Blog Archives - Lots of Knots

More blankets and more kits donated today!!!

4/29/2010

They just keep coming and it is fantastic! We had four new blankets and material or money for 4 new kits donated today. We are going to be so busy over the next few months. I added the new ones to the Homemade Products page today. There are so many cute choices of new materials in the kits that I don't know what I want to work on first.

But, I am definitely going to start the book tonight. I keep hearing too many great remarks about it to wait one more day. Besides, my finger still hasn't healed enough to work on blankets yet. It isn't broken, but boy is it black and blue!

It was so good to see Lisa C. today. It has been months since we have seen each other and we didn't have much time to catch up. She was on her way to work and I was on my way to a Word of Life meeting. I am still hoping that she will show up at our May meeting for some sangria, some great "girl" time, and my big surprise! Thanks for the blanket donations (soccer balls)!

Helga's first completed blanket is now on the website. It is the blue one with dalmatians - first on the left. She did a fantastic job and has material to make two more. I know that she is glad to have one finished. It sounds like we will have another good group at the next Word of Life blanket meeting. We had a great discussion today. I feel so blessed.

Newest Member of the Family

4/27/2010

Well, this is the newest member of our family. You can click on the photos to enlarge them. Now I really am going to have to enroll in classes. The family will be expecting a recital by the end of the year :) We splurged and bought a new one!! There will be an extra surprise for the evening group in May. Don't ask me, because I'm not going to tell you what it is!!!

Update on our Progress

4/27/2010

I'm excited to say that we have 15 completed blankets at my house, 4 more completed ones that will be delivered to my house, 6 that are being worked on at this time (that I know of), and 4 that I have worked on up until the tying step. I know that some of you don't feel comfortable with the fitting and cutting, so I have done that part for you and all you have to do it tie one if you want to. That makes 29 that should be finished by June! That's incredible!!!

I also have at least 15 kits to be made into blankets for those that have donated money, or that don't want to buy material from JoAnn's. I was there the other day looking for a particular material that someone wants, and the fleece was $10-$13.00 a yard. That is entirely too expensive for fleece. Anyway, I have kits in all colors and patterns for sale for $15.00 (for the entire medium-sized blanket!). Five of them are promised already, but I'm sure you will be able to find something that you would like to work on. They keep coming up with the cutest prints! I always have a box of kits in my trunk that are for sale and have already been washed and are ready to go. That way when I travel to different meetings I can provide material also. Have fleece kits, will travel!

I am so proud of what these groups are doing. The momentum is building and I know that Star of Hope will be thrilled and surprised at what we have been able to accomplish this year. We now have three groups working on blankets, scarves, and hats - the Lots of Knots, and Books Too! group, the Word of Life group, and the Low Vision Club Group. Everyone is doing a great job and I am so happy to be a part of each group and get a chance to meet and visit with these wonderful women. I decided to wait and talk to sponsors next year, so I deleted that webpage and added a Today in History and a Quote of the Day page. It is something fun to read.

I am hearing excellent things about our book this month, and I can't wait to get started. I smashed one of my fingers with a big rock while working in the yard the other day (no I wasn't trying to get out of doing yard work :), so my blanket making is on hold until my finger is healed. Hopefully that means I can get some reading done.

I have also been busy researching a trip that we are going on in September. We are going to visit the Holy Land with some of the people that I met in the Word of Life group. We are very excited about it. I have also been researching used pianos because I want to start taking piano lessons again. I played a little when I was younger, but it was very difficult for me. I am hoping that I will get the hang of it this time. Also, it is supposed to be good for the brain, and that old clock is ticking away faster and faster each day!

I have two private blanket lessons that I am giving on Tuesday, May 11, so we will not have our morning meeting in May. If anyone needs a refresher course, feel free to call me and let me know that you want to join us that morning - or another time. The evening meeting should be well attended, as the book is good and I think everyone is back in town. I loved seeing what everyone was working on at the last meeting. We have such a great group. Feel free to bring a friend along to the May meeting.

Word of Life Blanket Making Meeting

4/20/2010

We had a great group today. Everyone is figuring out what technique works best for them, what knot they like to tie, and what kit to make next. Soon I will be able to add at least 5 new blankets to our total! Thank you so much for participating today.

April evening meeting

4/16/2010

We had a great meeting last night. Great discussion about the book - I think everyone really liked this one. Thank you Diane for the extra research on Guernsey. I think we are all ready to pack up and go visit the place. Each one of us is betting there will be a movie made about this story. Check the book blog for May selection.

