One square at a time

Sometimes the scope of need in our world overwhelms me. Children die of starvation, drought and famine, pestilence, and plague in numbers more than I can fathom; violence, especially violence against women and children, oppress far too many in our world, and I sit here in quiet, idyllic Central Pennsylvania, feeling so safely blessed. What can I do that really matters to those who suffer so deeply and horrifically?

The notion of using up my leftover yarn to make a difference in even a small way is an active choice that makes me feel, even in a most minuscule way, pretty humbled. So this week, my wonderful husband (who takes care of all those important errands I never can accomplish while I am school-bound each day) will mail off six squares to the Knit a Square project in South African. My yarn (leftover from shawls, leg-warmers, mitts, mittens, sweaters, and hats) has been knitted or crocheted into 8 inch squares that will now be pieced together by the Soweto Comfort Club into quilts to warm AIDS orphans in South Africa. Pretty powerful...

There are specifics to mail these squares...encase them in plastic wrap to protect them from moisture, indicate on the outside of the mailer wool or acrylic (wool, a natural fiber, will not ignite as quickly in the flame warmed homes/huts these children inhabit--natural fibers ARE always better!), and mark that it is a done for charity, not for profit.

So to all my loved ones who have received and worn gifts of yarn from my needles, now you know that fiber once connected to what you wear, shall be used in a blanket for a child in Africa...I hope you see yourself doubly blessed. I do.