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.

Zoila's Birthday Gifts

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

Ana's Project: $1056/2770
Nyslin's Project: $169/550
Zoila's Project: $190/824
Joey's Project: $137/723
Lesly's Project: $266/393 (only $127 left to raise!)

All of the totals have gone up and as you can see, Lesly's project is getting close to completion!

I also privately funded Hermelinda's special needs project this month. Her family lives in an isolated area in rural Guatemala so they wasn't a large enough community for them to feel like they could set up a sustainable Income Generating Project. I will share the pictures with you when I get them in a month or so.

Right now, here are the most recent photos I have of Zoila. Her project still has a way to go before all of the money is raised.



Zoila is the smaller girl with the shy smile. I'm not sure who the other girl is - probably a cousin. I sent Zoila a gift of some money for her birthday recently and these are the photos I got back showing me what had been purchased. Zoila turned eleven on her last birthday. She always seems younger to me in her photos because she looks like such a petite little thing.



It looks like she was able to buy some clothing items, a chair and a foam mattress. I'm always happy to see mattresses purchased because I don't like the idea of children sleeping on the ground with nothing soft to lay on.

Speaking of bed... I'm off to lay back down. I feel like I might be coming down with the flu or something because I'm achy all over. I think that it is probably actually just the effects of the weather lately. When it goes up and down, from sunny, warm and dry to gloomy, cold and wet and then back again - well I get to feeling achy. Anyone else get like this?

Ugh. A pox on this weather! (Old fashionedy curses work the best in these situations, don'tcha think?)

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!!

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. :)

Zoila - New Yearly Photo

I also recently got an updated photo of my other child in Honduras - Zoila.

Here she is last year age 10.



And now this year at age 11. Her birthday is also in December.



She looks a little taller but not as much difference in her photos as there was in Flor's.

Zoila has six siblings, just like Flor. Here she is at home with her family. Zoila is in the pink shirt in these photos.



The little girl in the yellow skirt is Zoila's sister Glendy. Zoila and Glendy are the only two sponsored children in her family. All of her other siblings are boys. Children International makes a point of signing up more female children than males. This helps to address the imbalance that usually exists in the educational and other opportunities for boys vs. girls. Children International tries to encourage families to seek education for girls and to keep them in school rather than marrying early.



Zoila's family has about $137 a month. Her father works as a day laborer which means they don't always have a steady income. Their home is made of concrete with a concrete floor and a tin roof. There is one bedroom and a kitchen. They are lucky to have a wood burning stove.



Unfortunately they have to use a community well for water and one of Zoila's chores is to carry the water every day. They do have wooden beds - many of my sponsored children sleep on the floor. Last year when we sent Zoila her special gift she bought a mattress for her bed. I'm told that is a typical first purchase for many families when they receive a special gift. I wonder what she will get this year! I'll post the photos as soon as I get them.

Zoila does go to school but she doesn't write her own letters to me yet. I'm hoping that she will soon! :)

Zoila's Gifts

This is Zoila, one of our sponsor kids from Honduras. She is nine years old. One of her older brothers usually helps her to write her letters to me.

We sent Zoila a money donation as part of my Mother's Day present this year. I was so pleased when I saw that she was able to buy a bed!



Zoila is the one in the pale pink outfit. The other little girl is her younger sister Glendy. I think the other people in the photo are probably her mother, grandmother and her father. Not totally sure about that though!



They used the rest of their money to buy some clothes for all the family, some household items and some new shoes for Zoila. They look like such a nice family!

I haven't gotten to know Zoila very much yet, just enough to know that she is a sweet girl. I really like her smile. It's slightly shy but very big! From the pictures that I have seen of her over the years that she has been in the Children International program it looks like she has become more and more self-confident and nowadays she is less shy and smiles more often. That is one of my favorite things about sponsoring girls through CI. You can really see how they gain confidence.

(Don't forget you can click on the photos to see them bigger.) :)

Mother's Day

So, despite the fact that I was sick most of the weekend (the dreaded tummy again), I had a really wonderful Mother's Day.

We gave Hubby's parents their gift of a donation through Children International to buy water containers to help families keep water safe and clean. They really seemed to like the gift and more than once said that it was really thoughtful and they would rather have that then more "stuff".

We also gave each of Hubby's parents a book - this one for Grandma and this one for Grandpa. They are those books where you answer questions about your life and write down your memories etc. I really hope they will actually fill them in - I can't think of a better gift to give to your kids and grand kids! When I think of my Grandparents I don't think of the things they gave me, I think of the stories they told me and the memories that I have of them. I'm definitely going to get copies of these books for the rest of the Grandparents & Hubby and I will probably fill out some of our own too.

For my own Mother's Day we also kept the "stuff" down to a minimum. I got the Knitpicks needle case I needed and now my wooden interchangeable tips are safely housed and organized. :) And best of all, Hubby and the kids each gave a $100 gift to three of our sponsor kids! We all discussed it and ended up deciding to help out our three poorest kids, Jester, Zoila and Harry.

My son chose Jester who you guys of course already know. His family has a total of $50 a month, only $10 per person.

My daughter chose Zoila. Zoila is nine and a half and is from Honduras.



Isn't she beautiful? Her smile is so sincere and sweet. Her family has $63 a month - only $7 per person. Zoila likes to play with dolls and she does lots of chores around the house to help out.

Hubby chose Harry, our new sponsor kid. (Remember, my son told us we had to give the boys a chance? So we have started sponsoring a few boys as well. We have 16 sponsor kids now!)



Harry is from the Philippines and is thirteen and a half. His family has only $30 a month! Can you imagine? It works out to only $6 per person. Harry likes playing basketball, and has a twin brother. His parents are separated.

The gifts to our sponsor children are child specific, meaning that the money will go directly to the child. Children International works with the families to determine what the child needs the most, clothes, school supplies, maybe a bed...whatever will best benefit the child. In time I will receive a letter and photos telling me exactly what the money was used for and also a letter from my sponsor kid. I can't wait!! I'll be really excited to see what they each get and especially to see the photos. It will be like having Mother's Day all over again!

I had such a great Mother's Day - hugs and kisses and (mostly!) sweetness from my own kids and the fun of giving gifts to my sponsor kids - Hubby said I'm like an extra mother to them so it was a fitting thing to do for Mother's Day. I even cheated on my wheat avoidance had chocolate cake - I was sick already so what the heck, right? It was damn good cake. :)