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nancy j. needs your help

I recently received an email from Nancy J. in Omaha whose friend is stationed in Afghanistan and is looking for hats, mittens, scarves, sweaters and blankets for children who don’t have warm clothing. She’s hoping that some folks who knit, crochet or sew could dig around in their stashes and make something to help keep these kids warm.

afghan

She sends a box or two a month and will be doing this for the next 15 months or so. She also sends over things like backpacks, pens, notebooks, rulers, pencils, crayons, coloring books, calculators, soccer balls and footballs (deflated), hackey sacks, yo-yos, jax sets, beanie babies, and thermoses for water.

afghan

Oh, and the warm clothing doesn’t have to be handmade, so if you’re not crafty, but still want to send something warm, that’s ok, too.

afghan

I’m going to dig in the stash and make some hats. If you’d like to coordinate with Nancy J. and send some items, you can reach her at janousek2 (at) cox (dot) net. Or leave me a comment and I’ll email you her cell phone number.

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curried lentils + spinach

We’re busy getting ready for my parents’ visit. The basement is finished! All that is left for us to do before they get here is set up the bed. Last night we cleaned the bathroom and vacuumed the carpet. It’s amazing how easy new bathrooms are to clean! It’s also amazing how you can vacuum a carpet over and over and still find bits of construction stuff. I think we are going to have to vacuum one more time before M can go downstairs and play.

Nancy requested the Curried Lentils and Spinach recipe. This originally came from somewhere on the Internet, but I modified it beyond recognition. I guess it’s fair to call it a Kundhi original now. Teresa, if you liked the Saag at House of India, you are going to LOVE this!

1-1/2 t curry powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t cayenne
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced (or more if you like garlic!)
1 lb bag of lentils, picked through and rinsed
1 10-oz pkg chopped spinach, thawed
6 cups of water (or chicken/veggie stock)
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes

Sauté the onion in a little oil until it starts to get brown around the edges. Add the garlic and sauté another two minutes. Combine with all of the other ingredients except the tomatoes in your crock pot. Cook until lentils are tender. Stir in can of tomatoes and serve with plain yogurt if you like. (I’d like some yogurt, but can’t have it yet. Soon I hope!)

This makes a lot, but freezes really well.

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the early bird gets the tomato

One thing that has changed for us since M is our Saturday morning routine. We’ve always had lazy Saturday mornings. I think part of it stemmed from working really hard, long hours during the week. Saturday was the first chance we had to just do nothing. (You’d think Friday nights would be better for that, but we’re usually still too wound up.) We’d lay in bed and listen to NPR, get up and make coffee, catch up on email and have either a late breakfast or early lunch. We were never the kind of people who were first in line at the Farmers’ Market or who got that really good deal at a garage sale. If we made it out at all, we were usually left sorting through what was left.*

Now that M is up and walking, there’s no time to lounge around in bed. She’ll only hang out with us for so long before she needs to get things done. She’s got books to page through, cups to stack, blocks to sort, carpets to mow and a cat to harass. So we usually get up and get out of the house. I don’t think we’ll ever be the first to a garage sale, but I did get some really nice fabric yesterday for a good price. We also made it to the Farmers’ Market before our favorite vendor ran out of tomatoes.

We’re trying to keep Sunday mornings lazy, though. We eat breakfast together, read the paper and watch the Formula One race (when there is one). M is still pretty much a busy bee, though. Right now she’s mowing the deck. Pretty soon we’ll join her and start getting stuff done. I’m just trying to savor these last few comfortable minutes.

*Why do people always tell you what you missed by coming late? “All the big onions are gone now.” “We had some really cute dresses this morning.” What’s the point? Are they afraid that you are judging them on their small onions? Worried that you might think they didn’t dress their child in really cute stuff? Maybe they’re just jealous because they wish they had a lazy morning, too.

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postcards from england

Well, almost. It looked like a postcard from England, but really it was something I designed and T printed. I’m talking about Tanuj and Claire’s wedding invitation. They wanted it to look like a travel postcard. Lucky for them, we happen to be in the postcard business. Download the pdf here.

front
back

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8500 squares

Yes, you read that right. Pictures of the finished blankets are on Mosaic Yarn’s blog.

