 

Sometimes my volunteer hours add up to well over 100 hours a month! I would never have had that kind of time before retiring, but even when I was still working I started on my Knit for Kids goal of 100 sweaters hand knit for needy children. 

I hope that you and everyone you know will rise to this challenge of giving back to the community. If you would like to find volunteer possibilities close to home, a good place to start is at http://www.whitehouse.gov/change/ to find service opportunities and to share your story. 

More Baby Blankets

I have a couple of knitting projects going all the time--sweaters for Knit for Kids, and baby blankets for some local charities. I started out crocheting the baby blankets...
but now am using them as a way to practice new lace knitting patterns, many from the book A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, by Barbara Walker. This means that with the more complicated pattern repeats I need to be alone in a quiet room with no interruptions, muttering to myself as I knit.


Lucky for me, the little newborns don't mind a few mistakes, such as the rather obvious one marching across the width of this blue and yellow blanket.

Anniversary

Today I am celebrating the end of my first year of retirement. It seems to have gone by quickly but when I take stock of what has been accomplished, I am amazed. I ended my last school year early because of foot surgery and while I was still stumping around in a cast we packed up our house in New Hampshire, took a fast trip out to Clovis to find a new house, and then moved cross country. During this past year I have figured out how to "do" retirement; I've found great joy in volunteering at a local school (see the thank you note from my young friend, Anjelica) and in the adult literacy program at the community college. I've joined a wonderful group of women who knit for needy families. My husband and I bought a second house and have rented it to my sister--it is so wonderful to have her close by. I have started swimming several times a week and have spent a lot of time riding through neighborhoods on my bike. I read whenever I want. I meet new people every day.

I've made three of the My Clovis videos now and have posted them on this blog and on YouTube. I love to see who has been watching them, and am amazed that people as far away as Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands have taken a look at my view of this prairie place.

This blog has become an important part of who I am. The written word has become a piece of my daily life and I continually work to improve both my writing and my photography. Because of this blog I see, hear, and experience almost everything in a much more intense way. I love exploring my new part of the world and learning about its history, its places, and its people, then writing about it for my imaginary audience of readers who live far away from this wonderful place. Today's post will be my 156th, something I never could have imagined. When I first started blogging I wondered what I could possibly have to say, but it ended up that I needed to write about prairie dogs, posole, cowboy boots, radio telescopes, charity knitting, adobe houses, curanderas, Harvey Houses, chuck wagons, and tarantulas. Who knew?

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reads this blog and those who have left comments. You have no idea how much you mean to me.

Blankets for Newborns

I've always loved working together with other women for a common cause. I met with a knitting group in New Hampshire whenever I could over the 20+ years we lived there, even though I worked full time and the scheduling was often tricky. Sitting in a room with those women, I would marvel over the many years of knowledge and experience we shared with each other. As we worked, we talked and listened and helped each other through whatever problems came our way.

I missed that fellowship when we moved to New Mexico. I finally decided one morning to go out and either find a knitting group or start one, and was lucky enough to find The Needle Gang at the Baxter-Curren Senior Center. These women have been meeting together for at least a couple of decades, making blankets and hats for newborn babies in the community, which are distributed by the local Foster Grandparents program.

I still make sweaters for needy children through the Knit for Kids program, but I am glad to enjoy the friendship of these wonderful women while contributing to local families by making baby afghans. My first few efforts are pictured above.

Knit for Kids Again!

It’s time to mail off another batch of sweaters to Knit for Kids. I sent the last batch in November and it seems as though hardly any time has gone by since then. However, the knitting closet was starting to fill up again, so I’m sending another batch of nine sweaters, most of them in larger sizes, to the organization in upstate New York for distribution. This will bring my total of sweaters shipped to 35, although I have a good start already on the next shipment and am currently knitting no. 38 in a lovely springtime pastel apricot color.

The last time I got a postcard acknowledging a shipment it showed children in Grants, New Mexico wearing hand knit sweaters given to them by the project and that made me wish for a more local distribution center so the sweaters wouldn’t have to go back and forth across the country. However, the organization ships according to the needs of children all over the world, so I depend on them to decide where the current need is the greatest.

At the same time, I’ve started volunteering with a group that makes baby blankets and hats for newborns for local distribution, so I know that these are not being shipped all over, therefore saving on transportation costs. I’ll tell you a bit more about them another time.

Volunteering in Clovis—Nice Work if You Can Find It

I was hoping that I could find volunteer work here in Clovis by checking either the newspaper or the city web site. There didn’t appear to be any one central listing of volunteer opportunities. When I started asking the people I met, they told me that there are a great many volunteer opportunities, but that people find out about them through "word of mouth."

