“This weekend only, June 3-5, get 30% off of the 18" Knitting Board.  This popular knitting board goes on sale very rarely, so hurry to get this great deal. “

They are also planning on collecting items . . . → Read More: Heads Up! Knitting Board Sale!]]> I got some news that there is a sale on Authentic Knitting Boards this weekend! Here’s the skinny:

“This weekend only, June 3-5, get 30% off of the 18" Knitting Board.  This popular knitting board goes on sale very rarely, so hurry to get this great deal. “

They are also planning on collecting items for donation as well: Here’s the info on that!

“We are once again planning a huge donation of hand knitted goods for our hospitalized veterans as well as to their families. We also want to send another box of warm goods to the children’s native home in North Dakota. If you want to specify which donation group you want your items to go to, just specify with a note. We will donate in the name of Knitting Loom Knitters/USA, or you can put in a personal note to go along with your gifts. You are also welcome to attach a small note to each item. Your donated items can be made on any type of loom.

We would like to ship these boxes out by the first of October, 2011. This way they can be enjoyed for the entire colder season. Please send items to us at the below address. Thank you for your generosity and sharing spirit.”

Authentic Knitting Board , 60 Carysbrook Rd, Fork Union, VA 23055

Yet another opportunity to help those less fortunate!!

I was recently contacted BY Andrea . Her mother had given her a challenge to make 21 hats for charity by October. So she started knitting. Loom knitting that is!

She chose the Honeycomb Hat pattern from my site and went to town!

Just   she emailed me and let me know . . . → Read More: A Great Project and How You can Help!]]>  

I was recently contacted BY Andrea . Her mother had given her a challenge to make 21 hats for charity by October. So she started knitting. Loom knitting that is!

She chose the Honeycomb Hat pattern from my site and went to town!

Just   she emailed me and let me know that she had already reached the goal of 21 hats! In fact she has recently hit hat # 34.   Here it is..

She is wondering how many more she can get done by the October deadline. At this rate who knows?

Well. It seems to me all these hats need some scarves to go with them, or mittens!

So here is my challenge to you: knit a scarf or mittens to donate to be sent with the hats. Send me a comment, and I will be glad to give you the mailing address where you can send the items so that  and her mom can add them to the care packages they are sending out.

Come on! If Andrea can knit that many hats.. then hey if each of us sends her a scarf she can match them up and double the gift she is sending!!

Had my parents dubbed me Invasive Species Controller, it might have made those endless hours of weed pulling a little more interesting.. . . . → Read More: Invasive Species Controller]]> I was looking over the opportunities in the local listings for Disney’s Give a Day Get a Day volunteer program and the volunteer job of ‘Invasive Species Controller’ certainly caught my eye.

Had my parents dubbed me Invasive Species Controller, it might have made those endless hours of weed pulling a little more interesting.. Doesn’t it just tug at the imagination? Battling for life and limb with an ‘invasive species’?

One of the things I hope to do this year is get a little gardening going. Of course I think that every year, but hey who knows this might be the year I fight back some evil weeds in my garden area and get it done!

It’s sure worth it. I might not have thought that when I was young, grumbling and mumbling about having to constantly pull weeds, but when I had a taste of those peas right off the vine, or the blueberries.. oooh those blueberries I sure wasn’t complaining!

Then I felt the need to put the button for the site on my blog sidebar. Last night the first thing I heard when I got in the car to take the kids to the park was that they had found her body. Again I feel compelled to take action. I thought we could make squares and do blankets for the family. Or something along that line..

Then I thought.. why not a group effort to make some simple�prayer shawls for her grandmother and mother? It can be done.. I have a skein of Lion Brand Homespun in the color Corinthian. If I and two other people do the following it will work.. Use a Yellow Knifty Knitter Loom and cast on all pegs..work a flat peice back and forth in the garter stitch pattern till your skein has just about run out (leave a yard long tail for me to join them.) Then use some waste yarn to remove the stitches from the loom so they are still ‘live’ and send it to me. This will take care of one.. if I have someone who will start the second one and two other volunteers who will make the other two parts please let me know!

I will join the peices and get them sent on their way.

I would also love to do something for Her Dad and her boyfriend. So how about school color scarves (or if I get enough squares.. blankets!) Please make a square in a black or gold color, let’s say 6′x6′ (small enough for a scarf peice, but large enough to work into a blanket) I will again join them and get them on their way. These can be needle knit, or however you want to make them, just as long as they are 6′x6′. �Let’s use wool or a wool blend in a worsted weight for these if possible.

If you make a square or prayer shawl section please pin a little note of encouragement on it with your name I will leave these messages on your peice for the family to read.

If you are interested in helping please contact me.. (see link at top of page) and put in the subject line, prayer shawl if you are interested in working on that, or scarf if you want to help with that. I will send you my address so you can send in your squares.

Thanks! Let’s send some comfort to Kelsey’s family.

(translation: get me more clothes (Jaxom) So I replied: quit growing!-Mom I can’t -Jaxom)

Then I walked into the kitchen the other day and saw that someone had done something to the note.

