The Afghan (and then some)
April 10, 2008 | Filed Under Make the world better, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Share A Square | 4 Comments
The Afghan
Tucked gently
it brings warmth -
and timeless safety
from the cold reality
(of the moment).They may need safety a bit longer
but,
watch them wear afghan capes in battle,
fly afghan flags of victory,or
huddle beneath afghan tents
and shine flashlights
toward the ceiling
in awe at their created patterns
that rival stars dancing above
a dark country roadand
tomorrow they may just toss it aside
though first, I’d bet,
they will wear a crooked grin
and drape it over someone’s BIG cold feet
for what better way can one child thank so many people
than simply to spread the warmth.Marcia McLees Bogaert
04/10/08
Note: Share a Square was created just this past June to insure each child attending would receive an afghan — 140 children will attend Camp Sanguinity in Texas this summer! The blogging community (and friends) sent Shelly 10,000 squares and she only needed 6720 — She and her volunteers have 100 plus put together already! Each afghan will have squares from 48 different people, each with a little tag from the person that knitted or crocheted the square…
If that were not awesome enough, volunteers are still needed to create - for each child! - small decorative and washable bags so they can save their 48 (maybe more) tags and pull them out again and again and again — to read all those names and towns/states/countries.
Click here to see the afghan gallery (you can’t help but smile when you see the colors).
Now, I must say again (with good reason), if that were not awesome enough, Shelly has another related and bigger dream — and you don’t have to sew or knit or crochet to participate this time! Just cough up a tiny bit of cash, if you have it! We are going to raise money to pay for all 140 kids to attend the camp! We have just three months to raise the money. And if you don’t have money because you already gave it all away and/or just love to spread the word:
Tell everyone you know: blog, shout it to the sky, write, email, sing, stand on your head for your kids to give back a bit of their allowance for the fund, bribe your in-laws by doing something special for them, treat yourself to a present - but don’t buy it, donate instead…. Why not send an old-fashioned letter or a handmade card to someone you know!
You get it! So, Click here to get all the details! Oh, I didn’t tell you. Camp Sanguinity is associated with Cook Children’s Medical Center, Fort Worth, Texas, and is for children with blood disorders and cancer. There, now you know one of the reasons we are all so excited to help. Join us?
A vote for me is a vote for Share A Square
September 10, 2007 | Filed Under Linked, Share A Square, contest | 6 Comments
Hmm, that sounds political doesn’t it. Well, it’s not meant to. I am trying on my new older personality. I was lucky enough to be given an interview invitation for Blog Interview for my other blog, Tumbled Words. It was fun filling out the form, another excuse to put words on a screen that someone might just tumble into - and actually read.
The blogs for the month are voted on and small cash prizes are given to the three top voted blogs. We all know it is more a popularity contest than anything else… Why they even suggest we lure voters in with things like I am doing. I used to back off from things like this, but you know what, I don’t want to this time. I am on a mission to help get those afghans made in time!
Should I win, it will not be based on my popularity, but because you want that top 25 dollar prize to go to the Share A Square project that Shelly at This Eclectic Life started around 2.5 months ago. It is a great project and I have both knitted a few and talked about it until people reading Tumbled Words are probably bored with it, though I have tried to change up how I write about it…
Some people help by talking it up on their blogs or to their family and friends and co-workers and the woman down the street that irritates the heck out of them… (still greatly needed, thousands of squares still needed). I got “brave” and emailed a local craft store in a small town… Guess what, I offered to pay the postage and they came through with 156 squares in just weeks and they have a few more done. You could try that, too. Jessica the Rock Chick at Life is Rantastic put a notice in Craigslist.org, Shelly goes to crochet groups and senior centers and she has more stories like that on her site.
Now, if you want to help me get that 25 dollars for the project, you could just plain old vote for my blog… I’ll know it is not because I am young and beautiful (hee hee, mostly I’ll know, because I am middle aged..), I will know it is not because I have the best blog out there… though you may want to browse a few pages anyway! No, I will know it is because you want to get those 140 kids wrapped in an afghan made by around 50 people (each afghan)… and that will make me much happier than the first reasons for winning and it will do wonders for the kids.
So, if it doesn’t interfere with a more important vote… it would be great if you would cast a vote for my blog. Then you can write about it all on your blog or email your local groups or start knitting or crocheting: six inches is NOT very much, not even six square inches.
Vote for “me/us/yarn” here, please!
This post will remain here until the end of September, please scroll down for daily posts. Thank you.
I am tired of changing templates
September 6, 2007 | Filed Under Inspiration, Linked, Share A Square | Leave a Comment
I NEVER thought I would hear myself say those words, much less see them in writing… I keep having to fix the poems, they lose the formating — then I lose the widget things, like the link to Share A Square, Shelly’s afghan making project for the kids who will attend Camp Sanguinity next summer. She needs 48 different people to knit or crochet a 6 inch square for each afghan for 140 kids… So, check out her latest update page — and think, really hard. You must know someone else who knits or crochets and can do a few squares… I mean they could make a cute little tag and stick one in an envelope and mail it… You may be surprised how many are completed, but at the same time, most of you know that although the momentum is picking up — only takes a short time of everyone thinking it is OK for the momentum to crash.
So, while I am sorting and getting ready to sell our house to live our dream, or half of it at least, why not find someone to make a few squares… And remember ladies, 6 inches is not always what you may have been told — well, maybe it is smaller than you think… 
Maybe not as small as this photo…. but aren’t they beautiful!!!! And yes, that is my square in the middle — just to show that simple knit ones can still be beautiful — and there are more colors out there!! I chose this color because it reminds me of Leon’s eyes. Why you could choose green for the emerald you want your husband to buy but won’t or red for the hot peppers your husband loves or purple because your mother never painted your wall that color when you were growing up. Then yellow could be the sun or a banana.
Remember, someone you know MUST be crafty, if not use the talent you have, your command of words! Stop by or email a local craft store or senior citizen group, bring the link to Shelly’s website and talk to them about it. It worked for me!
Hey! Can Girl Scouts or Brownies, etc. earn badges by knitting or crocheting? Just a thought. And some football players have knit before…. just another thought.
Shelly’s latest page, Share A Square Frequently Asked Questions, has links to patterns, the easy ones AND the hard ones for y’all who want a challenge.
And since you aren’t messing around with your template, you can grab the button to tell your readers. I know you know a lot more people than I do!