afghan

Sewing Diaries

The Community Afghans Projects

Proverbs 19:17
He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given.

Mongolian Orphan Project

June 23: Two sock monkeys and a pair of booties round out the package sent to F.I.R.E.

And they're off!

May 10, 2005: My mother and went out shopping for charcoal and summer clothes and ended up finding so much for this project.

These little pink striped hats were found at Osh Gosh for 1.00 each.

Likewise, the three little dolls in jumpers were also found at Osh Gosh for 3.00 each. The little doll to the right was found naked at .50 at Halmark.

Originally dressed as a cheerleader, Rah Rah Rachel ended up naked and on the clearance rack. I crocheted her a dress and gave her a new hairstyle out of recycled sari silk.

Hanes sweatshirts at K Mart for .60 cents each!

The best find of all: parkas for 3.00 each.

Here's what I've made for far: a small vest with a snowflake pattern (made of Lamb's Pride Bulky) and a leftover sock yarn baby hat with felted yarn trim.

Here are some scarves made by students at Duquesne University. Last fall, I and another friend taught about 30 students to knit scarves for my needy clients at National Student Partnerships, where I'm a local director. We raised the funds for needles and collected lots of yarn. I ended up with so many scarves and hats after winter was over! So, I'm sending these here. Aren't they wonderful? These are all down by first time knitters. I am especially impressed by the girl who went to a local yarn store and bought the lovely brown variegated wool for a scarf and hat sat. Someone's grandma made the two watchcaps at the right.

Afghan Project, Part 2: Finished!

November 3, 2004: Done!

Thanks to all who participated!

September 11, 2004: One afghan, almost finished....

And a finished orange shawl, made of wool and mohair. This took me 2 days from start to finish. Just knit a big triangle on size 17 needles, and add fringe. I really liked how it turned out.

August 11: Miriam and Kathleen are cousins from a very generous family. Both contributed quite a bit to the last project, and still gave more this time around. Here's 2 lovely squares from Miriam...

And 21 squares from Kathleen! Wow. This family is amazing.

August 9: A gorgeous square from Heather. I love the pattern the variegated yarn made. (It's not lopsided, I took the picture on top of the piano. :) )

July 21: A lovely square from Tara. The color is lovely and it is soo soft!

July 2: The first squares of the new project- lovely bright colored 'fiesta' squares, sent by Rose!

The last AFA squares project was such a success, so I'm setting up another one! This one will be sent to children in Iraqi. Here are the guidelines:

Deadline is August 10, 2003.

10 inch firmly knit or crocheted squares.
Please, try to avoid anything with holes. Rule of thumb: you shouldn't be able to stick your finger through any part of the square. Remember, these people are cold and the thicker and firmer your square, the better. Of course, if all you know how to do is make granny squares, then by all means make them.
Bright and earth toned colors are better then whites and light colors- these shelters do not all have facilities for the families to wash their afghan.
Don't buy anything.
Please weave in all ends and block to measurement before sending.

Please don't think I am putting down anyone's square from last time- I was thrilled with every one I received. I wasn't as specific last time, and certainly did not follow all the above guidelines either- but, you live, you put together afghans, and you learn. :)

Can't knit, sew, or crochet, but still want to help? Shipping the last batch of knitted goods to San Francisco (the AFA drop off point) cost me 65.00. Sending it to Iraq is going to be a bit more costly. Any contributions for shipping would be greatly appreciated.

Email me for more information!

It's important to remember the poor and needy in other countries. Therefore, we're making an afghan made of 10 inch squares for afghans for Afghans. The due date for the completed squares is June 13th.

Squares must be 10 inches square, knit or crochet. Please do not knit any faces, people or animals into the square. Also avoid lacy or hole-y patterns as well as anything too light colored- remember, there is no heat in these shelters and afghans must be warm, sturdy and long wearing. Afghan will have a brown/eggplant/forest green border (made of Lion's Brand Homespun.) You can read the complete set of guidelines here. If you'd like to contribute a square, please email me!

Finished!

The wooly muted tones afghan. I edged it in kelly green wool. It is so warm.

