Have you heard of Bark 'n Knit? (barknknit)

Well, I had not heard of it until recently when we were featured on BarknKnit podcast #37.

It was all so very exciting!
Now, I am down with listening to each new podcast installment.
Gnat has even joined our Sharing Our Gifts Across America
project. Thanks, Gnat!

Episode 38 is out, entitled "Twilight Month Has Arrived."

There is even a contest going on right now, and the prize is a

set of Twilight inspired Batts from Mandalinn Knits & Spins.

To enter, you must take a quiz. Admittedly, I know nothing about

Twilight

so I scored a whopping 50%!

Gnat says on the podcast that there will be three quizzes...

So, go take a visit to BarknKnit, where you will find

podcasts, shopping, forums, patterns,

and lots of doggy antics.

Mittens from The Unique Sheep

(photo by The Unique Sheep)

I learned of The Unique Sheep when I began project #1, and Painty on Ravelry donated a pair of slippers. The Unique Sheep is a local yarn store in North Carolina, owned by partners Laura and Kelly. The shop specializes in handpainted yarn. One of my favorites is the Green Sheep Worsted superfine merino in worsted weight.

Laura has joined in for project #2 as well, and has knitted a beautiful pair of mittens out of Super Wool Gigante, which is carried in the shop. The mittens have been dyed a beautiful shade of red. She has even blogged about our project on the Unique Sheep blog. And she shared the free pattern for the mittens.

I would like to send a Thank You to Laura for joining in on our projects and for giving us the mention on her blog. You can thank her by checking out The Unique Sheep's site and blog, and spreading the word.

Project #1 items were Delivered

On November 2, I delivered our items for Project #1 to the Southern Oregon Veterans Rehab facility. We delivered 36 hats and 10 pair of slippers. Above is the Thank you card we received from the representative there. Thank you to all who participated!Our items fit into a 10 gallon tote (though the lid would not fit on), and my husband and I carried them to the office of our representative contact at the facility. Once there, I completed donation paperwork outlining what we were donating, and how many items there were in total.Then I handed them over for processing. These hats and slippers will now be re-homed to new Veterans entering the facility. Upon arrival, they will be issued needful items which will include a pair of slippers and a hat, until the supply is depleted.

The representative expressed gratitude for our efforts,
and was impressed at the variety in our patterns.
Thank you again for a job well done!

Thank you for Sharing!

A thank you goes out to Splendid Little Stars for sending this great hat donation to Project #1, and for sharing our projects on your blog. We need as many volunteers as we can find for all the upcoming projects, so it is very helpful when anyone is willing to share our information with readers.

With help from all participants by word of mouth and word of blog, we will keep growing and will be able to help that many more people. It would not be possible without giving and caring people like Margaret, and others who have volunteered and worked on this or other charity projects.

Thanks!

Change The World Wednesday

Another Change the World Wednesday challenge from Reduce Footprints:

This one came from our bloggy friend, Ange, who writes a wonderful blog called Signed by Ange. In a note she said "A tip for next week (one that is close to my heart): ZERO food wastage! Get into creative cooking with left overs and only buying what we need to feed the family. Often we have more in the pantry than we realize! And for Mums - that doesn't mean we have to eat the kids' leftovers off their plates ;-)".

So let's take her up on that challenge:

This week, don't waste any food. Buy only what is needed for your family. If you cook more than what's necessary, get creative with left-overs. If left-overs don't appeal to your family, cook only enough for one meal. Don't toss out any food ... and don't let it spoil in the refrigerator. Zero Food Waste!


OR ..

If you're already a zero food waste chef, then share some of your more creative meals in a post.

First hat for Project #2 Complete

10-31-09 029 edited
Originally uploaded by Nature With Me

I have finished my first hat for Project #2. It is a hat of my own design, but turned out that the pattern will not be friendly to others as written. I am happy with the outcome, but am going to have to make another and tweak the pattern a bit before it would be worthy of sharing.

Since it is infant/toddler sized and I don't have one of those at my house, we had Rose the bear model it for you. She appears here with Rags the dog, and as you can see, he is about to go ice skating.

How is Project #2 going for you?

Our Project #2 shared

(photo by Kae1Crafts)

Kae of the Helmet Liners for Troops project has shared our Sharing Our Gifts Across America Project #2 on her blog today. Thanks, Kae! Click on the photo of the helmet liners above to be taken directly to her site.

Now, please take time to visit her...and maybe you have time to knit a helmet liner or two? If you are able to help with her project, or if you might be able to answer her reader's email question about any Canadian projects for providing helmet liners to Canadian troops, please read her informational post and requests by clicking here.