Have you ever asked yourself why did I do that?

Now, don't assume that this is going to be a rant!  I am sitting here pinching myself in delight as I have been thinking about the events of the last 72 hours.  And it went like this...

Over the last year I have had many donations of yarn and knitted garments for our friends in Romania, Serbia, Moldova and Albania.  Paul has made trips over usually with half of his suitcase filled with these garments and blankets to distribute to those in need.  Then in June, we had the Let's Get Knitted fundraiser that didn't raise the amount of money I had forecasted but God has been showing me what it was more about...people giving of their time and stash to knit the 6 inch squares and scarves to make up the blankets.  I have just taken a break from sewing the backing on these blankets to tell you this story!  We are still finishing up blankets as more and more knitted pieces were donated late into the summer and autumn because someone knew someone, well you get the picture.

We live in a very small home so I have to get these worked up so we have our space back but more importantly while I am sitting feeling chilly in my heated home, there are those that don't have anything to keep themselves warm.

Along with a bag of more donated yarn, I was given a bag of scrap yarn, skeins of tapestry yarn and wondered, what am I going to do with that?  But held on to it.  Here is the poignant part of the story.  One of the ladies left a post on our group FB page asking if anyone had any orange-red yarn she could have to do some darning.  Not even thinking I grabbed the bag in hopes there would be something.

Now darning to me is to mend the toe of a sock, fix a seam in a sweater, sewing up places that no one would actually see the mend.  It turns out the hole that needs to be mended is in the front of a child's sleeveless vest and one of the skeins was the exact colour needed!

Even in the smallest things, a hole in a child's vest, He provides for everything.  From the hole to the knitted garments that are helping keep the families of Novi Sad, Serbia and beyond covered!  Why be surprised?

I will keep accepting the donations made available because I know God is making sure we will have the things people will need or know the people that can help out.

Thank you Lord for everyone who thinks of others and is willing to be Your hands, Your feet to total strangers.  I can't wait for what He is going to do next!

Working to reduce the stash!

Okay, let's try that again!  

If you are a knitter/crocheter and you don't know about Ravelry, let me introduce you to one of the greatest social networks I am a member of.  Go to www.ravelry.com and sign up.

The feature I love to use is looking up knitting, I don't crochet, by the yarn name I have been given, donated or have purchased myself.  I am a very tactile person so if it feels good I will buy or take it.  Wonderful until the realization comes to me that I don't have any idea what I will do with it.  This was so sad but no more!

From the luxury of my lounge, I can discover some great uses for the yarn I have even my leftovers.  The other night I searched hoping that I had enough Sirdar Snuggly DK in this lovely light green to make a baby gift for our pastor friends in Serbia.  A neutral enough colour for either a boy or girl as I don't think they know what they are having!

I searched by name of yarn and the yardage the skeins represented and wow so many patterns were found.  This website is such a gift to us.  Thank you to the team!

Crafternoon is tomorrow so you know what I will be doing!  Have a great weekend!

Happy New Year and more 2013 UFOs to complete

Hi everyone,

Our year started out the best and the worst ways possible.  Let's get the worst out of the way...we flew to the States for our first family reunion of this Triller tribe and then got the flu!  How does that happen?  But despite the aches, pains and fever, Paul and I had a fantastic time while only one of our daughters fell ill at the end of the reunion.  Here we are with our beautiful family minus one, our son in law, Paul  :(...

 

 And then PopPop trying to continue a tradition, watching It's Christmas, Charlie Brown!  He has been watching that movie with our granddaughters for 10 Christmases now.  Thank you Alison for putting up with our traditions!

And now on to my first of many UFOs of 2013...

My friend, Sarah, commissioned me to make her a tea cosy and here is her Sheep Tea Cosy.  Sarah has seen photos and has already fallen in love.  She says she will name it.  Can't wait to see what she comes with.

More on our visit to the States and more completed UFOs to come!