Me and the Warm Up America Foundation

I discovered Warm Up America a few years back. This awesome foundation provides knitted and/or crocheted afghan blankets, clothing, and accessories to people in hospices, shelters, hospitals, and nursing homes. The cool thing is that, to help out, all you or I have to do is knit or crochet one 7" x 9" rectangle and send it to them. That's it, to make a difference in someone's lfe. How cool is that?

Of course, if you want, you can knit or crochet an entire afghan. Or you could make 49 of the 7" x 9" rectangles and sew them all together into a complete blanket. Or, if you aren't that ambitious, or don't have a lot of time, you could just make one the next time you have to spend some time sitting in the car, doctor's office, or DMV, or when you are watching t.v. Slip it into an envelope and mail it to the good people at Warm Up America. The volunteers there collect them, organize them together in groups of 49, sew them together, and then donate them to wherever they are needed most.

The photos show my growing pile of rectangles. I've been going through a lot of leftover yarn that's just been sitting around in my closet. So nice to be putting it to good use! I can make about one-and-a-half rectangles while watching a couple of hours of t.v. in the evening. My goal is to make and/or gather together 49 rectangles AND sew them together so that I can send out a complete blanket this fall.

If you'd like to help me reach my goal, go to the Warm Up America website, download the simple knitting and crochet guidelines, break out your needles, hooks, and yarn, and get stitching! Be sure to read & follow the guidelines carefully. Check your gauge early on, to make sure your piece will end up the correct size. They must be as close to 7" x 9" as possible or they can't be used, and you wouldn't want all your hard work to go for naught.

Send me your pieces and when I have enough, I'll assemble them and, of course, take photos for the blog.

You can also send your pieces directly to Warm Up America, to the address on their website.

Questions? E-me!