Ok so I'm old.. I remember Bob from Sesame Street singing "Who are the People in Your Neighborhood" with the little muppets all around him. The song speaks of people that we meet in or neighborhoods who work hard to serve their community. Last year 5 ladies, including myself, started a "Hats for Hope Initiative" spin-off group, Northern Adirondack Hats for Hope Initiative to make warm accessories for those "people in our neighborhoods" . I also wrote in a blog post about the Christmas at Sea Program where knitters and crocheters have the opportunity to make warm winter gear for Mariners who serve us by moving commodities around the world via ship. Living not so many miles from 2 of the Great Lakes I know Mariners are people in my neighborhood. I thought why not do a blog about how we can acknowledge all those hard working folks that we pass everyday but rarely get the opportunity to thank.
The end August, something in the back of mind clicks, and I realize it is time to start thinking about Fall crafting. (at least here in the Northern Adirondacks) Most of us start adding to our stash yarns that are appropriate for winter, diving head first into those mill ends bins, and clipping coupons from our favorite stores. Part of that Fall crafting is charitable giving. My daughter sews and crochets. I knit and crochet (I also make hats on the round knitting looms which is fun and challenging). I do believe that "Makers" are some of the most generous people in the world. Giving not only of their time but also of their talents. (All those materials are worth money too!) My husband and I were discussing the busy Great Lakes commerce. We live near both Lake Champlain, and Lake Ontario, when I go to the Cleveland Clinic we are right along the banks of Lake Erie. While we knew that a lot of commerce happened on the Lakes, never had we considered the men and women making that commerce happen. After a little research I found the Lake Carriers Association . What they do is stellar, and challenging. Last year on my Charity OUTpost blog I did a piece in which I included the Seamen's Church Institute, Christmas At Sea program. The Seamen's Church Institute writes this about their mission "The Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) serves the hardworking men and women laboring on the world’s oceans and inland rivers. With their work, these individuals fuel the global economy and make our way of life possible as they spend months at sea or on rivers away from their families, friends, and homes. With close relationships to governments and industry, SCI has shaped its support services to meet the challenges facing today’s mariner. From the provision of hospitality services at our Centers to operating the world’s only full-time and free legal aid program for merchant mariners, training mariners on world-class simulators used in SCI’s maritime education centers, and even delivering handknit holiday gifts for mariners, SCI provides an indispensable array of services to mariners working around the world". The Christmas at Sea program helps the men and women aboard ships celebrate the holidays with handmade love. It's not really about whether these men and women have in their supplies proper warm items to wear, it is more about assuring that men and women know that someone is thinking of them while they are out to sea shuttling the things we use every day. How can you help? It is not difficult at all to participate in the Christmas at Sea program. There are a few simple instructions and there are free patterns to help you along the way. Ravelry has coordinated with the Seamen's Church Institute to help encourage participation. There are A LOT of men and women serving aboard these ships and therefore the SCI welcomes all the participation it can get. (as long as you follow the guidelines) As I look to the people my family and I meet every day, there are a lot of folks who spend time out of doors in cold winter air working or trying to get to their jobs. From truck drivers to the person who delivers your prescription medicines. Teaching assistants on the playground with your kids and local farmers. While others may think; "they have a job, they can buy their winter hats and scarves why donate to them"? That attitude totally misses the point. At Northern Adirondack Hats for Hope Initiative we often give to churches and schools. We don't ask where are donations go or what person will get each donation. Our partners hand out the donations knowing it never hurts to show appreciation for people who do so much for us. It is true that warm clothes, truly warm clothes, Northern Adirondack type warm clothes, can be hard to afford. Any person "in our neighborhood" the volunteer fireman, truck driver, baker, bus driver, crossing guard, young mom, teaching assistant/aid, may be in need of handmade love. Just knowing people that we trust are making sure the donations are getting to the right place is enough to make us smile and keep us pressing on. Northern Adirondack Hats for Hope Initiative is celebrating one year of hope on September 2. We hope you'll join us in our Scarf-a-versary! The info is available on our facebook page. The point is to use your happiest yarns or fabrics in your stash to create a colorful warm scarf for our neighbors. You don't have to join the group to participate in the scarf-a-versary, but it helps :) One more note about Northern Adirondack Hats for Hope Initiative. We are a spin-off of Emily's Hats For Hope Initiative. They've given us help and support along the way in developing a great foundation for service to the community and I wanted to thank them in this post. With all that is going on in the United States and indeed the world, we have an opportunity to make hope with our own two hands. Whether we give to a Hats for Hope Spin-off or to the Christmas At Sea program, Makers do great work, every day of the year. I want to thank everyone who has made a difference through their efforts with Northern Adirondack Hats for Hope Initiative. To all of you who work to make the world a little better one handmade item at a time, I offer my deepest gratitude.