So I made a list for myself and for anyone else trying to figure out where to start in Clovis. Here is my list of organizations seeking volunteers, with the information and needs that they list on their web sites in italics. I will add to this list from time to time, as I discover other organizations looking for help.

Clovis Public Library: http://www.library.cityofclovis.org/volunteers.html

Volunteer requirements:
Volunteers must be at least 12 years old
A record of hours worked is kept
Applications are required
Applicants are interviewed
Projects can be selected

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Curry County Literacy Council:

http://www.clovis.edu/EducationalServices/CSS/cclc.asp

Goal and mission: “…to provide one with a sense of security to gain employment, have life skills, and assist in language development. It is our mission to help English-speaking adults and families improve their reading, writing, listening, speaking, numeracy and other life skills through programs adapted for the needs of the individual.”

What you can do to help:
Tutor basic literacy students
Tutor English as a Second Language students
Tutor students in need of Life Skills
Help plan special projects, such as Workplace Literacy or Family Literacy
Help promote awareness

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HOSTS program: http://www.cms.k12.nm.us/federal_programs/hosts.html

What it is: H.O.S.T.S (Help One Student to Succeed) is a federal program in the schools where students work with a mentor to help them succeed in reading.

· HOSTS is not a curriculum, but an instructional strategy designed to complement the existing curriculum.
· HOSTS provides assistance to students who need help developing reading skills using one-on-one mentoring by a community volunteer.
· HOSTS mentors provide role models who motivate, support, and provide individual attention for "at risk" students.

The program is looking for people who:

Enjoy working with children
Have 30 minutes to 1 hour one day per week to volunteer
Have a desire to Help One Student To Succeed

**********

United Way of Eastern New Mexico; Clubs, Civic, and Volunteer Opportunities

http://www.unitedwayenm.org/index.php?pr=211volunteer

This is the kind of listing I wish I had found at the beginning of my search. It will connect you with volunteer possibilities for everything from animal welfare to youth services. 

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VistaCare (hospice) volunteer opportunities: 

http://www.vistacare.com/giving/volunteering.asp

VistaCare provides a comprehensive program of care for individuals with a life-limiting illness. VistaCare offers a wide range of supportive services to terminally ill patients and their families. [The] staff not only treats physical pain and symptoms, but also provides emotional, social, and spiritual support for the individual and their loved ones. [They] also work collaboratively with area physicians and clinicians.

For volunteers: Training is provided and assignments are based on your interests and availability. You can choose to:

· Visit with patients and families to provide companionship
· Visit with a patient to provide the caregiver a time of respite
· Assist with basic maintenance, yard, and handy work at patients’ homes
· Prepare meals or run errands for patients
· Provide assistance with light housekeeping for patients
· Provide grief and bereavement support for families
· Assist in the office with administrative and clerical tasks
· Help recruit and train other volunteers
· Work in your own home making special items for patients
· Contribute your professional expertise

Knit for Kids

Just in case anyone reading this happens to be a knitter (or would like to be), I want to tell you a little about Knit for Kids. This program, which supplies hand knit sweaters to children all over the U.S. and the world, is in its tenth year. Volunteer knitters send sweaters to the home office in Carmel, New York, where the sweaters are sorted and packed up to be sent wherever they are most needed. Sometimes they might be sent to an orphanage in Europe, or to American children who have a parent who is in prison. Sweaters have recently gone to southern Iraq, Liberia, and Madagascar. The website has a distribution map showing where sweaters have been sent. Over the past ten years, Knit for Kids has sent out over 400,000 sweaters. According to their website: "2006 smashed all previous records – 74,983 sweaters were received, an amazing 11,729 in December alone."


You don't have to be a fancy knitter. Knitting beginners can use the basic and very simple knitting patterns that are supplied on the website, and very clear instructions are given for finishing the sweaters. You don't need to use expensive yarns--these sweaters are to keep kids warm and need to be washable and pretty sturdy.
Just in case you think you don't have time to work on a project like this, consider this. There are times every day when you might have a minute or two--riding on a train, sitting in a meeting, even working out on your exercise bike! I found out about the program a year and a half ago while chatting with a friend during a Town Meeting break, and since that time I have knit 23 sweaters--some of them are shown here. I knit while watching the Red Sox, while listening to books on tape, while riding in the car. I've found all sorts moments when my hands would otherwise be idle.


Please check out the Knit for Kids website at http://www.knitforkids.com/. You can read stories about volunteer knitters, download a pattern, and see some great pictures of kids wearing their new sweaters. Thank you.