I admit, I was a bit of a square pusher for this project. I believe I told Lauren she’d be knitting Hokie squares as a statement of fact, not as a suggestion. I might have also put a crochet hook and skein of maroon yarn in Frances’ hands and told her to Make. Square. Now. This was a few days after the deadline, and I sent her home with the address and strict instructions to put it in the mail as soon as she got back to Virginia.

Gina posted a video on the blog asking people how they felt while knitting their squares. I can say that I felt a sense of purpose. I needed to knit these squares. All of my free time was spent knitting them. My wrists got tired because I didn’t take enough breaks. I thought of the families while I was knitting, trying to somehow knit love and comfort for people I’d never met into every stitch. I wondered if when the blankets were finished they’d feel that love and comfort. Now, after reading Gina’s last blog entry, I know they will.

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blacksburg, we have squares!

I’ve been knitting away during the month of May on Hokie Healing squares. I thought my total was pretty impressive. I knit 11 squares.

hokie squares

Then I got a comment from Christy on the blog. Susan from the Omaha Guild crocheted 32 squares! When I started this I thought if everyone I knew made just one square, I’d have a nice package to send along to Mosaic Yarn. The grand total: 65 squares!

hokie squares

hokie squares

 

Yes, these are INSIDE the play yard.
I had to protect them from my little drooler.
 

All of the squares are packaged up and waiting for the mailman as I type this. Thanks everyone who participated: Susan (who deserves a maroon and burnt orange star!), Karen, Sue, Kim, Christy, Tara, Joanne and Lauren. (Did I leave anyone out? There were some unlabeled squares from Omaha.) I also want to thank Mary Pat for contributing toward shipping. The package was over five pounds! Most of all, I want to thank Gina for coordinating this effort. It’s such a wonderful project and I wish I could help with the seaming, too!

 

 

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hokie square update

Squares are flying off my needles. I’m already on number seven. I have an update for square drop offs:

  • Saturday, May 19th at the Omaha Public Library from 11 am – 2 pm: I can’t make this event, but Christy will be collecting squares for me.
  • Wednesday, May 16th and 23rd Barnes & Noble South Pointe Pavillion 7-9 pm.

    • I’m thinking of mailing the squares on Saturday, May 26th to make sure they get there by the end of the month. Does that deadline work for everyone?

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    thank you, yvonne!

    It’s been awhile, and I’ve already thanked Yvonne in person,* but I just have to flash what a great knitting buddy she is. I can’t wait to use the alpaca to knit the teddy bear pattern for Mirabella—it’s so soft! I’ve already made a few dishes out of the Indian cookbook and they’ve been fabulous. The shower creams are nice and different scents than you would normally find in the states. Orange and fig are my favorites so far. Thanks, Yvonne!

    yvonne 1

    *ok, I thanked her via email, but when compared to a blog post, it’s almost like “in person”

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    hokie yarn

    I’m sure most of you have at least some black or white yarn in your stash for the Hokie Healing squares, but for those who need maroon and burnt orange, Sue from Yarn for All is planning to do a group order from Brown Sheep:

    Autumn Harvest: orange
    Medieval Red: maroon
    Onyx: black
    White Frost: white

    All colors come in both worsted weight (190 yds, needle size 8) and bulky weight (125 yds, needle size 10 1/2). Contact Sue by Thursday, 10 am to get in on the group order.

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    calling all knitters and crocheters :: updated dates

    hokie healing

    Mosaic Yarn Shop in Blacksburg, VA is collecting 8 x 8 inch squares to assemble into blankets for the families of the fallen Hokies. The squares can be knitted or crocheted in maroon, burnt orange, white or black out of the nicest, softest yarn you can afford.

    I am going to coordinate a shipment of squares at the end of May for anyone locally who wants to contribute. You can drop squares off to me at the following events:

    • Saturday, May 19th at the Omaha Public Library from 11 am – 2 pm: I can’t make this event, but Christy will be collecting squares for me.
    • Wednesday, May 16th and 23rd Barnes & Noble South Pointe Pavillion 7-9 pm.

    If you can’t make one of those events, let me know in the comments and we’ll make other drop off plans. I’ll be posting reminders throughout the month of May. Let’s make sure the Hokie Nation knows that they are in our thoughts!