Whatever happened to your __________?
For those of you who did not stumble onto this blog thanks to Eskimimi (who may have been reading along just because they know me, or know the shop, or who were simply clicking on things and have no idea how they got here or where the last 37 minutes went), let me just start off by saying that hers is a wonderful blog that I am grateful for discovering and I look forward to reading it on a more regular basis.
I mention this because Eskimimi is the force behind Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, and it is on this page that she gives the topics for each day. If you scroll down a bit you will find a place where you can click day Four (today) and you will find a lovely few paragraghs expounding on the possible directions this topic may take.
But I know my direction, and it goes the way of the blankets.
Last year's blanket on display during the "wrap-up party" with the kids.
In the interest of full disclosure, I fully admit that I did not knit these blankets myself, per se. But I did handle my fair share of dropped stitches, random increases, whip stitch most of them together, and crochet a couple of edges.
So it counts.
See, this year is my fourth year teaching after school classes at my sons' elementary, and my second at another. The kids learn how to knit, and the squares they finish are assembled into a blanket for charity.
The first year, the blanket was donated to the police department's charity which buys Christmas presents for local children who would not get them otherwise. The officer in charge sold raffle tickets at bingo games. I'm sorry to say that I've never known who won the blanket, but I am confident it found a good home with someone who appreciated the hard work the kids put into it, and the police department was able to give several more families a Merry Christmas.
The second year, I had just started renting space at River City and thought that the blanket would get more exposure there and we could raise a bit more money for the same charity. I thought right! The bonus, too, was that being in charge of the raffle allowed me to know who won the blanket. Long story short, it is now in the home of the very deserving lady who crocheted the squares together for me along with crocheting the edge.
The third year's blanket (pictured above) followed the same path as the previous year and was won by my friend, Cynthia, who is an Open Knit regular and retired teacher. It has found a home in Chincoteague with her daughter, and I am thrilled to know it is there.
This year, however, there's more!
We will still be able to have the same raffle at River City with the same size blanket, and this will be from the squares made at my sons' school. From the other elementary, however, I have enough squares (combined with some I have left over from last year) to finish two smaller blankets. These blankets, I am very excited to say, will be donated to the county's Children's Services to be put to very good use.
Teaching these classes can, at times, be exhausting. I could quit now and still be happy in the knowledge that I have done some good in the world and that I have given dozens of children something they can be proud of.
But I'll tell you what...the rewards are more than worth it, and I will keep this up for just as long as I can!
