Lesly's Birthday Presents and Other Updates*

Whew! Summer has well and truly kicked in around here. Mother Nature finally stopped with the incessant rain she'd been pouring on us for literally a month, and now has decided to try to sweat us all to death instead! It's 90 degrees and humid. Ick.

The school to summer transition has settled down so I can catch up on what's been going on since my last post....

The hideous heat hasn't stopped me from working on a ginormous knitted blanket though. I'm always so out of sync with the knitting seasons... sigh.

Last week I knit two (of four planned) large log cabin blocks and of course promptly changed my mind about how I want the blanket to look. So I've switched over and begun a log-cabin-of-many-colors blanket. This one will be a single, huge log cabin block and will hopefully use up most of my stash of Elann Sonata. That stuff is excellent for blankets.

Speaking of blankets - Mike who won the blanket for Nyslin's project requested that I donate the blanket to a charity. I chose Project Linus. I'm sure that my blog friends already know about Project Linus but I'll include the link anyway. I dropped the blanket off with the local chapter last weekend.

And Steve, who won Jester's project blanket, says he has received the blanket it looks good in his apartment.

So it's been happy blanketyness all round. :)

And in more good news my Income Generating Project for Joey over at Aura's House has been fully funded!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Joey's family of six somehow gets by on only $21 a month. Joey's family has the least income of all my sponsor children. And he is the only one of the children that is sponsored so he is the only one that gets the medical, health and educational benefits of sponsorship. Raising and selling hogs will make a huge impact on their income.

And the good news just keeps on coming because Kanika's project is completed as well. One of the other super sponsors, Dana, had the brilliant idea of holding a raffle. She raised hundreds of dollars for Kanika in the blink of an eye! Way to go Dana! I don't know yet how Children International and Kanika's family will use the money. Hopefully they will be able to at least start re-building their house. We will probably have to raise more money for Kanika in the long run but at least the family can get some significant relief right now.

We also recently received these adorable pictures of Lesly showing us what she bought with her birthday money that we sent. I love how she is nearly swamped by all the groceries in the first photo. It's sort of a Lesly version of "Where's Waldo". :)


Lesly with the spoils of her birthday shopping spree.

We should be getting an update on the progress of Lesly's roof project any time now. I can't wait!!


I just love Lesly's Cheshire Cat smile!

I talked about this in my last post but I've been thinking some more this past week about what my next step will be for my sponsor kids after I get all of their Income Generating Projects in place. So far I have funded (or am funding) projects for:

1.Harry
2.Maica
3.Jhonny
4.Lesly
5.Nyslin
6.Joey
7.Hermelinda (2)
8.Zoila
9.Ana
10.Jester

I have proposals in the works for:
1.Jenie
2.Glenn
3.Mary Joy
4.Flor
5.Javiera (special needs)
6.Carla
7. And hopefully and additional housing project for Hermelinda.

I'm also teaming up on a project for Alison with my sister who sponsor's Alison's brother Jhonathan.

I can probably get most of these projects launched by the end of this year. That's my goal anyway! After that, I am thinking I will concentrate on making sure that all the children have adequate bathroom facilities. Some of them do already but most of them share a community latrine. It would be much healthier of they each had their own - can you imagine not having a bathroom? I can't.

I have nothing in the works yet for my three newest sponsor children. I have to get to know them and their families better before I can determine what their needs might be. I'm sure I will end up doing an IGP for those three families as well sometime in the future.

And lastly - I finally feel like my eyes have gotten adjusted to the contacts. Now I can "See the world in HD" just like that annoying TV commercial... I've gotten pretty good at putting them in easily. Taking them out is harder but I'm starting to get the hang of it.

There you go. Those are all the updates I can think of/have time for right now. What have all of you been doing??

*If you are looking for creative blog post titles I'm afraid you are in the wrong place. :)

New Yearly Photo of Joey

This is the first new photo I have had of Joey for probably about six months. He looks so much more grown up to me. He's definitely turning into a pre-teen.

Joey also wrote me a cute letter that I received last week. Joey is not quite as fluent in English as my other Filipino children so his letters are sometimes unintentionally quite funny. Joey had previously mentioned that in the Philippines they celebrate with fireworks at Christmas time. This led to me telling him that we also had fireworks for our Fourth of July in the USA. In this letter Joey told me how much he loves fireworks but quickly assured me that "they are not dangerous for a user like me". Lol! He also told me that he had heard from his "olds" (I think he means elders) that they celebrate fourth of July in the Philippines in order to mark the day called "according to them, the Philippines - American Friendship Day" he goes on to say that "speaking to tradition, I always see to my olds - especially my grandparents". Lol! I'm sure he means to say that when he wants to know about traditions he asks his elders. Too cute.

