Good Medicine and More Squares for Charity

3 Finished bags
Originally uploaded by jennymcb

Finally, I came through on my promise to Shelly. Three Medicine bags done! The first two were made using a Deep Sea flower dice Bag that I found through ravelry. The dice bags on the link were made using Noro yarn, which I love, but wanted to use some of my stash yarn to make the bags. The first bag with the green bottom, is slightly larger than it should be, but it would make a great bag for a teen. The pastel one was a quick knit using Angel Sensation yarn on size 3 needles, so nothing will slip out of the bags. I even knitted the button, by following a bobble pattern. I was cutting it close with the amount of the pastel yarn, but managed to make it large enough. It only took me two days to make the bags and it is a great way to use up all the yarn that I have been accumulating. I have some really neat sock yarn that will make an interesting bag, but that can wait for another day.



If you are interested in participating in the Good Medicine Project, please check this Link to Shelly's blog. The bags will be given to campers who are cancer patients or siblings of cancer patients at Camp Sanguinity in Texas. Last year we made afghan squares for blankets and now we will be making some bags for the kids to hold their treasures. I have some trinkets to send along and my son contributed some Irish coins to use for the luck of the Irish. I also have some very pretty stones that found up on the shore in Nova Scotia. Notes can be sent along with the items for the kids to read.

Yesterday on Ravelry, I found another Charity project to contribute squares to, it's Afghans for Pine Ridge Reservation. The following is the information about the project from the Ravelry group detailing the information about the squares. It would be awesome to get the same support that Shelly had for the Share a Square Program. How sad is it, that there are communities that poor and needy in our country? Amidst my knitting projects for the upcoming year, I am sure that I will be able to send squares to this project. My friend and I love to get together to talk and crochet, she's a fiend on the squares.
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This group knits & crochets blanket squares to be assembled by volunteers. The afghans are sent to Native American Lakota Sioux residents of South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation.
group details

Welcome!

This group knits and crochets afghan squares to benefit residents of South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation.

Pine Ridge Reservation is the poorest spot in the USA. The average life expectancy for residents is only 47 for males and early 50s for women. The unemployment rate is 90% and the teen suicide rate is four times the national average. Basics such as running water, heat and food are scarce for many residents let alone jobs and health care. These challenges are particularly difficult to deal with given the geographical isolation of the Rez and the incredibly harsh climate.

We accept blanket squares of all sizes and fibers. No square goes unloved or unused. The squares are sent to Pam, a Lakota woman and seamer-extraordinaire, in Louisiana. After seaming, she sends the finished afghans to Pine Ridge Reservation social service agencies or individual families who request them.

The nuts & bolts:

1) Knit or crochet your squares - it doesn’t matter which!
2) Use any color (except all black or all white)
3) Use any pattern (the less holes the better)
4) Use any fiber you like - the warmer the better! Please note that if you’re using wool, superwash is preferred.
5) Please mark wool because some people have allergies. Also, we need to know if the fiber is superwash.
6) Please do not “knot & snip” or weave in your ends. Leave about 4” of yarn.
7) All sizes are welcome, but 6” and 12” are preferred.
8) If you can, enclose a few stamps or a tiny bit of cash in your shipment. Once seamed, Pam ships the afghans from Louisiana to South Dakota and it gets very expensive for her. This is NOT required but is very much appreciated.
9) It is much easier to let you know when your squares arrive if you put a piece of paper in your parcel with your Ravelry name, real name and email address. :-)

This group is a “sister” group to Pam’s Yahoo group which she created five years ago. You can visit and/or join that group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loveafghans4prr/