If not for the job... and donations of yarn?

Oh, the things that I could do. Would I procrastinate and not do anything as I have heard so many people say that are staying home? I don't think so but I really don't know. All I know now is that when I get a few hours off in the afternoons as I did this week, I accomplished so much at home. Well to tell the truth, the house is not really clean, but I love making these dishcloths. I learned how when I was in the Dominican and now I am hooked on making them, I guess that I'll put the hats and scarves aside for a little while and make these. Luckily there was a huge spool of the cotton yarn in my aunt's stash that I received. They will all be the off-white color but I also learned that to make them stronger you can add crochet cotton to them. I tried that on one but kept dropping the cotton. Maybe if I try it in a color I will be able to see it better.

I found this pillow top that I had put together many years ago (well actually about 2 moves ago for a bedroom in a house two houses ago), do I really hang on to stuff that long? I actually have a twin bed quilt top that I also made at the time. I coffee stained this and am going to continue the decorating of the toy room for the princess.

I started this in January and finished all the blanket stitching on it yesterday. I am going to make it into a pillow but am out of polyfil right now and have this thing about being paralyzed to go any farther if everything is not here to finish it.

I finished this pillow for my daughter, more of the yo-yo's that I have an abundance of. I have a small basket left of them right now in really funky colors but I am determined to use them all up. These are still from the vest that my mother had made for my daughter when she was younger. They have been like the loaves and the fishes....they have seemed to multiply.

I made this purse yesterday. Not sure if I really like it or not. It is hard to see, but I have beaded all the "vines" in the design and it is lined. Maybe it will go the "to sell someday" stash. That stash is getting fairly large and I am debating what to do with it. Etsy? Ebay? Open house? not sure at the moment.

Suggestions welcome!

Rondell at Tomatoe Creek Prims posted that she would be willing to help my find supplies for the Haitian ladies in the Dominican Republic that are learning to knit and crochet. I would gladly appreciate help in finding inexpensive supplies. If anyone would like to add this to their search list at yard sales, thrift stores and flea markets it would be so helpful. I would like to keep the cost down, but I would be willing to handle your finds in a couple of ways.

1.) You can send them to me and I can reimburse the costs of the items and shipping.

OR

2.) I will send you a "giveway" of a painted treasure for every donation!

Items needed:

Knitting needles, any type or size

Crochet hooks, any type or size

Any leftover yarn of any type, crochet thread, perle cotton, etc.

Any unfinished kits of any type of needlework

C'mon ladies, this is a great place to get rid of leftover stashes and know that they are going to a good cause. The Haitians that are in the Dominican Republic are treated in ways close to slavery. The men work in the sugar cane fields all day with a pay rate of $3 or less a day and much of that is used at the company store that keeps them always in debt to the owner of the fields. They live in tin one-room shacks about the size of our backyard sheds and cook over an open fire outside. The more prosperous villages have a community outhouse and shower facility but many have one outhouse and no showers at all. Fresh water is minimally available. There is a great deal of prejudice among the Dominicans for the Haitians. Yet if you ask them why they do not return to their own country, the typical answer is "And leave this land of abundance?" As bad as their circumstances are in the Dominican for them, they are for worse in Haiti where no jobs and no food await them. These women, by learning a skill are able to sell a few items. Imagine selling a beautifully crocheted shawl for $5. That is two and one half days wages in the sugar cane field!

Anyone who would like to help, please email me and I will give you my mailing address. Thanks in advance!