He also told me, "I have also a youngest baby boy. His was Andre, he was ten months old, he was the cute and beautiful among the four children." Now - I am hoping that he means to tell me that he now has a new baby brother and how cute the baby is. But because of the confusion in tenses have/was, I'm worried that he might be telling me he had a baby brother who died. I hope not! I'll have to ask CI about it. Joey doesn't go on to say that he is sad or anything so I think the correct interpretation is that he has a new baby brother.

Joey's project is sooooo close to being completed at Aura's House. I'm very excited for him! I'm hoping that I will start receiving updates about my other, completed projects soon as well.

In crafting news - I've started a new blanket. That seems to be my "go to" project when I need something easy and stress free. It's a garter stitch log cabin. A good old standby. :)

I've knit the body of a February Lady Sweater out of Cash Iroha and Silk Garden. I love it so far, but put it on the back burner when it came time to do the sleeves. I'm not in the mood for knitting on DPN's right now.

Also - I was thinking about entering something in the fair this year but it turns out that the timing won't work out so I'm kind of bummed. :( Maybe next year -(although that's what I've been hoping every year). Ah well...

Great News for Nyslin and Joey!

Great news! I announced the blanket giveaway for Nyslin's Income Generating Project and the next thing I knew the project was completed!! A heroic donor stepped up and not only finished out the rest of the funding for Nyslin, he also brought Joey's project up to only $87 away from the goal. I'm stunned by the generosity of everyone who has helped out with the Aura's House projects for my kids. Thank you so much!

Here's the latest update on my sponsor kids projects at Aura's House:

Aura's House update:

Ana's Project: $1548/2770 - we're over halfway there!!
Nyslin's Project: Completed!
Zoila's Project: $293/824
Joey's Project: $636/723 only $87 left to raise!
Lesly's Project: Completed!

I will announce the winner of the blanket for Nyslin's project ASAP!

In the meantime, here are some photos of Joey with his summer package:


I think Joey has a cute smile.


Joey loved the postcards we sent, especially those of the sea animals because Joey loves the ocean and loves to swim.


Like many of our sponsor kids, Joey says he likes to take the photos we send him to school to show to his friends and teachers. So sweet!

I also want to mention that Aura's House is celebrating their 5th birthday! That's five years of helping children and their families to be able to live a better life. In honor of their fifth birthday please consider making a donation of $5 to one of all of the projects on their site. They have added two new projects lately, one for Mirriam in Zambia and another for Joselin in Guatemala in addition to the projects for my kids, Ana, Zoila and Joey that are ongoing. Happy 5th birthday Aura's House!!

On the Subject of Dogs, Contacts, Charity and the Fugliest Sweater Ever Knit

I haven't had much time for blogging lately. We're in the middle of the inevitable end of the school year frenzy of activity. Every year we are pretty much booked solid for the last four weeks or so of school. It's exhausting but at least it's all nice busyness. :)

So I'll just sum up:

I don't talk about my kids on the blog so all I can say about them is that they are awesome!

Some other things I'm happy about:

1.I got contacts and I'm absurdly pleased. I'm convinced I'm actually better looking now that I have contacts. Maybe I'm just not as blurry? :) The only sad thing is that I can't find colored, daily wear lenses in my prescription. :( Bummer. I totally want to change my eye color everyday.

2.I got an update on my projects from Aura's House. There was a long but unavoidable delay but happily the totals have still gone up!

Aura's House update:

Ana's Project: $1419/2770 - we're over halfway there!!
Nyslin's Project: $389/550 - only $161 left to raise!!
Zoila's Project: $293/824
Joey's Project: $236/723
Lesly's Project: Completed!

Hopefully Hubby and I will have a chance this weekend to complete the quilted placemat sets and get them up in the Etsy shop. We should be able to raise enough money to finish Nyslin's project.

And I got some beautiful pictures of Ana today so I will post those ASAP. She is such a gorgeous girl!

3. My fellow sponsors (and friends!) from our sponsor group are helping me to raise money for yet another one of my sponsor children! Click on the link to see Jester's fundraising page. We have started a fundraising group using a "pay it forward" philosophy that has helped us as a group to raise funds for Special Needs and Income Generating Projects for six children so far! Jester's project is to set his mother Agnes up in a reatil clothing sales business. If she can get this business started she will be able to live with her children rather than her current situation where she has to work and live in another city. If you think you might be able to help with Jester's project that would be awesome. Any little bit helps and, like Aura's House donations, these are also tax deductible.