0 Comments
After some delays due to my internet signal failing, I am here with a great designer for you all! It's Saturday so it must be Indy artist day. Out of the Parc Designs is experiencing a boom of baby orders lately. I've been scouring the net for the cutest, brightest, happiest newborn designs available, that in turn, led me to designer Jennifer Lynas. Are you ready for great crocheted kids designs?
I love being the person that customers and friends call on when they want something special made for a new baby or an event like the first day of school. That feeling of happiness really never goes away. Designers like Jennifer Lynas create designs that make those firsts in a child's life just perfect. With a collection of photo props, clothing, hats, scarves and other "adorables", there's really no end to the creativity you can show in your crocheting! In my own case the baby boom going on around me necessitated the search for infant clothes I could make as gifts. Jennifer Lynas created some really sweet things that are perfect as gifts. I especially like her clothing designs because they are so perfect for those newborn pictures and also practical. The Crafty Narwhal offers designs individually or as a set.
Crafty Narwhals on Etsy offers a whole host of kids hat and hood designs for winter. Around the Northern Adirondacks those hood patterns are quite popular because they keep head,ears, and neck warm without having to wear several separate pieces. (if you have a son like mine you are lucky to get a hat on as they zoom by)
I really could go on all day but T.k. Wilson has a blog coming up that will discuss the toys and loveys in detail. I hope you will go to laterosedollclothes.weebly.com/ to get the rest of the story, if you will. I want to thank Jennifer Lynas for her hard work and for the wonderful designs. I was not joking when I said I could spend all day here talking about Crafty Narwhals. Check out the facebook page too @www.facebook.com/CraftyNarwhal/! My ongoing obsession, since I made my very first crocheted blanket for my grandmother, is blankets. I love knitting or crocheting blankets especially for newborns. Pairing them with a cute hat and a pair of booties or a bib is a great way to give to others and occupy your time. Of course I do this sort of thing for a living! Makers have a very special place in the world. Welcoming a newborn into the world with a warm blanket and hat? What could be better for a Maker?
Basically this is just a roundup of ideas and sites where you can find great information, and great patterns, for you to consider. I like to share great site finds, free ebooks, free pattern finds, and as you know evvery Sunday I share places to donate your handmades. Of course it is a way that I can pay it forward :) No one can match the joy of giving a handmade gift . So Makers, let's get busy! There are a lot of free ebooks available to knitters and crocheters (and I'm sure those who sew also) I have a collection of these books myself. Crochet:
Ravelry and Pinterest provide a gigantic amount of patterns and interesting yarns but really sometimes you don't even know where to begin. Type in cute baby blanket pattern to the search box and see what you come up with. Wow. Issuu is a huge help to me so I cull through the free magazines a lot. I recommend that Makers start with issuu. I like to try to maximize choices and minimize confusion. I'm sure many of you would agree. Crocheters:
Sites that are specifically for both knitters and crocheters include the amazing collections at Garn Studios. Yes Drops Designs can be a little confusing. However, again if you use the search box and the site becomes easier to navigate. Also, you'll find various languages and knitting terms offered. www.garnstudio.com/home.php?cid=17 I've already mentioned Yarnspirations, a website that showcases yarns from several yarn companies under one site. Red Heart Yarns owned by Coats and Clark offers users many great patterns for free. The yarns can be found in stores just about everywhere in the USA and Canada. www.redheart.com/ is easy to navigate so users can find what they need quickly. Well that's it for today's round up. Check these webpages out and see if you can find a great project to donate or give as a gift! I've been following Darleen Hopkins on Facebook since 2015 when I saw some of her designs featured on another website. (The WHOot) I was looking for a cute hat for girls and I found the exact hat, the very sweet "Waiting For Spring " hat (with matching hat for an 18 inch doll) on Crochet by Darleen Hopkins. I was a little surprised to find that I hadn't included Darleen Hopkins in my Indy designers but I will be correcting that oversight now :) I know you will appreciate her gift for creating both beautiful and fun patterns for both children and adults.
Darleen Hopkins body of work is pretty extensive and wonderful. Today will just be a starting place for your own investigation of Crochet By Darleen Hopkins. Darleen Hopkins is a Raveler and writes this in her Ravelry introduction: "Hi! I’ve been crocheting for a number of years now and am somewhat addicted to designing hats. I love making silly hats for silly kids. My passion began when I came across a fantastic group, Halos of Hope, (on Ravelry too!) that distributes handmade hats to chemo centers around the country. My heart breaks when I think of young children having to go through chemo treatments, and I am hopeful that my hats will bring some happiness and silliness to them. I am proud to be a Halos of Hope volunteer. If you like my hats, please make one or two or more for Halos of Hope (www.halosofhope.org) or find a local organization that distributes hats to kids’ chemo centers. I plan to add additional patterns as I create them so please check back often." www.ravelry.com/people/DarleenHopkins It's so cool that Darleen was inspired by Halos of Hope to design great hats for kids with cancer. Many of us have started out in our career volunteering for charity and it became the inspiration for much more. Okay so since hats are Darleen Hopkins specialty let's check out her collection of patterns!! Some of the patterns are free and some are paid patterns. You'll find some of the patterns on a separate website, Free Crochet Patterns by Designer Darleen Hopkins Or just Free Crochet Patterns Free patterns for hats include: Chirp! Chirp! Tweet! Tweet! Is a super cute hat in two sizes for kids through adults. (As an Angry Birds fan I'm tempted to make this hat for myself LOL) The Football Chemo Hat is a perfect fit for boys having to face chemo. (though I know plenty of girl football fans too :) The Bunny Rabbit Costume Hat is adorable, comes in Small/Medium and Medium/ large sizes, and would also make a great chemo hat. Kids love dress-up why not give kids going through chemo a little dress-up too? Paid patterns (very reasonably priced) include patterns that are Unisex and sized for both kids and adults. My favorite is Crocheted Harmony. A Hat and Cowl Set. Beautiful pattern which really has the potential to become a most sought after pattern by friends and family! (be sure to have plenty of yarn on hand!) Bentley is one of those great hats that suits nearly everyone. Darleen Hopkins designed it to fit most people who are over the age of 10. It can be made very manly if made with the right colors. If you are looking for a perfect guy hat for Christmas... no it's not too soon. Of course I couldn't close this section without adding the cutest hat EVER! The "Kissy! Kissy! Fish Face Hat" I love it! Darleen Hopkins designs beautiful shawls and scarves. I like making and wearing shawls! They are great for many occasions, and of course when weather is variable a shawl is a great addition to the wardrobe. Black Raspberry is my favorite shawl in Darleen Hopkins collection! I love the texture and the trim. Moxie has a lovely light elegance and would add a touch of class to any outfit from jeans to a Easter dress. Its beautiful. Offered by both Darleen Hopkins on Ravelry and also by Knit Picks.com. My personal choice for the best Darleen Hopkins scarf is the Tiffany scarf. This scarf has potential galore. Depending on the yarn used this scarf can be worn to a very special occasion or every day at the office. Really gorgeous. For the perfect cold weather scarf check out the Glacier Hat and Scarf. Basic kicked up a notch. Darleen Hopkins created a whole line of baby blankets, and bibs. The bibs are picture perfect for holidays or for family photos. Keeps those oh- so- cute outfits clean. (also great for teething babies) The blanket pattern collection is really amazing. Some of the blanket patterns are a bit above my skill set which is a bummer because they are super cute. Bib patterns include patterns for all occasions. They make great photo props! Christmas is covered in sweet style with the Gingerbread Baby Bib. Sometimes the commercially made bibs just can't compete with handmade adorable. If the occasion calls for a bib for Winter and not necessarily Christmas the Button Nose Snowman Baby Bib would be perfect. But of course there is also the super adorable Preppy Penguin Baby Bib. Often babies are dressed in the best of the best outfits for Easter. Why not protect the best of the best with the Adorable Bunny Bib . Sweet Baby Bear Bib is really the perfect everyday bib! Priceless :) Naturally the baby blankets designs are not to be missed. They are just as perfect as the baby bibs. I love the