We now have 10 blankets toward our goal of 50+ for November. At this rate, we will probably make a delivery during the summer. I meet with the Word of Life group next week, and hopefully they will buy some of the 20 kits that are in my car! Some have already been purchased, so I know that eventually they will all be made into blankets.

Remember that I always have fleece at my home and you can purchase it from me if you don't want to go to JoAnn's. Also, Rachael and I are willing to make blankets that you just don't feel that you can get around to making. If you are willing to donate the fleece or the money to buy the fleece, we will make the blanket if you are unable to. I know some people are struggling with the technique (they all look fine and whatever you do is appreciated) and some people are getting excited about it and making many more than the two that we asked you to make. Keep up the good work.

We tried red wine sangria and white wine sangria last night. Seems like both were popular. Feedback welcome. Any special requests for the next meeting?

We also need book suggestions for June. We forgot to talk about that last night.

Talked to Betty at Star of Hope

4/12/2010

I talked to Betty N. at Star of Hope today. She called to tell me how thrilled everyone was when the blankets were distributed. She said that they gave many of them to the mothers that picked up their babies in the nursery that week. She said they were delighted and overwhelmed because they did not have a nice blanket for their baby before this. The others were given out to children as an incentive. They meet in a group meeting and earn points by doing various things. This way they earned their blankets and were delighted. She said that everyone has been thrilled about the whole idea, and she was very excited to hear that we would have over 50 to donate before the holidays. She said that we didn't have to wait for the holidays to bring them because they always need blankets, and it worked out to be a very positive situation for the center. She also said that any of our members were welcome to come by for a tour, and that she hoped to see more of us the next time we delivered blankets. I am assuming that we will make several trips between now and Thanksgiving, because I don't have room at my house to store 50 blankets. There are already 7 in my closet!

More kits have arrived

4/11/2010

If you are looking for material and don't want to go to JoAnn's, WAIT until you come to my house. I have over 20 kits (see blog post 4/8) ready to be made into blankets, so hopefully you can find on that you would like to work on. The final box was delivered yesterday. They are having another sale at JoAnn's right now, so it isn't too hard to find material on sale. I do find that the material is getting more expensive (it seems high to me for fleece), but I'm sure that is because they know this has caught on and there is a demand for it. Oh well, I guess we have to support the economy some way. I hope this material is not made in China! I'm going to have to check that out.

Bayland Community Center Meeting

4/9/2010

We had another great meeting today. This is such a fun group of people. Several of them went on the Painted Church/Bluebonnet trip that we went on Tuesday. I brought a couple of blanket kits for volunteers that wanted to make some. I also lined up another person that wants a blanket lesson. She said that after she learns how to make one for her granddaughter, she will make some for donation. She loves the pink plaid/pink animal one that I made and haven't given away yet. I'm not sure that I will be able to find that exact material. I know that the pink plaid is still available, but I haven't been able to find the pink animal plaid. Anyway, it is always exciting to recruit a new member to the club.

We had a great speaker, Jeanette. She had a very inspiring life story to tell, and also had a prepared talk called "Finding a Pony in the Manure." It was about being optimistic and how that helps in life. I thought it was very good and was very well received by the crowd. Ask me about it, and I can tell you what she meant by finding a pony in the manure. It's a cute story.

Kits have arrived

4/8/2010

Many of the kits that were ordered have arrived. I have been washing and drying them all day and then rolling them back up into a package. I almost left them alone, but I really feel that they need to be washed before we work on them. There will be more arriving later in the week, so if you need material to make a blanket, you might want to wait and see what I have before you go to JoAnn's. These are a flat fee of $15.00 to our members (normally $19.99 + tax. There are all patterns and colors, so hopefully you can find something that you want to make. I will be seeing most of you in the next week or so. Enjoy the beautiful weather.

Check out Painted Churches/Bluebonnet Trip Page for Photos

4/7/2010

I added a new page to the blog documenting the trip we took yesterday to the Schulenburg area to see the Painted Churches and the Bluebonnets. They are in order of churches that we visited - St. Cyril's, St. John's, and St. Mary. The photo gallery adjusts the sizes of the photos, so if you want to see some of them larger, place your mouse hand over the photo, click, and it should enlarge the photo. If you want a copy of the photo, just let me know and I will forward it to you. The churches were so much more beautiful than the photos show. We also saw lots of bluebonnet fields on the way home, but they did not stop for pictures. Hope you enjoy!

A few members of the Bayland Community Center Low Vision Club
arriving home from the Painted Churches/Bluebonnet trip.