A Cocoon of Yarn, Blogging in Alphabetical Order

 Purchased this ball winder some time back.  And did lots of winding.  You wind hanks or skeins of yarn into yarn cakes.  Cakes are slightly different than yarn balls.  Cakes generally aren't wound tightly, and usually have an inside pull.  Yarn balls can be pretty tight (cause you typically wind by hand), and unroll outside in.

 A cocoon of yarn also seems quite appropriate.  If you click to enlarge you'll see a bit of an indent in the center of these cakes...Something could nestle right down in there......be protected, just like insects are when in a Cocoon

It so happens much of yarn cakes you see above are being used in the afghan Learning Logs I'm currently working on.

Here's a poem, my darling SIL Jan, and her friend Kathy wrote for Bridge and Beyond a few years back.  It's such a sweet poem, thought it worth a share again.

A cocoon of yarn

Awaits the magic of

Hand and Hook

What will I be?

Scarf,

hat,

afghan,

love

*copyrighted

**The counts on our progress bars are current.  All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Barnacle Bill and Blogging in Alphabetical Order.

Today is letter B. In the last round of blogging in alphabetical order, B=Begging and Homelessness.  Prior to that when blogging for the letter B for the official A-Z challenge, it was Bridge and Beyond, Behind the Scenes

Doing a google search for a B word connected in some capacity to homelessness I came up with this list:

• Basement
• Bearable
• Befriend
• Begging
• Bench
• Blanket
• Booze
• Bridge
• Broke
• Broken

Not sure I see reflances to the word basement.   Bearable.  How is it bearable for so many people not to know where they're going to sleep, or where the next meal is coming from?  A huge question to me, one I don't have an answer to.  Do you?


Befriend, that's a tough one.  I've not befriended a homeless person.  I try to be kind and hope we all do.  Not just with our donations here on Bridge and Beyond, but with our smiles or words when we come across a homeless person in our day to day.

Begging....well that was my previous B post.

Bench, makes me think of people sleeping in a park on a bench, or a bench in a town square.  Certainly something to explore in more detail.

Blanket, that goes along with Afghan I think for us here on Bridge and Beyond.

Booze.  We've talked about that.  Believe in part on the begging post.  Some folks indicate they won't give money because they don't want the homeless to buy booze with it.  I can't say I share that opinion.  If I were sleeping out in the elements, and drinking booze made me feel better..........even though temporarily ....it's hard to say I might not choose that if I had the opportunity.

Bridge..........well that word certainly seems appropriate to us here on Bridge and Beyond.

Broke........financial so perhaps, but also physically and mentally could come into play and something worth a follow up post.

Broken........lots to say here.  But, will explore it in it's own post.  The short version is....The System is Broken, in my opinion.

AND what of the picture?  Me playing mini golf on a week with my lady friends about 6 weeks ago.  We were playing at Pirates Cove...perhaps the gentleman I'm sharing the shade with was Barnacle Bill?  How's that for a stretch to get a B?


**The counts on our progress bars are current. Percentages are current. All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Resurrecting Learning Logs Afghan

 These aren't good pictures, as I can't properly lay out the afghan for you to see.  I tossed it down by my foot, and as you can see my broken foot is there as well.

Tried a 2nd time and managed to get my boot a bit further away, and tried to hold down the mint green which is curling in above picture, since it's stockinette stitch.  Quite a few colors here.  Some of you might remember when I started this project last summer.  I named it Learning Logs, as it was a project done through a class (on Crafty's) to learn how to do color work.  Some sections/logs are 2 colors, some are 3.  The pattern for the afghan was to be 6 squares like this (though smaller) and then stitched together.  I thought hooking 6 of these together would be far too busy with all the color and textures together, so decided to use this as a center square and continue with the colors, but in solid sections.

Though I am considering doing some striping as I go.  I've been working on this as I try to elevate my foot as much as possible.  Mentioned in a post a few days ago that I had broken a bone in my right foot.  It's the 5th Metarsal bone.

Have been watching Downton Abbey as I knit.  I never got the opportunity to watch it when it was airing before.  A friend brought over all 6 sessions on CD's to help occupy my time.  I'm really enjoying it, but am in season 5 and already not wanting it to end.  Did you all watch it?  Did you enjoy it?  The period clothes are fun to see.

What's everyone currently working on?

**The counts on our progress bars are current. Percentages are current.  All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Zneesy, and The Homeless

When I last blogged in alphabetical order and hit the letter Z, I blogged about the word Zen, Finding Zen. Please take a minute and follow to the link to that post.  These last couple of letters  X-Y and Z are quite a challenge to find words that start with those letters that can be connected appropriately to the topic of Homelessness.

The picture above isn't a recent picture, but sadly when I look out the window as I'm typing this post, on April 2 (remember most posts are typed ahead, and scheduled to be posted at the appropriate time; it's what I'm seeing out the window.  It's 27 degrees.  Hard to believe it's spring when it's that cold, damp, and nasty.  These conditions, bother me tremendously and I'm inside drinking hot coffee with the heat on (though the house hasn't yet warmed up).  Homeless, those in the elements, and those in shelters are far less comfortable.  

The word for today is Zneesy.  It means, cold frosty weather, and was used as a slang term in the 18th century.  Some believe the word was influenced by the word sneezy.

With this Zneesy weather we're having still, I do hope everyone is busy with their looms, their knitting needles, and their crochet hooks and lots of warm sturdy yarn making something warm.

**The counts on our progress bars are current. Percentages are current.  All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Yarn, a Poem

Blogging in Alphabetical Order brings us to the letter Y today.  My last post with the letter Y is about Yarn.  So obvious that is with it's connections to what we do.  If you've not read the post, or would like to remember it, please do take time to click on the word Yarn above to read it.

Yarn is still the word I'm using for the letter Y, it's just so appropriate.

Some time back my SIL, Jan and a friend, Kathy wrote this poem as a writing exercise for me...for us, about what we do here on Bridge and Beyond.   I thought I'd share it with you all here as it seems to be fitting.

The rhythm of the hook

as it moves the yarn around

Calls to me in whispers

a sweet familiar sound.

My hand moves almost dreamlike

without a thought or care

As I fashion something new

for someone cold to wear.

Perhaps a scarf or cap

Maybe a blanket too

With each and every stitch

I think of more to do

So when the cold winds blow

and when the snow falls down

My yarn helps me to remember

Forgotten people all around.

I am the one who’s blessed

As my warm hands stitch away

I pray the rhythm of my hook

Will help someone in some small way.

copy righted @ sandy June 2009

**The counts on our progress bars are current. Percentages are current.  All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Xenium, and Homelessness

When I last hit the letter X, I blogged about the word, Xenophobia. Xenophobia
As you can imagine, this is not an easy letter to find words that relate to Homelessness.  So, if you've not read my last post (and or have forgotten what is was), please take a minute to click on the word, Xenophobia.

This beautiful picture above, by Luis Egidio Mele'ndez represents today's word that starts with X, for my blogging in Alphabetical order when I don't have a donation to share with you.  The word is Xenium.  My understanding of the word and it's meaning is that it is a gift/offering given to a stranger.  In ancient Greece, this primarily would have referred to a feast with bountiful fruit and food.  We do indeed offer gifts to strangers with our knitting and our crocheting and our looming.  It also referenced still life, and thus the art piece I found, showing a bountiful meal.

Please think of this as you work on your projects, giving gifts to strangers.  Gifts, make people feel special; and this is what we hope to convey.  That they are special enough to receive a gift and are not forgotten.

**The counts on our progress bars are current. Percentages are current. All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.