�

(translation:stop arguing Mom +Jaxom- Azia)

This was just too fun! I thought I would turn it into a little meme and contest!

I wanna see what�notes are�on your Refrigerators! So snap a picture and post it on your blog! It could be your shopping list, to do list whatever! Then leave me a comment to let me know you did it and where! Don’t forget to link to this post so if someone sees it on your blog they can come on by and join in the fun!

I have some pretty sock yarn to give some lucky�person so don’t forget to leave a comment!

And please make sure there is a way I can get in touch with you if you win!I will add you all to a list and assign you a number as I add you and warm up the old random number generator on December 16th to pick a winner so you can put your pretty sock yarn under the tree if you want! I’ll even gift wrap it for ya!!

�

�

And please! Stop by Knitters Build a House and read all about the effort to help some families in Mississippi stay out of tents in February when their only homes.. FEMA trailers are taken away. Feel Free to grab that button and put a link on your blog!

(that’s an acutal house that was knitted there on the button! you can read about it here)

Many of my regular readers will know that I have been working to help the . . . → Read More: My Name is Earl..]]> Allow me to introduce you to the Earl Family:Toby,Yvette, Brittany, and Michael. (Toby was not available for this photo.) Nearly a year and a half ago, they lost their home when Hurricane Katrina hit the small town of Pearlington, MS.

Many of my regular readers will know that I have been working to help the residents of Pearlington, MS through my blog, and a website called Purls of Hope. I have been working to support the Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation, which was started by Angela Cole, shortly after Katrina hit.

The Earl family survived Hurricane Katrina. However, floodwaters reached the attic of their home and they lost everything. In spite of their own losses, they reached-out and helped their neighbors. At one point in those first few months after Katrina, they had over 20 people camping on their property – people who had nowhere else to go.

Yvette is a great cook and was a cook at the little local restaurant on Main Street in Pearlington. However, it, too was washed away in the storm. She has spent the last year caring-for her family and her elderly father.

Brittany is 12 years old and this has been a tough year for her. Her grandmother (Yvette’s mother) never recovered from the shock of the storm and died this past year. Brittany loves animals and wants to be a vet one day. She lost most of her animals in the storm, but has taken-in many “Katrina stray” dogs and cats.

The father of the family, Toby, was a fisherman prior to Katrina. He lost his big boat in the storm – it’s still lodged in the tree where Katrina blew it. Yet, never one to quit, Toby salvaged a little flat boat and goes out into the bay fishing for crabs every day the weather allows.

Michael is 9 years old and loves the outdoors. He often goes fishing with his dad. Michael also loves sports and wants to play football some day. Its hard for the kids to participate in sports because the kids from Pearlington are still bused an hour each way to school. So, they can’t stay after school and participate in activities like other kids; they have to catch the bus and get back to Pearlington.

There’s no question this disaster has hit children and the elderly the hardest. The kids wonder if they’ll ever have a home again and are more anxious than they were prior to Katrina. Getting these children “back home” is the first step to restoring stability to their lives. The FEMA trailers which are home to many families like the Earl family are going to be removed at the end of February. Trust me… FEMA has already notified them they ARE coming. They need a home now!

The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation has a plan. They have volunteer builders lined up for an organized Building Blitz to take place in Pearlington during the first week of February. They will be building homes for four families. These are the forgotten of the forgotten victims of Katrina.

Many of you have already helped the residents of the town of Pearlington by sending care kits through Purls of Hope. The Earl family and the other families in Pearlington are counting on you for one last push. Together, we can bring the people of Pearlington the rest of the way home.

Please begin by going to the Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation website. Read their stories, read about their struggles. View the multiple clips of coverage by CNN that has chronicled the struggles of this small town over the last year and a half.

Then please donate what you can toward the building fund. Your donation is tax deductable.

I am focusing on helping the Earl family rebuild their home, through my blog and my charity website Purls of Hope. It will take $45,000 to rebuild their home. Here is the site where it will be built.

I don’t know about you, but when I look in the eyes of Micheal I see something special. I see hope. Which is something I haven’t seen in the eyes of the residents of Pearlington since I have learned of their plight. Please join with me, in getting the Earl Family back home!

I also need your help spreading the word. If you have a blog, please, at minimum, put a link to The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation website, or link directly to it: http://www.pearlingtonproject.org/index.htm Please, if you are willing, write a short post about this effort, simply referring people to or the foundation website. Here is a button you can use for the foundtation’s website. Please right click on it and save it to your local files before using it.

So, if you can’t give, PLEASE spread the word.

If you have an organization, house of faith, company or coop, consider asking them to help contribute to this effort! I would love to get an email from those of you who make a donation, I will be trying to keep a tally of how much is donated. and if you who have helped out with a link or a post.. so please email me! (you will find my email on the right sidebar above!)

Thanks for sticking through this long post…

Together we will build a house, we will make a difference!

The box was quite a bit bigger than I was expecting! It is filled with blanket squares knit by workers at the one factory that manufactures the hats Kim designs over in China.