The gorgeous bright/patriotic afghan.

The baby girl blanket. Awww. I love this one.

What we are sending to Afghanistan:

1 sweater
1 shawl
2 pairs of mittens
3 afghans
and 14 hats!

Thank you all who have contributed your time and effort into these afghans. It will be greatly appreciated this winter! For those of you who did not get a chance to participate, I will be doing more afghans with a due date this August.

June 13th: Beautiful squares from Jenni,

Sidney,

and a mystery contributor:

June 13th:

Adult and baby hat/mittens sets, also being sent to Afghanistan.

June 12th: Three packages in the mail today- From Carol, Mrs. Deal and Elizabeth!

Carol sent these lovely white and blue squares all the way from Canada. They are so soft!

Amazingly, this is Mrs. Deal's first attempt at knitting! I never could have guessed- it's perfect. It's so soft and warm, and the I love the lavender color.

I love the color and pattern of Elizabeth's crocheted square. It's also very soft and goes perfectly with all the other purple-pink squares we have to far.

Right now I am almost finished the earth toned woolly blanket- just waiting on some more darker blue squares. There are two other distinct color patterns forming- red, white, blue and other vibrant colors, and purple, pink and girlie pastels. Here's my idea for the vibrant squares:

You can see Anna's two squares and Abby's similar square in the center, surrounded by other red white and blue squares. Surrounded are the granny squares. I really love the way these bright colors look together, but I'm probably going to figure out how to make some granny squares to this, after more squares arrive. We'll see how that goes.

June 10th: More squares! Miriam sent these two beautiful dark blue flecked squares as well as this gorgeous knitted hat. The style is very similar to a WW1 hood pattern I have, and will keep someone very warm!

These 5 lovely (and very soft) squares Emily sent go perfectly with the color scheme so far. Look at the houndstooth and chevron pattern she used for two of the squares- both the patterns are listed below. Thank you, Emily!

Here's how I've arranged some of the squares:

This is the wooly/heavier knit blanket made of more muted earth tones. I think we might have enough for 2 more, but we'll have to see how many more squares arrive.

June 9th: More squares arrived today, from Ester and Abby!
Look at these 15 granny squares from Ester - they could practically make an afghan by themselves! Thank you, Ester- maybe we'll make 3 afghans!

And from Abby:

I am so impressed by the knitting/crochet skills these took- look at the 'optical illusion' one and the cabled pale blue square. Also, the two purple/green/beige squares match perfectly with another square already made. Look at the similarities:

June 8th: Clara and Amelia have absolutely amazed me by making these gorgeous 8 squares! Wow! Take a look at all the different patterns they used- I especially love the cabled lavender one, and the bobbled heart. I am very impressed, and very relieved to have so many more squares!

They all go perfectly with the color scheme that is forming here. Here's everything so far:

I am pretty sure we are now making 3 afghans, one of thick heavy wools in greens and earth tones (to the right in picture) one of easier care fibers in pinks, purples and other muted colors (the left side of the picture) and a cotton one of really bright colors (Anna's squares and my 'lemon lime' square on the bottom left.) Having these 4 pink and grey squares will really help tie in the pink/purple afghan and give it a cohesive look. All my green lopi wool squares should do the same for the green afghan, too. Everything is shaping up nicely, except I really need to make some more cotton squares and sadly, Wal-Mart was all out of lemon lime Peaches N' Cream. I got a bright variegated rainbow yarn instead.

June 7th: Besides the afghan, I'm also making hats and mittens as well. This thumb looks like it is hitchhiking, but when on it looks fine. :)

June 4, 2004: Anna sent these two wonderful red, white and blue squares for the afghan. Aren't they gorgeous?

June 2, 2004: Some progress photos:

A hat, two squares, and the Homespun yarn that will be bordering it all.

The beginnings of a variegated infants tunic. I love the right colors.

May 27th: I've finished two more squares, bringing the total to 14. Since AFA extended their due date, I've also started a child's sweater to be sent to Afghanistan as well. Read more about the Joseph sweater here.

May 25th: Here's what we have so far.