4. I'm also happy because I was able to make another Kiva loan! I think I have 8 going right now. And I am tickled pink that the one that has been the most successful so far has been the one I made supporting a crafts group in Bolivia. Go crafters!!

5. In non-charity related news - After much thought we decided to get Clementine and Sarah ready for summer with some pretty drastic haircuts. Here they are sporting their new looks:



Clementine had hair that a showdog would kill for. Her feathers were literally down to the ground. But it was a really big pain to keep up with because it tangled and matted very easily. She also gets the typical spaniel problem of ear infections so I thought taking away all that extra hair would help get some healthy air circulation going there.



You can't tell it from this photo but Clemmie loves her new haircut. It's like we cut off a couple of years of her age rather than her hair! She has been playful and happy and frisky like a puppy. Actually exactly the opposite of her usual self. :) Some dogs act ashamed and embarrassed when they get a drastic haircut. Not Clemmie. She gives her new look two paws up! We will be keeping her hair trim and tidy from now on.

We let Sarah keep her long ear hair. She doesn't have the same tangly type of hair as Clemmie and no ear infection problem. The rest of the fluffy hair had to go though.



Sarah always looked like a fat little muffin with all of her hair. Now she looks like a lowfat muffin. Both of the dogs are so soft and pettable now - they feel like bunny rabbits.

The verdict on the haircuts is: A+.

Sadly, there is also one item on the unhappy list:

I recently knitted the worlds ugliest sweater. I'll try to get a photo to show you (if you think you can hack it) before I frog the beast. It's pretty appalling. Not only did I knit the whole thing, but in defiance of logic I actually sewed it all together too. Shudder.

I had to cast on for a February Lady in Noro Cash Iroha and Silk Garden to try to erase the memory of the fugly sweater. It's really that bad.

Somethin' to show ya!

Okay - I finally have somethin' crafty to show you.



It's the Bo=Peep skirt from Anna Marie Horner's book Seams to Me.

I made mine in a ballet length (hit's mid-calf) and used an Alexander Henry print for the main panels. I absolutely adore the retro '70's type prints that are popular these days. The large scale and the strong colors just make me happy. My daughter loves it too - she has worn it twice already. And everywhere we go she gets compliments on how pretty it is.



This is the first article of clothing that I have made in years and years. The last time I attempted anything like this was when I was fourteen - so you can draw your own conclusion as to how long ago that was!

I learned so much from this project - french seams (so cool and useful!), rolled hems, basting (hate it), and working with ruffles (did mine by hand - can't wait until the local fabric store re-stocks the ruffle foot for my machine!). One of the coolest things about this particular design is that I can replace the elastic in the waistband as my daughter grows. She could still be wearing this skirt when she is in her teens.

I loved making this skirt! Especially because (prepare to be totally jealous of me) my Hubby made one also. It was so much fun to be able to work this whole sewing clothes thing out together. We are both totally hooked!

Here's Hubby's version:



He made his shorter than mine - just below the knee. The main print here is also an Alexander Henry. This picture really doesn't do the skirt justice - it is SO cute.

You can see more photos of reader made projects from the Seams to Me book in the Flickr pool here.

AND - Here's an update on the Aura's House Fundraising:

Ana's Project: $966/2770
Nyslin's Project: $149/550
Zoila's Project: $165/824
Joey's Project: $117/723
Lesly's Project: $184/393

I couldn't be happier! Thank you, thank you!!

Finishy? And Meet Joey!

Well, we have all managed to survive the evil tummy bug and everything is back to "normal" around here. Phew.

I haven't been posting much lately because life has been keeping me busy (see above). But - the good news is that I have somehow managed to be super productive crafting-wise. In the past two months I have finished so many projects!

I have:

1. Finished my knitted Mitred Square Blanket. You've seen it in the early stages on the blog.

2. Finished my crocheted Hexagon Blanket. You've also seen bit and pieces of this one. I nearly frogged it but I'm glad I didn't.

3. Finished two (!) of the crochet Square Target blankets. You've seen some of the squares. I've still got stacks (and stacks and stacks...) of them that will become a king sized blanket when I get them put together. The leftovers became the two smaller blankets.

4. Finished my Nine Patch Quilt Top. Don't think I have ever shown this one on the blog. It turned out really well!

5. Finished the stitching for a needlepoint pillow. Haven't sent it off to be pillowized yet though.

I am also working on and close to finishing another quilt top, a skirt (!) and another needlepoint.

I don't know what came over me - I guess I have been feeling very finishy lately! :) It feels pretty good to clear the decks around here. (Okay - it would probably take another two months to actually clear the decks of all the projects I have in limbo - but I have made a huge dent.)

The problem is - I have been so busy working on projects that I haven't taken the time to photograph them. So for now you just have to take my word for it. :)

My other projects on Aura's House are moving along as well. Not as fast as I wish they would though!

Here are some pictures of another of my sponsor kids that you can see on Aura's House. His name is Joey and he is ten and a half and lives in the Philippines.



This is Joey at home with his family. Joey's father is a farmer. Aura's House is helping me to gather funds to help Joey's family set up a hog farming business that will provide them with a steady source of income. Currently Joey's family survives on around $21 a month! Joey is the poorest of all of my seventeen sponsor children.



Joey's sister Christine is seven and his brother Adrian is four. Neither of them have sponsors. Joey takes his responsibility as the oldest child very seriously. He tells me about helping his father tend the root vegetables that they grow. They grow some vegetables for themselves and the rest of the time Joey's father does day labor work for other farmers.



Joey's is fortunate to have fairly good housing. The family has wooden beds, a coal stove and a toilet but they still have to draw their water from a community well and do not have electricity. Their home is very basic - one bedroom and a kitchen room - but it looks well constructed.

The hog farming business would greatly increase the family's income and allow Joey's father to spend more of his working time at home. This is safer for everyone.

Here's the latest update on the fund raising at Aura's House:

Ana's Project: $531/2770 (went up!)
Nyslin's Project: $135/550
Zoila's Project: $110/824 (went up!)
Joey's Project: $117/723
Lesly's Project: $135/393 (went up!)

The projects are moving along but we still have a long way to go. Please remember that even a little bit helps...

And a big big thank you to everyone who has helped out so far!

Hopefully I'll be back soon with some crafting pictures...

Catching Up & Finally an Announcement!

Oy. We've been having a rough time at Chez Needles.

The bad news is that my Mom had a heart attack.

The good news is that she is out of the hospital & only requires medication (so far) in order to deal with the problem. The doctors say that the radiation she had when she went through her first round of breast cancer probably damaged that section of her heart and made it more vulnerable. Luckily they think whatever further damage she suffered during the heart attack may be able to heal. But as of now she is pretty weak and has lots of medicines she will have to take.

It really sucks to be so far away & not to be able to help - even though she does have other family members there. All I can do from here is try to stay positive and help my Mom feel more cheerful.

I don't really like to discuss depressing health stuff on the blog so I'll just leave it at that. My Mom has really had more than her fair share of trouble this past year!

Better news is that I have been doing tons of crafting. I've finished my nine patch quilt top & now just have to decide on the borders. I'm halfway through a second needlepoint piece (even though I still owe you guys pictures of the first one!). And *gasp* I actually picked up my knitting again! I haven't knit in probably 8 months or so. Luckily I haven't forgotten how. :) So I am nearing the finish of the mitred square blanket that I worked on last year.

I'll try to get photos ASAP so my blog posts won't be so boring. :)

And now....

The best news I have is that I finally have a moment to tell you all about the "project" I've been working on and semi-mysteriously mentioning off and on. :)



A charity group called Aura's House has agreed to raise funds to help five of my sponsor children. Aura's House has launched fund raising for Income Generating Projects for four of my sponsor children, specifically Ana in Ecuador, Nyslin in Guatemala, Zoila in Honduras, and Joey in the Philippines. The fifth project is to help Lesly in Guatemala with some special needs. Aura's House website will tell you all about each of the projects and has lots of pictures of each child and their background story. There's even a picture of me (unfortunately taken before my weight loss - 27 pounds now!) and some words about my sponsorship. You can also read more about each of the kids by searching their names in the tags on my blog.

Please go visit the website and check it out!

Aura's House has been absolutely wonderful to work with and I am so grateful to them for agreeing to help me! They have been doing this work for several years now and have helped lots of needy children in many ways. You can read all about their past projects and the history of Aura's House on their site. If you donate you will get a letter from Children International acknowledging your donation (at least I did) and it is tax deductible.

I'd like to give some random gifts/prizes as a thank you to my blog friends for donating so if you do - please leave a comment and let me know! Every little bit will help and maybe you'll get something yarny as well. :)

Joey's New Photo

Joey's photo from last year:



Joey's new photo this year:



He looks a little taller and thinner. Joey is nine - the age when boys tend to stretch out and grow like crazy! Joey lives in the Philippines. If we ever get to go to visit our sponsor kids (fingers crossed!), the Philippines will have to be the first stop on our list. Seven of our sponsor kids live there. It would be great to get to see them all. We would have to throw a party! :)

PS - Did I mention I am on a diet? I've lost 9 and a half pounds so far. I'm doing it the safe and steady way. So far so good! What should I reward myself with when I get to my goal weight? I'm open to suggestions!