When Kim was there last year and described just how bad the damage of Hurricane Katrina was the workers immediately thought to make blanket squares and send them along to be made into blankets for Katrina victims. They pledged 100, and made many more than that. I have 24 to sew together into 2 blankets. I am hoping to get a little help from a friend in my local knitting group. Thank you so much Kim and all the knitters who made these great blanket squares. They will be appreciated!

��

�

And don’t forget the sale on my patterns is running through Monday midnight!

Get em’ while their hot!

�

I got a note from my publisher today. My booklet, Learning to Knit on Circle Looms will be out for sale on March 6 through DRG. It’s at the printer now. The sales manager feels that it will do well as there is alot of interest in it. So I should be wildly happy.

I also got a note from Angela today. She is in Pearlington MS distributing the care kits from Purls of Hope and other donations that have been sent down there. The situation is pretty grim. You can read Angela’s note here. There will also be an update story on CNN American Morning on the 28th.� And so I am down.

The people there need their local government to step up and work on re establishing their infastructure. They need help getting the debris cleared, and they need permanent replacement homes. I don’t know what I can do to help with that.I thought about writing a letter every day for a month to the president.. might get�the attention of the SS.. Donald�Trump? Bill Gates? FEMA who???�I am overwhelmed.

�I knew I was small beans when I started Purls of Hope. I thought it could help. There have been a few people who really embraced it and sent care kits and for that I am glad.

On the other hand my pleas for links and buttons sent to people who have more popular and wider read blogs than mine have fallen on deaf ears. Emails left unanswered so getting the word out has been difficult. So I am frustrated.

My publisher offered to put an article in Creative Knitting about Purls of Hope, but with the Red Cross gone, and the distribution center closing I don’t know if that would be of any use. I am grateful for the offer.

With all this nervous energy to work off I have gotten alot of rearranging and reorganizing done here in my school room. Things should be a little easier on that front, more structured and less stressful, more productive. For that I am hopeful.

My publisher also mentioned that, yes, I should put in a proposal for a booklet about knitting boards.. for that I am nervous!

Edited to add: I just got a note from Sandy. She is on a team that are doing a breast cancer race and fundraiser. They wanted to use my ribbon scarf pattern to make scarves to wear and sell to raise funds for their local cancer center. They fiddled with the pattern a bit, came up with a version that suites them, and are going with it.

Ok.. I feel like I am making a bit of a difference… thanks Sandy.. your timing was perfect.

�So.. how was your day?

As we were walking through the aisles I was looking at the bulk�plastic ware, and all the foods and thinking about how much I could send to help�people who�are still struggling from Katrina. I was lifting boxes to see how heavy they were trying to do mental calculations of postage.

They were heavy, it seemed hopeless. So here is where I enlist your help.

I recently have been in touch with Angela Cole, she is a nurse who has been going down to help out taking supplies when she can, giving vaccinations, hugs, a listening ear, whatever she can do.

Recently she was able to get on CNN and voice the plight of the people in a particular town, Pearlington, Mississippi.

Here is the video.

�After going to Sam’s club, we stopped at the drive through to get some lunch. It’s so convenient to be able to�do this. Even more so now that then can just swipe your bank card and off you go. Convenience. That is a luxury we sure take for granted. In many� rural areas that were hit�by Katrina there is none.�There are no stores, no McDonalds no laundry mats no.. well.. nothing. It’s all gone.

Here is a photo gallery of Pearlington. Four months after the hurricane it still looks pretty much like this.

�

After grabbing lunch we went home.

Home. What could be better, putting our groceries away, kicking back in the recliner relaxing and of course knitting away. Cozy and warm.

�

Many people in Pearlington and areas like it have been lucky and have gotten FEMA trailers. Some, many, still are camping out in tents. Now this may be the south but it does get cold. The FEMA trailers are not heated, the tents most certainly are not. And while camping out is fun for a while, after four months it sure gets old. There is no dry place to keep the things that they have and there is no replacing many of the things they have lost.

�

In my communication with Angela I have asked her what people there most need right now.

Here is her answer:

“Due to the generosity of volunteers from my hometown in Newnan, GA, I think we’re good on things like sweaters and hats and gloves. However, they could use more blankets of all sizes and colors.”

Also here is a list of food goods that they might need:

I would love to get some kits out to these people.

So one unit or kit would include the following:

1 blanket (I suggest you buy one, or donate one that is gently used unless you have one already knitted or crocheted that you can give)

Some food items remember these need to be non perishable. (try to include enough for at least one meal and lets throw in one fun item.. hot chocolate, jello mix some kind of treat!)

Some knitted items..like washcloths, dishcloths, potholders, door “snakes” to keep-out drafts (the FEMA trailers are not insulated – very drafty around the door) These are small items that can be done quickly!

�

Please also get a plastic storage box that these items can fit in, not nessesarily all of them. Dry storage is a problem and a nice plastic air tight storage box will go a long way to keeping items safe and dry.

Any other items you can think of that might come in handy ie batteries etc..

I will get an address ASAP so please start collecting items to make up a kit! My goal is to get at least 50 kits sent to Pearlington and then keep this up as the need arises in other areas. Please consider helping out! The need is out there�

�

