San Diego squares -- update

It seems this week will be a time of updates... This one about a charity knitting/crocheting opportunity.

Awhile back, I found out about a project to knit or crochet squares together to make blankets for the victims of the San Diego fires. There are over 2000 families who have lost everything; what a nice thing it would be for each to receive a hand-crafted blanket, to know that others care.

Well, I began my squares right away, but then got delayed because of three shows, special orders, and Thanksgiving. Now that the dust has settled (basically) on those events, I pulled out the squares to continue working, but worried that maybe I was too late.

So I jumped online and .... the project is still going strong. There are still many blankets to be made. When I visited the Ravelry group to check on the status of the project, I learned they now have a blog about the project. If you have a minute, knit or crochet an 8" square; if you have a few minutes, hop on over to the "San Diego Wild Fire Blanket Project" Blog. There are heartwarming pics of crocheters in San Diego assembling all the donated squares, photographs of the horrible devastation the fires caused, and info on the project itself (numbers, specifications, and address to send squares).

Squares for San Diego

Several days ago, a woman posted a question to my Yahoo knitting group about what charities might accept some squares she has been knitting. And in doing a quick Google search to help her, I discovered that a resident of the San Diego area has begun collecting squares of washable yarn to make blankets for all the residents displaced by the recent fires.

And so began my recent obsession with crocheting squares. I dug around in my stash and near the bottom found some partial balls of Red Heart, left over from when I was doing plastic canvas crafts (a long time ago). I've been making squares during every possible free moment (there aren't as many as I'd like, given show preparations, but it's amazing how much of a square you can do while standing in the kitchen waiting for dinner to cook). It's amazing how many you can get from a partial skein of Red Heart yarn!

I will post a pic of the squares once I deplete my Red Heart, or learn of a deadline and stop to mail them in. I don't think there is any sort of deadline yet.

Oh, where can you learn more, you ask? Well, if you're on Ravelry, just look up the "San Diego fire 8" squares donations" group. If you're not a Raveler quite yet, then visit this link.