I have been very busy knitting. I have some problems with my hands and can only knit for a while before they start to bother me, so I make the most of it while they're feeling OK. I've had surgery for carpal tunnel on both wrists, and surgery for tendinitis on my right hand. I have broken my left wrist twice, most recently two years ago, and now have tendinitis in that wrist. I know when they start to ache and swell that it's time to put the needles away and begin a different type of project, but for now they're working and so I'm knitting as fast as I can.
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This is a wrap around sweater jacket that I made for myself. I need to find a nice suede belt to wear with it. Rob isn't home to take a photo of it on, so the chair is modeling it.
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A number of years ago, when I was living in Central New York, I left my apartment one Sunday afternoon to go to a hockey game. It was a frigid, windy day with ice on the ground and snow in the air. I wouldn't have left the warmth of home that day for anything but hockey.
I took a bus across town and about two blocks from the arena, a little boy boarded the bus. He was about nine years old, thin and messy looking. He wore shoes that were too big, jeans and a tee shirt and an adult's suit jacket with the sleeves cut down. He was carrying a shoeshine box and had been working on the street corner all morning. He didn't have the correct change for the bus, so I paid his fare.
I enjoyed the game, which our team won, but I couldn't get that little boy out of my mind. I still can't. I went home afterwards and got out my knitting needles. I started making hats and mittens and when I had a pile, I donated them to charity. Every year since then I've made hats, mittens, baby blankets etc. for charity.
Here is some of my recent work waiting to be delivered.
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A stack of baby blankets.
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If I have enough yarn, I'll make hats, bootees and sweaters to match.
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Here are some of the hats I've made this year. Rob will be taking them in the next couple weeks to the center that gives them out.
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I try to make them for kids of all sizes, from babies to teens.
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For the bigger kids I make each hat different and try to use colors and trims that will appeal to kids, while still making them warm.
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Hats are fun to make, because they go together so fast. I can make one or sometimes two in an evening.
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I like to use beads and bells. I try to think what I would like when I was a kid.
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I feel that all kids should have warm winter clothes, no matter how poor the family. And all new babies should have something new, a blanket or sweater. I can't help all the cold, hungry kids, but I can do something and that's better than nothing.