Peek-a-Boo Lion blanket. It would be such a great addition to a baby's room decor. Snuggly nights with Nighty, Night Blanket, what could be sweeter? Loveys are very popular right now and this fun and funny Bobble Head Blanket . A couple of home decor designs that really jumped right out at me. Darleen Hopkins really has a very diverse selection of designs to choose from. There are some projects that I know would be very popular with friends and family. These Peppermint Pals Hot Pads are great ideas for gift giving and also to give your kitchen a holiday feel. The pattern includes instructions for a Peppermint Candy, Gingerbread man, and a Snowman. Christmas stockings have always been a fun part of our Christmas traditions. Therefore, I had to include the Elf Socks. A Christmas Stocking to the list of home decor ideas. In a very clever twist on the card making craze Darleen Hopkins has patterns for creating Mixed Media Love Notes for Valentine's Day. Adding your crochet to lovely cards makes it extra special. I think I've covered at least a portion of what the very talented Darleen Hopkins has designed. She's pretty awesome. You can share ideas with her on Facebook , Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, and some social media platforms I've never even heard of because she's a maven :). Thanks to Darleen Hopkins for ALL that you do to make crochet awesome. If you do choose to make something by Darleen Hopkins won't you consider giving a hat to Halos Of Hope? Thank you Crochet for Cancer Inc, is a big organization with a multi faceted operation so I'm not going to be able to cover every aspect of their operation. This is an important work! Even though cancer feels chaotic, this Christian organization helps to bring calming comfort. All of us have seen what cancer has the potential to do, let's instead look at what "Compassion, Creativity, Confidence," can do! (and I'm going to try to keep this short so YOU can get right to work!)
Recently the scourge of childhood cancers has come to my personal attention. While I am not personally involved in the situation, there's an instant gut check that happens. When I first began my crocheting journey I did a lot of crocheting for groups reaching out to families touched by childhood cancer. Let me rephrase that sentence. We say "touched by cancers" as if it's a gentle thing. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Cancer hits. Crochet For Cancer aims to love back a cancer fighter back. The story of how Crochet for Cancer came about is personal. I won't try to summarize it, or to copy it here I think it should be read. www.crochetforcancer.org/about-us/our-story/ Tracy Wells wanted to give back. Taking a personal story and make it profoundly victorious for the sake of her mom. With a great deal of faith, she did. Now we are invited to participate in the journey of victory by helping other cancer fighters. All of the items provided to Crochet for Cancer are made by volunteers and are given free of charge. (because cancer is expensive enough!) Let's get right to the "helping " part of this blog . There are official chapters of Crochet for Cancer where you can donate you handmade hats but please pay attention to the FAQ's and the Guidelines. If you've read my blog on Sunday you know that I am always harping on guidelines. It really saves the charity time and effort. They are volunteers just like you. If you can't find a chapter of Crochet for Cancer near you, consider becoming a chapter leader! Are there patterns for crocheted caps? Yes! However the Crochet for Cancer chapters also accept knit or sewn caps also. Bear in mind that boys and men get cancer too. I took a moment just to look up some men's patterns through The Crochet Crowd. There are many great ideas for men at this link. There are lots of ways to provide comfort. If you have the time and ability, why not call your local oncology office or department to see if they could use your support. Though cancer is a difficult subject, we would all like to think that someone would be there for us if we needed a helping hand. Cancer fighters, from our youngest fighters and oldest warriors are amazing. Looking for more ideas to send to Crochet for Cancer OR your local Oncology department?? There are endless free ideas at the Crochet Crowd and All Free Knitting . Right now you might be sitting there reading this blog and thinking, "I wish I had more hours in the day". If you can't donate right now there are plenty of opportunities to follow what is going on with Crochet for Cancer on their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/CrochetForCancer/, Twitter twitter.com/crochetforcure , and YouTube www.youtube.com/user/CrochetforCancer. Get involved with the discussion, ask questions, and when you are ready, Crochet away! Thank you to Crochet for Cancer for EVERYTHING that you are doing for Cancer Fighters!!! I've written about The Linky Ladies before as a part of the Charity Idea OUTpost on link parties. What exactly is a link party? A link party is where pattern designers gather links to some of the best patterns online, gather them in one place and share! It gives crochet designers, new and long time, a free showcase for their best work chosen by their fellow knitters and crocheters. In the case of "The Linky Ladies" the five most popular designs are chosen from those featured with the hashtag #Linkyladies.
The Linky Ladies include Jennifer Pionk of A Crocheted Simplicity, Crystal of Crystalized Designs , Maria Bittner of Pattern Paradise, Heidi of SnApPy ToTs, and Carolyn of The Purple Poncho. These designers are some of the hippest, hottest, most prolific designers on the web. Of course, because I not only blog about Indie designers but am also consumer of the patterns designed by these 5 amazing ladies. Each of them willing to put aside their independence to provide us with five great patterns Bi-weekly! All of the patterns chosen will be featured on all 5 social media pages of The Linky Ladies so that's 5 times the exposure for these patterns ! How cool is that? I really do love the fiber arts community. Separately each of these ladies is a crochet/knit star on their own. Band them together and they create a supernova of crochet/knit power. They really bring the wider community of fiber artists together, get them focused on sharing their favorite patterns. Really lovely. These unifying regular events online get the juices flowing for all crocheters and knitters but also spur on designers to keep at their superb work. When you see great designers who bring all fiber artists together! These community connections are one of the reasons why fiber artists can mount such rapid responses to catastrophic events like natural disasters. Maria Bittner is a long time crocheter and knitter. As I've said in a previous post, I've followed her career for years. It wasn't until I started blogging that I realized just exactly how genuinely committed she is to the crochet and knitting world. She writes and designs yes, but she is also a social networking maven, and an amazing business woman. Maria Bitter takes time to acknowledge people who follow her pages, answers questions, thanks people who compliment her patterns and has crochet-a-longs to encourage a sense of togetherness. It is interesting to me that Maria Bittner and I started out basically knitting blankets as gifts through which our business evolved. Her commitment to the fiber arts community is seen in many ways at Pattern Paradise. Jennifer Pionk is the proprietress of A Crocheted Simplicity. A beautiful corner of the crocheterverse. Jennifer has no less than 228 designs on Ravelry! That's a lot of talent. Her commitment to creating a community through fiber arts is seen in her Facebook group which is 9,768 persons strong! Designers such as Jennifer Pionk try to create drama free, supportive groups about knitting and crocheting. Focusing on what we are able to do as a community and sharing the love of beautiful arts is really encouraging. There are so many that need a place to just engage with other fiber artists and have a great time doing so. We're really so fortunate to have great designers who are also community leaders. Jennifer Pionk 's designs range from 18" doll patterns to beautiful openwork. Crystal Bucholz is the designing mind behind Crystalized Designs. There's no question that she's a rising star in our fibery sky. Young, compared to my 51 years, Crystal Bucholz is not only an indie designer but is also published in a few publications. She's a busy mom and wife who is a social media maven. She takes the time to reply to people who post to her Facebook page and most definitely encourages comments on her various pages. Crystal also has a blog site introducing her family, being very honest about her life as a mom. The honesty is refreshing. :) Snappy Tots is one of the most fun sites on the interweb. You know I love to knit and crochet for kids with COLOR. Heidi Yates designs fantabulous, colorful, projects for everyone! She's also a social networking queen being on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook (with nearly 50,000 likes!) and Ravelry, I'm sure I missed a few platforms. Heidi Yates has a Facebook group for drama free interaction with other Snappy Tots fans! (I'm going to join!) Snappy Tots has a bit of a different feel to it because it is whimsical, and leans more towards patterns designed for kids. Of course I'm drawn to that in my line of fiber arts :). The individual groups on the various social networking sites are all joined by The Linky Ladies Community Link Parties. Between Snappy Tots "Totally Snappy" Facebook group and the facebook group created by A Crocheted Simplicity there are 13,245 people in 2 communities potentially sharing the 5 patterns voted on bi-weekly. That's COOL! The energy shared by 5 ladies is really contagious. The genius at The Purple Poncho is Carolyn Calderon. Her classic and classy part of the crochet world is engaging and I am sure that is why people love her designs. She has almost 12, 000 likes on facebook she's also a member of Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube . Maria Bittner, and Carolyn Calderon co-admin a group on Facebook along with Harlee Wentworth entitled Crochet Playground. Right there is the power of two of The Linky Ladies in ONE group. There are nearly 40, 000 members in this group. Add to it the numbers from the other two groups run by Snappy Tots and A Crocheted Simplicity, you have over 50,000 people linked together. How amazing. These knit and crochet communities have the power to absolutely make a difference in the world! I think Carolyn Calderon and Maria Bittner make a perfect team. Their long time involvement in crocheting and knitting, connection to the fiber arts community, their drive to create genuinely beautiful and functional pieces is palpable. Why is it so important to talk about Community in the Fiber Arts world? I'll tell you. I'm blessed to be administrator of 2 fiber arts related charity groups, Bangwe Babies Mission (Malawi) and Northern Adirondack Hats for Hope Initiative. If it were not for big communities of wonderful fiber artist spearheaded by people like Carolyn Calderon, Maria Bittner, Heidi Yates, Crystal Bucholz, and Jennifer Pionk I wouldn't have anything to offer those who so desperately need help. These 5 ladies just by creating a community link party gather people with skill together and that creates a potential force of thousands who can and will do the world so much good. Bangwe Babies Mission and Northern Adirondack Hats for Hope Initiative are groups less than a year old on Facebook but already we (my co-admins and I) have loyal people who are not afraid to dig deep. It's amazing. So thank you to these "Linky Ladies" and many other fiber arts community leaders for all you do to create connection! Two years ago, the local county court, there was a shocking incident of infant abuse played out. A man shook his two month old baby girl and struck her head against a hard surface. Up until that time I had never really taken the time to think about "Shaken Baby Syndrome". I knew it happened, I knew parents got frustrated because I am a parent, I knew what happened to the brain when it was subjected to concussion. However, I had no idea of the devastating effect of shaken baby syndrome. When I discovered the Period of Purple Crying and "CLICK for Babies" . Shaken Baby Syndrome is preventable and we as knitters, and crocheters are a part of that prevention effort. The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome states that Shaken Baby Syndrome is "The leading cause of abuse deaths in the U.S. " The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome (NCSBS) also writes "Why is Shaking a Baby Dangerous?Violent shaking for just a few seconds has the potential to cause severe injuries. While shaking may cause injury to children of any age, children are most susceptible to being injured during their first year of life. Factors that contribute to a baby’s vulnerability include:
"Consequences of SBS/AHT
The Period of Purple Crying is a fantastic program developed to not just reduce but hopefully STOP the incidence of SBS /AHT . There are training programs available for community groups, caregivers, churches, and daycare providers training.dontshake.org/courses . Information is the key to stopping this fully preventable cause of infant death or injury. In pure economic terms the NCSBS statistics indicate that in 2010 there were 16.8 billion reason to put a STOP to SBS/AHT. That's the cost in round numbers of Shaken Baby. However, all of us know you cannot put a price on the life of a child nor can we ignore the signs. Parents who are dealing with a baby who is difficult, gets their days and nights confused, cries a lot, refuses to nap, doesn't eat well, gets colicky, struggle with exhaustion and to keep from losing their grip