Several readers and friends have asked me why I didn't write any more. I have been really busy with work, family, house... the usual stuff. However, I have ensured that my charity work continued to provide, in a small way, to disadvantaged babies and adults. I've also gotten into more knitting this past few months. Photos can be seen on the Charity pages links, the latest being here:  /charity-crafts-gallery---page-4.html

I belong to an awesome Yahoo group, and we decided to craft some things to benefit the children of the Pine Ridge Reservation. The project started as: "Let's make some hair scrunchies for the girls and send some combs for the boys!" Everyone was very enthusiastic and we all started looking at patterns. We all went through our Spring color yarns.
Hair scrunchies can be made in minutes. Most only require a couple of rows of crochet. Check out the patterns that Suzie, the group owner has published for this project! Click here, here, and here for some ideas.
After purchasing some hair elastics and combs, I suggested that just sending combs for the boys did not feel like sending them a gift. Some of us decided to make pouches for the combs. I made a few in crochet, but I was not very happy with them. Mainly, they had to be oversized, so the teeth of the combs would not catch as you slid the comb in or out of the pouch. I then turned to sewing and some sturdy Sunbrella yellow fabric.
Somewhere along the line, someone mentioned finger puppets and other small Easter gifts. 
I ended up with about 50 scrunchies of various colors, sizes, and designs. I added several finger duck puppets, a cute brush & comb set, some pencils, some hair "claws" (maybe for the older girls?), and some small treasures pouches (possibly some little boys would have a rock collection to keep in there).
This was an exciting project. There was no getting bored, as each scrunchie could be made in a different pattern, with different yarns and colors.

A few more photos can be seen here.

If you would like to learn more about the Pine Ridge Reservation, click here.

Well, after 6 weeks of sewing and crocheting (that's a word, right?), I've got a cute wardrobe to send to the babies in Haiti. Check out the photo gallery, Page 2. Click here to see it! 


I always love to make tiny outfits. This project was even more fun for me:

1. I hadn't sewn so much in a long time. I don't know why. Just didn't happen. This reminded me how much I enjoy sewing.
2. My usual sewing projects are pretty plain. When you live in the sub-tropics, and your kids are grown, you don't get to embellish much. Well, I don't, I have simple tastes. So, it was a lot of fun to add ribbons, flowers, tiny ruffles, etc. I even got to use a few decorative stitches!
3. Haiti's climate is similar to ours, in South Florida. Hot, humid, sticky, sunny... did I say hot and humid? All my previous charity projects had been for cold areas (think -20F in Minnesota and kids without mittens out there, waiting for the school bus). This required quite a change of thinking. Warm booties? Thick afghans? Not needed. So there I go rummaging through the yarn on hand, looking for the thinnest, lightest I have. Out come the small crochet hooks. Think of airy, lacy stitches.

So now, all those have been washed, inspected for stray threads and pins, and I'm waiting for the last items to finish drying. Got to find a large box to send them off.

Enjoy little ones!