Joey's Gifts

My posts about my sponsor kids don't seem to generate many comments but I'm plowing ahead with them anyway. :)

I don't have any knitting that is any state that's fit to be seen on the blog right now but I'm working on it! Lots of crafting to come...

In the meantime...



These are the pictures we got from Children International of what Joey and his family were able to do with the donation we sent for Hubby's Father's Day.



Looks like they were able to get lots of kitchen stuff and some clothes as well.



Joey is nine and he lives in the Philippines. His father is a farmer and I expressed an interest in knowing more about that so recently Joey wrote me a sweet letter describing all of the things his father plants. Since Joey is the eldest son in the family it is his responsibility to help with the planting.



I love how the bag of rice is almost as big as Joey is! Rice is a huge staple food in the Philippines. The global food shortage has hit the Philippines hard, making rice even more expensive for my sponsor kid families. It's a real crisis situation in many countries and many times even if the families can find the money there is simply no rice to buy. So I'm always happy to see these massive bags going to my kids!

Craty News and the Big (Sponsor Kid) News

Been a few days since I last posted... (sometimes it seems like you have to go to Blogger confessional... "forgive me readers, it has been X days since I last posted...) ;) The transition from school to camp is always a bit crazy but we've reached our tenuous equilibrium again. :)

Crafting is off and on this past week. I'm just super tired. I've been trying to concentrate on sewing up the patches. I counted and I've currently got 31 patches all sewn up. That's about a third of the total I have. It takes me about a half hour to sew one patch up. So lets see...the calculator says it will take me 31 hours to finish sewing up the patches. Not too bad right?

The biggest & best news this week is that since my last post I have gotten letters from 8 of my sponsor kids!! (I'll post photos of the kids I haven't "introduced" on the blog yet.) -

Flor, 7 years old from Honduras who tells me she likes to eat rice with beans and cheese. (Me too!)

This is our latest picture of Flor.



Lesly, 6 years old from Guatemala who says she had a great birthday because her village has a festival around her birthday so she got to go to that.

Carla, 5 years old from Chile who drew me a really detailed picture of a little girl - I think she used every colored pencil she could get her hands on.

This is the only photo we have of Carla so far:



Mary Joy, 12 years old from the Philippines who told me how she got her nickname of "Apple". (So sweet.) I had complimented her on her lovely handwriting and she told me she takes great care to make her letters to me nice and neat. (Isn't that sweet?)

Our first letter from Joey who is 9 and lives in the Philippines. He says his father is a farmer. Joey likes math and has lots of friends.

This is Joey:



(As an aside to tell you how great Children International is - I had noticed in Joey's family report that it was noted that he needed some dental work. I called to CI to ask what the status was with that in case he needed some help and they said they would check on it. A week ago I got a letter from CI with a full report from the dentist on what work Joey had done and what his status was now. I was amazed! Talk about customer service! I have a harder time getting reports from my own kids dentist. So the good news is that Joey's teeth are all taken care of.)

Our first letter from Harry, 13 from the Philippines. He wrote to introduce himself and to thank us for our special donation (He was one of the ones we gave Mother's Day donations to.) We got three more photos of him also! He was able to buy tons of groceries, school supplies, clothes, and kitchen supplies. (Made me so happy!)

My first letter from Ana in Ecuador. She turns 11 this month. She describes herself as a "simple, humble girl". She writes very good English in a beautiful curly script.

This is our latest picture of Ana. We sent her a birthday package. I can't wait for it to arrive!



And we got two letters from Jester! He is 11 and lives in the Philippines. He is the little boy that waited two years for a sponsor. I have to say his letters really touched me. He is a wonderful boy who expresses himself very well. You can tell he has a very sweet heart. He told me about his father abandoning the family and how he feels it is now his duty to step in and take care of them. He promised to work very hard in school so that he could prove to me that he deserved to be sponsored. (Totally made me cry!) We also got another letter with several photos of him. He wrote to thank us for the special donation we had made and tell us about all the things he was able to buy with the money. The sweetest thing was how he described "jumping in surprise" at getting the gift and how happy he was at being able to share that with his family. He's a real treasure - we are so lucky to have him as a sponsor child!

Hubby told me he would get on task and install our scanner so that I can more easily share letters and photos with you guys. There's nothing like getting to see the actual letters. You can tell how hard the kids work on them and the pride they take in using their English skills and writing neatly. I feel so privileged that these kids share their lives with me. I love how different they all are. I will really enjoy watching them grow up. They are such special people!