granny squares

Regarding a Slight Change of Plans…

/ jennanana / 1 Comment

So this collaborative leadership project is nearly coming to an end. I’m happy with the outcome for a couple reasons: 1) People ended up getting involved, and 2) Not tooooo many people ended up getting involved. That sounds bad, so let me explain… I was afraid that this project would have gotten so big that I wouldn’t have been able to handle crocheting everything together all by myself. But I got just enough granny squares (so far) that it’s enough for me to handle. So for that reason, I’m happy with the outcome.
As for changes in the project I have decided to nix the battered women’s shelter donation. First off, my donation would not have been big enough to make a bug impact, and secondly, it would have been a hassle to make a donation. I probably wouldn’t have been able to donate them directly to the shelter and I didn’t even have all of the information on the shelter! So I was super excited when another donation option fell in my lap…
At my library every year we set up a mitten tree. People can donate mittens, hats and scarves to the tree and everything gets delivered to an organization for needy families in the community. Perfect, eh?! So I’ve already put together 3 scarves and wrapped them all cozy like around our tree. Yaayy! I plan on adding them to the tree as I make them. This makes me very happy that it’s one less worry on my part.
So all in all I think things are coming along swimmingly, as I presented my project to my class last Saturday, so that portion is all done. Now it’s just a matter of combining the squares into a mish mash of scarves and putting them around the mitten tree!
So many thanks to everyone who has donated, and even to those who wanted to but didn’t.

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A Call to my Crochet Hookers: Part 2

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Hello, hookers! I posted a while ago about my Collaborative Leadership Project. I just want to give a quick update on the progress I’m making with it!

I have started sitting in with the crochet group at my library and they seem to be excited about the project.  A few members have learned to work in the round and have expressed interest in making some squares as soon as they get it down pat, which is great! I’ve also received a small number of squares from some of my co-workers at the library and even some friends who crochet, so a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has helped and who plans to help out!

I’ve stated that my deadline to submit squares was December 1st, but I am going to push it back to December 15th, maybe even a few days more.  I want to make sure I get as many squares as I can for this donation of granny scarves! I haven’t started assembling them just yet, but as soon as I do, I’ll get some more photos up. But for now, here is the first batch of donations! Yay! These were only the first four I received, so I have a small stack on top of these. So THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone helping out with this! Keep them coming

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A Call to all My Crochet Hookers

/ jennanana / 5 Comments

You may or may not know, but I am in Grad School for Library Science. One of the classes I’m in this semester is a leadership course where, surprise, we learn how to be successful leaders.  Throughout the semester, each of us has to come up with and present a Collaborative Leadership Project.  I’m not entirely sure if we’re required to actually follow through with the project, but I feel like my “do good” meter is running low so I actually want to follow through on my plan.  I knew from the start I wanted to incorporate my hobby of crocheting and use the resources available to me (my blog, colleagues at the library, and the crocheting community) to do some good.

So here is my call to action:

I’m hoping to collect as many granny squares as possible from anyone who has the time or wants to do some stash busting.  Every granny square I collect will be joined into scarves, and if this turns out to be bigger than I expected, they will also be turned into small baby blankets.  Once I conjoin the squares, the scarves and blankets will be donated to a local women’s shelter on the South Side of Chicago.  I’m hoping to get a nice big batch by December 1st, 2012 so that during the month of December when I’m not busy with school work I can work on joining the squares and donate the scarves and blankets by the beginning of January. Chicago should be in for a cold winter (though considering what we had last year, ya never know!) so I want to make sure these women who deserve some love and care get that love and care.  I’m referring to this project (for now…until I come up with a more catchy name..) “The Warmth of a Granny Scarf”

So as I said, I’m calling out to my fellow crochet hookers! I’ll list the requirements below and the mailing info. Please help me out with this. Granny squares are so simple and even if you only have time to make a few, it will still be a big help!

  • Use medium weight, 100% acrylic, machine washable yarn. If you can’t use this yarn, that’s okay too. Like-squares will be joined together.
  • Feel free to use any color(s) you want! The more color the better. Make them solid, or use multiple colors in one square.
  • Only do four rounds, as the fifth will be the joining round.
  • Use a 5mm/H gauge hook.

If you don’t know how to make granny squares, don’t fret! I’ve found some really helpful patterns and step-by-step instructions from some awesome blogs. So go check those out for some ideas.

Once you have a nice stack, send them to me:

Jenna Harte
2730 W 97th Pl
Evergreen Park, IL 60805
 

Thank you so much in advance to everyone who participates. If you’d like to enclose a little card or something I’ll include that in my package when I drop off the scarves. Otherwise I’ll include your name (unless you’d like to remain anonymous) in a note.  Please pass this along to anyone it wouldn’t otherwise reach and let’s see how many squares can warm the hearts and souls of these women.

I’m still here! And with a baby afghan to show you.

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I have a confession. And I’m probably not the only ‘blogger’ who does this.  Sometimes I wait weeks to post about a craft or project I’ve done. =O UH OH SECRET’S OUT!! Seriously though, I have things I’ve finished months ago that I haven’t posted about simply because either I forget, I neglected to take a somewhat professional photo of it, or I’m just overwhelmed by the thought of it possibly being a very involved post. However! The semester has come to an anticlimactic ending, and I now have so much free time that I’m planning to be more active in my posting.  Wait, did I say free time? Just yesterday I felt overwhelmed with all of the things I need to get done now that I’m not worrying about deadlines with school! This is why I’ve been AWOL from my blog. Library school is way more involved than I could have ever imagined. But the crochet hooker is still alive and kickin, and swamped with summer projects which I need to find motivation to finish.  It always seems so hard to sit down with a skein of yarn and my hooks when the sun is shining bright in the sky and the birds are beckoning me outside. Of course, I can always work on things outside, but who wants to fuss with a big afghan on your lap when it’s 75 or 80 degrees outside?? Not this gal.

Anywho, I recently finished a baby granny-square afghan! Commissioned by a friend to make it for her friend, it turned out ADORABLE. it was just a simple granny square pattern, but the colors go really well together and it was so nice and cozy that I know any baby would be obliged to sleep with it. Granted it did take me a lottt longer to make and put together than I had anticipated. That’s okay though, it gave me something to do while I listened to audiobooks for my young adult literature class =) Lots of people are amazed I can crochet and listen to an audiobook at the same time.. multitasking!

Since my last post, I’ve been busy with lots of projects which I’ll share now that I can shift my attention from schoolwork to hobbies (I promise!) Previews: another granny square afghan that is a whooole lot more advanced than this, a family of beard hats, and a birthday present for my sister!! I’m way too excited about this last one! Stay tuned!

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p.s. I’m starting a new job today at a car dealership. (Is my excitement just exuding through the computer?) I worked as a cashier/receptionist for the last 5 years in another dealership and thought I was getting away from that. But hey, a job is a job right? Wish me luck!