Back again! That’s two days in a row. I might be on a roll.
Nothing profound to share today—just the joy of knitting in a day full of errands and waiting. Two days, actually. Yesterday was election day, and today was run-around-all-over-the-county-to-appointments day. Despite some disappointments at the polls, the referendum on selling wine in grocery stores here in our fair city passed. Woohoo!! Believe it or not, the vote was actually somewhat close. One of the stranger parts of our mostly wonderful move from Chicago to Appalachia has been our introduction to the culture of the blue law. I saw some of this in Texas when I was younger, so the concept isn’t completely foreign. But still.
Today’s excitement was a trip to the dentist and the vet, among other things. My teeth and our Misha’s now-stitch-free tummy (he had surgery for bladder stones two weeks ago) are both doing fine.
My on-the-go project these days is a sweater I’m knitting for Adele’s Legacy. I learned about Adele’s Legacy earlier this fall at The Knotty Ladies Yarn and Fiber Weekend Getaway. A new friend who is deeply involved with the project told me about the group over lunch one day. I was impressed to the point of tears by what these women accomplish. A handful of them work together to knit a sweater, hat, and scarf for every single child in a particular elementary school each year. On a designated day in November, the children are ushered into a large room where tables are spread with hundreds of items that have been knit especially for them. Each child gets to choose a sweater, a hat, and a scarf for their very own, which means that each child has at least one sweater, hat, and scarf to wear through the winter.
I can’t begin to say how impressed and touched I am by this. Not only does it address the issue of cold children—it gives each child something special that has been handmade—stitch by stitch—with care. I believe in the power of knitting with love and the ability of something knit by hand to carry good energy. That each of these children, no matter the child’s individual circumstances, goes home that day with something that has been handknit on his or her behalf is huge. I am certain the world needs more of this.
I think it’s great that you’re knitting for Adele’s Legacy! I’m afraid to say it out loud for fear of setting myself up to fail, but if I could a. find the time to b. learn to knit sweaters I would c. like to be a part of that aside from occasionally sending huge boxes of yarn to them for support.
One can never go wrong with huge boxes of yarn! BUT . . . if you want knit a sweater as well, let’s do it together. I’m planning to knit more than one, and the pattern Adele’s Legacy provides is very straightforward. We could go step-by-step. You wouldn’t even have to look at the pattern if you didn’t want to. I could just say, cast on x stitches, and we could both do that. Then, I’d say – okay, now knit three inches of k2, p2, and we’d both do that, etc. And if you got to a confusing part, we could have a pow-wow.
Ah Melinda, Adele’s Legacy is impressed to the point of tears that you are knitting for us from far away in Tennessee!! We have people who knit for us from as far away as Maine and Hawaii, and I promise you we appreciate them all VERY much! We have chosen a date for GiveAway Day this year, it’s to be November 17th, but don’t worry if you aren’t done in time we will give it away next year…we promise it will go to a good and deserving home!! And Cari, it doesn’t have to be a sweater – each child also chooses a hat and a scarf to take home for their very own. We loved the boxes of yarn you sent, by the way, and they have already been made into hats, scarves, and sweaters! Bring on the 17th!!
Awww, thank you so much for commenting, Dorothea and Sheila!! 🙂
I was assuming I’d already missed the date for this year, but let’s see what happens. I’ve finished a hat (a red, acrylic version of the one pictured in the post before this), so if I manage to finish the sweater in time, I’ll send them both. If not, I’ll set them aside for next year’s give away when I plan to have several other pieces to go with them. I’ll be watching the Adele’s Legacy website for news of this year’s big day!