out of anger. All parents at one point or another feel amazingly frustrated with their child. However, we as a community, as friends, as loved ones, as grandparents have the responsibility to try to reach out to help a parent who is overwhelmed. It could prevent ruined lives. Here are some stories that might help us realize the complexity of this issue and exactly WHY those of us who knit and crochet need to assist. Below is a graphic that illustrates why the NCSBS uses the Period of Purple Crying acronym. As knitters and crocheters we have the awesome opportunity to help support this campaign with contributions of purple baby hats. There is an organization "Click for babies" designed to support parents of newborns. Their tagline is "Knit 1, Tell 2, Give 3" . Knit /crochet a hat, raise awareness by telling others, give $3. Now in my case neither New York State or Vermont have an official Period of Purple Crying campaign (not unusual for NY!) I've asked friends just to make up some caps following the guidelines . Then take the caps to the local hospital or birthing center . This will help further the goal of Click for Babies "The goal of the CLICK for Babies campaign is to increase awareness and educate others about the Period of PURPLE Crying that all infants go through, how to respond to prolonged crying, and the importance of never shaking your child - all in an effort to prevent the shaking and abuse of infants." clickforbabies.org/about-click-for-babies-campaign.php In my experience, if we wait for someone to start a chapter nothing gets done, but if we simply start the information campaign people will join in.
Guidelines are vital but so are patterns! Here are the links to the hat patterns provided by CLICK for Babies.
The Period of Purple Crying is on a vital mission to keep babies from permanent brain injury or even death. Having been a military wife with 2 small children 16 months apart in age I can tell you that it's a very lonely thing to listen to your child cry for hours, and never have a break because my husband is deployed. If someone had offered to watch my children while I took a shower, or actually SAT down to eat a meal, I would have been thrilled. Be mindful of this project as you knit or crochet. Consider what your contribution might mean for the future. I've never looked at one fiber artists work and thought of how well it would go with another artist's creations. There was this really amazing revelation this morning when I was surveying the work of my latest independent artists designs, Sandy Chapman, when I had this feeling that her designs would pair up perfectly with another great artist I'd covered in the past. So I went in search of the second artist and it hit me like a bolt, Taiga Hilliard! After doing a quick brush up of Taiga Hilliard's designs I knew these two knit designers would complement each other very well.
I'll admit that writing about one designer is usually plenty for me, however, today I have decided to write about two designers. Both designers are amazing and of course neither designer's work has anything to do with the other, the similarities are strictly in my own mind. This may help my readers find a unique gift for a loved one or the perfect little outfit for their own baby. As suggested above I will be focusing on baby projects. Why? Because I have at least 3 to make this year for friends or family. Sort of keeps you focused on the task ahead. :) I know many other people are always on the lookout for great infant projects either for donation or for gift giving. (Disclaimer: please ask your family doctor before using ANYTHING in an infant's bed other than a secure mattress sheet) While Sandy Chapman of Mother of Purl Patterns designs projects other than baby blankets and infant clothes, I was especially taken with her infant designs. Her blankets and infant bonnets are stunning. So like a perfect meal and dessert pairing, the designs of Taiga Hilliard of Cashmere Junkie and the Sandy Chapman go very well together. I like to think of this blog as a menu of sorts. Each pairing will spark your imagination and lead you to become more interested in trying a new course. (I think the analogy works )
There's nothing more delicious to a knitter then finding the perfect pairs. I hope today's blog has helped you put your imagination in gear! Thank you to the Cashmere Junkie and to Mother of Purl Patterns for all their incredible work. I genuinely enjoyed writing this blog! |
Archives
January 2022
Categories
All
Author**Opinions expressed on blogs about which I write are the opinion of the blog authors and DO NOT necessarily reflect my own opinion. |