Lumpy Charity -- an invitation

I do love doing stuff for a Good Cause.  That goal takes away all my crippling perfectionism.  Maybe it makes my efforts less immaculate, but hell, whatever crap I churn out is, I figure, better than what the poor recipient has already. 

Currently, I'm knitting baby hats on the idiot proof knitting loom called a Knifty Knitter.  The result is couture by Dr. Seuss.  On the left is a completed hat, on the right is a work in progress.  It's for a wonderful organization called Afghans for Afghans, a grass-roots group that ships warm woolly garments and blankets to the refugee children in camps in the cold mountainous areas.  They must be made of at least 80% wool or alpaca, because polyester or other synthetics are useless for the kind of cold these kids suffer.  Currently, they have a drive for newborns, and hats are the easiest and quickest thing to churn out - 2 hours max each.  They have to be sort of long and tall and goofy to cover ears and other tender baby bits.  My extensive yarn stash is very low on wool.  Instead, I'm recycling the bags of scrap wool my mother used to use in needlepoint which is pre-cut into 12 inch lengths I'm randomly linking together.  Hence the rather festive color palette.  I'm getting very good at square knots.  The group encourages using up leftovers, reassuring us that the Afghans LIKE multicolor creations.  Hope so, 'cause that's what they're getting.  At any rate, Afghan mothers will be able to pick their kid out of a crowd wearing these crazy things.   I used my fat-head cat Peabody as my mannequin to check fit.  No photos, he wouldn't sit still.

If any of my devoted readers like to keep their hands busy while watching TV, this is an easy way to do good and not worry too much about the beauty of the product.  Check out the website and their guidelines.

Another Worthy Cause is Soldiers' Angels.  This is another grass-roots organization that provides great troop support.  I hate what and those whom have created the military effort, and especially loathe the shabby way the government treats the very people who have to put their lives on the line for the idiotic war. So I at least try to lessen the evil through this organization's efforts.  I don't have to be a jingoist warmonger to offer personal support for the young men and women most affected, via cards and letters to injured troops or e-mail pen-pal correspondence to those on the lines. These profoundly ugly things on the left are not lumberjack potholders or tea cozies.  SA had a drive for warm hand and foot booties for injured troops during the cold flights on the medevac choppers.  They have to be big and shapeless to cover bandages, dressing, IV tubes etc.  I suppose there's no money for Halliburton in heating the flight, or in supplying manufactured hand and foot coverings.  I knitted about a dozen big tubes on the loom device and sent them in.  Then I came into some wool fleece and sewed these.  My needlework skills will never win me blue ribbons, but they'll do the job.  I gather this drive is about done, so I'm rushing these in at the last minute. In the meantime, I've found a use for my art scraps into strange notecards I send to base hospitals.  I've gotten some very sweet replies, and plan on adopting another pen pal.  My last guy made it home safely and we had a fun correspondence.  The process was a wonderful education on the clusterfuck in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I'm sure I got more out of it than he did.

It feels good to do more than stew in guilt and fury over US actions.  Keeps me off the streets.  And sticking a "support the troops" ribbon magnet on your car has to be the stupidest, emptiest gesture imaginable.  So I make and send my lumpy handmade efforts. 

If any of my devoted readers would prefer to delegate the handiwork, but have wool yarn (at least 80% wool or wool-alpaca blend, any color, any weight, and lengths as short as 10 inches long -- attention ex-needlepointers!) they'd like to share, I will gladly exchange them for your choice from my extensive synthetic stash of yarn.  I've got all sorts of fancy and fun fibers, in a rainbow of colors (photos sent on request).  And some baby's head will be warm with your leftovers, which defines the "warm fuzzy feeling" of charity.  Even if it's goofy looking.  Please leave a comment and let me know.