Sandy's podcast on pwrnradio

Here is an awesome podcast interview that Sandy gave -- have a listen! I just love listening to her compassion and drive!

Knit A Square - Knit A Squillion challenge!

Help us warm even more AIDS orphans in South Africa, and join us in our Knit A Squillion challenge!  The goal is to send 1.2 Million squares to South Africa by July 2012 - the number may seem daunting, but check out Sandy's math, and it's definitely doable!

Help keep the children warm - knit or crochet a square today!  Be a part of the solution!

As Kalai posted --

Here is what you need to do:



First download this flyer: http://www.knit-a-square.com/knit-a-squillion.html which explains the challenge.

Then, we need every person connected with KasCare, knit-a-square, the Square Circle forum, Ravelry, Facebook ,Twitter, and who knows about our work with the orphaned and vulnerable children of South Africa, to:

1. To each knit or crochet 60 squares within the year ourselves
2. To Invite five other friends or family members to knit or crochet 25 squares
3. To ask each of those five people to invite one other person
4. To introduce the knit-a-square program to your local schools, churches and communities
5. To introduce the knit-a-square program to your local retirement village
6. To invite people in our small business, company or organisation to the knit-a-squillion
7. To start a knitting group
8. To write about knit-a-squillion on your favourite knitting and crochet blogs
9. To send the flyer you have downloaded to all your friends and family and ask them to pass it on to all their friends and family.
10. Add a link to the flyer on your personal facebook page


Let's start a viral movement!

Knit A Square presentation

I just had a two-day training session on professional presentation skills for work, and the course culminated with us delivering a presentation on whatever topic we chose. I chose Knit-A-Square, and thought I did fairly well.  It was over 34 minutes in length, way over what I thought it would be!  The instructor recorded us and gave us the DVDs, but I'm not sure I want to watch myself, never mind post the video online.

Sharing the plight of the AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children, the hard work that Sandy McDonald, Ronda Lowry and their families all have done and continue to do, and the pictures of the sweet faces of the children, just helped re-affirm my commitment to KAS!

Please help keep an AIDS orphan warm - Knit A Square!

 

I love Ravelry!

Can I just tell you how much I love Ravelry? There's a great article on it, and I have to agree totally.

http://www.slate.com/id/2298584/pagenum/all/#p2

Happy New Year 2011!

Happy New Year everybody! It's been a crazy couple of months here, dealing with escalating anxiety and depression issues with one of our kiddos. But we're still here in one piece, and I know we are blessed with our family, our health and our love for each other.

It's hard not to go into the details, but for privacy's sake, I need to keep things vague. We are thankful for our close family and friends' prayers. Nuff said.

Knit A Square continues to grow and always needs funds from its volunteers to run and help the AIDS orphans. Won't you consider making a donation? Either one time or recurring, every penny helps, just as every square helps on the ground. Visit their website http://www.knit-a-square.com to click on a Paypal button and help us keep the children warm in South Africa.

Please also join the forum there and connect with the knitters and crocheters around the world who are making and sending squares to the poorest of the poor and helping, one blanket at a time. You truly meet angels there, quietly doing the Lord's work.

Count your blessings, be thankful for how much you truly have, and please help keep the AIDS orphans warm, however you can.

God bless us all!

Knit A Square at our school's holiday bazaar today

My son and I are off to our school's holiday bazaar this morning, where we have a booth for our Square Circle Knitting & Crochet Club! We're selling mini KAS square ornaments for $2 to help raise money for our club's postage fees this year. Every ornament sold will have a Knit A Square business card attached. :)

We also have handouts - cards and rulers - to spread the word about Knit A Square!

We have a spot for folks to have a go - knit or crochet a row, and we'll be working on squares all day long as well. 

Praying we spread the word to new folks who haven't yet heard about Knit A Square, and that they tell their friends, and so on!  Wish us luck!

Ok I have to run now, finish my hair before it dries in this crazy condition - need to be presentable and proud in my KAS shirt, to represent! :-)  Sorry for all the exclamations, but I'm very excited!!!

Mini KAS Square Ornaments to fund raise our postage

Today I loaded my Mini KAS Square Ornament to Ravelry, my first pattern I've listed there!  I'm hoping that other KASers can use it for fundraising, gift-giving, awareness-raising, all the good stuff that can help KAS!

I started some of our knitting club kids making them two weeks ago, and they are doing great.  We're going to sell them for $2 each at the school's holiday bazaar in a few weeks.  If we sell 30, we'll cover the cost to ship one box of 8" squares to South Africa. I've made a bunch, and Mrs. M, our teacher sponsor, is making some, too.  We have 14 pre-orders from teachers - it's so exciting!

Christmas countdown 48 days!

I just downloaded a Christmas countdown app, and there are 48 days left! 48 days to knit and crochet gifts, not to mention cleaning, decorating, shopping, baking, cooking - its overwhelming.

All I have to say is thank Heaven for FlyLady! Check out her Holiday Control Journal at http://www.flylady.org. After several years I'm embarrassingly still just a sporadic FlyBaby, but her routines work. I love the Thanksgiving menu mailer, too. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail, and that's the truth! Ok, so much for the FlyCommercial - just check it out, you'll be so glad you did, I promise!

Happy Sunday, hope you are enjoying the extra hour that comes with the time change. Me, not so much - I can never seem to sleep in when I could, so of course I was up and at 'em at 6-ish with our Little Lady this morning. No problem, we're enjoying a leisurely morning cuddling under afghans to stay warm in the chilly hours. Rugrats marathon via the Wii-flex it is! [Netflicks through the Wii]

I stabbed two fingers on my right hand at the Home Depot on Friday, love the nasty staples on the packaging. We had a broken water pipe in the playroom's baseboard heating (boiler system), and luckily the fourth plumber we called was able to see us that afternoon, and we had to break concrete to expose the pipe so he could replace it. My husband did an amazing job excavating it, and by late afternoon we had heat again on the main floor, and for way less money than we feared. Thank you, Jesus!!!

So I'm working on Christmas gifts that I have less than 48 days to complete and wrap, even fewer if I want to ship any out East, and my fingers are still pretty sore holding the crochet hook. I have squares to make for Knit A Square, and finger puppets and small dolls to knit for the AIDS orphans in South Africa as well. It'll all get done, I just need to skip some sleep, lol!

So there you have it - one over-stretched working mom trying to make some home made gifts full of love outside of working hours, balancing work and three kids and a husband, plus cub scouts, kempo karate, and possibly cheerleading again. Here's praying we survive the season without too many meltdowns and nervous breakdowns.

Happy Sunday!!!

Online amigurumi pattern generator

Oh my I think I may have died and gone to heaven -- check this out:

http://www.knittink.com/amigurumi/

An amigurumi pattern generator. I'll have to be trying this out someday soon!

KAS summer square challenge results

I realized I didn't post our summer results for knit a square - an amazing 20,000 squares! I was able to make my 200 square goal, now I just need to come up with the postage to send them to South Africa. I'm so proud of all the members who helped. What an awesome job!