Fairy Godmother

Over the 5 years that I've known about Reece's Rainbow, I've done some advocating and fund raising for some of the kids from Latin America.  I haven't done nearly as much as some people but I've been pulled towards certain kids sometimes.  I sell Avon and hand knit items year round to help waiting children and adopting families.

Some of the kids I've advocated for are home---Mark.  Some are still waiting ---James, Phillip, Vaughn.  Some are stuck in a country that isn't processing US families right now --- Kimberley, Lene.  One passed away before she got the chance to know the love of a family --- Monet.  One I will get to meet this summer --- Josie/Seraphina!

And then, there is the one who is being adopted by a childhood/high school friend of mine.  The one who will live less than an hour from me  The one I will be able to greet at the airport.  And spoil on his first birthday with a family.  The one I will get to watch grow and thrive.  Then there is  --- TJ/Andre.

And, guess, what?  I have the right to do all of those things because I am officially his Godmother.  Because every former orphan deserves one more person to spoil him and love him and pour into his little life.

His new family crashed Sara's dance class yesterday to officially ask us to forever be in his life.  I'm so honored and touched.  (Although I was very confused at the time.)  You can watch the video here:

If you want to help this amazing family financially, you can purchase Avon, buy some hand knit items, make a tax-deductible donation through Reece's Rainbow or make a donation directly to the family to help with upfront costs.  You can also order 31 or buy some great World Down Syndrome Day Shirts.  (Or this style shirt.)

Let's CHANGE His Life!

Just a little CHANGE can CHANGE a life!

There are a couple of options when it comes to change.
1.  It's in your purse weighing you down.
2.  It's jingling in your pocket.

Let's solve these problems, shall we?

Grab a cup or a jar or a bowl.  Put it in your kitchen, or your bedroom, or your office.  Attach this picture if you want!   And start filling.  Empty the change out of your wallet or pockets every day.  You'll be surprised how quickly your change adds up.  Every penny counts when you're fund raising.  

We are asking that people save their change for two months.  From January 10-March 10.  On March 10th, you will have a couple of options.  You can turn your change into your local bank and deposit the money into the Schaus' family account on Reece's Rainbow (tax-deductible) or their youcaring site.

You also have another option.  (If you are like me and you don't have a local bank branch.)  You can go to a CoinStar at your local grocery store and deposit your coins there.  They have the option to get gift cards without any fees.  You can get a gift card that we can use for baskets and raffles at the Schaus' coffee house event on March 25th.  You would just have to ship or give the card to Amanda or I.

Comment and let us know that you are participating!  Also, follow along on the facebook page.  We'd love to see pictures of your coin collections and how they are growing!  Everyone who collects coins, donates and messages a screen shot to the facebook page will be entered for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card!!!  

A little CHANGE can prepare a boy for a huge life-saving CHANGE!  

Temperature Blanket

Someone shared the idea of a temperature blanket on my facebook today.  The idea is to knit one row each day based on the high temperature of the day where you live.  I loved it---especially living in Western New York where we  have 4 distinct seasons.  I don't crochet and couldn't find a knit pattern so I decided to create my own.

The first step was to choose colors and set up a scale.  I went with Red Heart Super Saver yarn.  I knew the blanket would require a lot of yarn and I wanted something reasonably priced and easily accessible.  You can choose the colors that you like together.  I chose to do temperatures in groups of 10 degrees based on the temps we have here.  You may need to vary this depending on where you live.  

Make sure you set up some kind of system to record the daily temperatures and keep track of what days you have actually knit.  Let's be honest.  You are not going to knit every day this year.  With a good system, you can fall a bit behind and still catch up.   (Weather.com can show you the recorded temperatures for each day of the year.) 

The next step is to choose a pattern.  I'm making this blanket for a dear friend and I love the pattern.  It's really easy and I love the way it scallops.  

Here's the pattern as I modified it for this project:  

Using size 10 needles and the color for day 1, cast on 261 stitches.  (Or a number in multiples of 13 plus 1)

Row 1:  Using Day 2 color,  (RS) *K1, YO, K4, K2tog, sl 1, K1, psso, K4, YO; rep from * last st, K1

Row 2:  Using Day 3 color, K1, P to last st, K1. 

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 while changing colors for the temperature. for 363 rows.  Bind off in the temperature for the 365th day.  

You can use whatever size needles are comfortable for you with the weight of yarn you chose.  I'm using size 10 now.  

Modifications:  

*Some suggest crocheting an edge around the entire blanket.  

*Other patterns suggest adding a white stripe in between months.  

*I thought about doing 7 row squares of knit 7, purl 7 to show the weeks of the year.  

Here are my first 4 days.  I have two colors so far.  (Today was brutally cold.  I'll be adding another color tomorrow.)  I'll try to remember to post an updated picture once a month.'

I ended up pulling it out and switching to smaller needles.  I think it was going to be way too big and the stithes were too lose to see the pattern.  I'm up to 4 colors already!  

If you have any questions or other ideas for modifications, leave me a comment and let me know!  You can follow this and other projects on my knitting page.  

Happy knitting in 2017!