The Afghan Begins Its Journey

I've finished up the big green child's blanket for Afghans for Afghans.

I had a great time knitting it -- it was perfect to pick up when I wanted to do some mindless knitting. And there are so many times when that what I need! If I'm attending a meeting or presentation where I just need to listen, it's perfect. And on those days when I've worked long and hard but want to do something while I sit and relax... well, it's perfect for that as well.

I've got the afghan all boxed up and will take it to the post office tomorrow. From there it goes to a collection facility in San Francisco. Once the current "campaign for newborns" ends in late May, all of the knitted and crocheted items will be packed up and sent to the CURE Hospital in Kabul. From there it's given to a baby who needs a warm blanket for the winter.

Godspeed.

An Afghan for Afghans

A few weeks ago I joined a knitting group that meets at the lovely little downtown bookshop, Nomad Bookhouse. They meet on the 3rd Monday of the month -- I figured I could handle joining a group that meets once a month. The group is called Sip 'N' Knit.

I found out about the group in Nomad's new newsletter. The idea was to work with the book, Knitting for Peace.

I didn't own the book (have purchased it since then), so I went online and read reviews. I wanted to be prepared to start knitting a project at the first meeting, so after quite a bit of research, I chose to knit for Afghans for Afghans. I love the idea of sending something warm to an Afghan child. And, since they require that you work in a natural animal-based fiber, I knew this was my project. I want to follow the instructions explicitly so that my knitted piece will fit into their guidelines.

I decided on an afghan/blanket for a baby or child. They require them to be a minimum of 30" x 40". Mine will end up being more like 40" x 50". Afghans like color, so I'm making it quite colorful. And they suggest using the color green -- it's good luck for Muslims. So the blanket is mostly green with occasional stripes of bright color.

Once I got to the group with my yarn, I found out the only a few people were actually knitting for charity. Most were just working on their own projects. But this has gotten me started on the blanket and that's great. I've enjoyed working on it -- it's perfect for times when you want to work on mindless knitting. You know.... you're either in a situation that requires concentration (on something other than knitting) or you're so tired you just want to sit in a comfy chair, watch and movie, and knit....