One More Update on Knitting for Compassion

375 scarves! 32 hats! 6 pairs of gloves! 4 handbags!
(And a partridge in a pear tree!)

We kicked the hell out of our stretch goal (that's retail for aiming much higher than you need to) of 300 scarves. Collected from many different givers: a group that knit every morning on the train, members of the Sisterhood of Rodef Shalom Temple in Pittsburgh (not even the same city where the scarves would be donated), loyal and generous knitters of the Charity Knit Nights at the Knitche in Downers Grove, employees from my district of the company that I work for (if you haven't guessed yet, you'll just have to remain in the dark, because this is a discreet-about-other-folk blog), customers of the same, and friends who responded to my email a few months ago by recruiting knitters and crocheters that they know, or digging into drawers for donations, or turning the project into an opportunity at the camps that they run or the Sunday school classes that they teach.

It's cold in Chicago. It's snowing. It's the time of year when flying out of O'Hare becomes even less reliable, thanks to the weather. It's a good day for getting a scarf. This weekend they're having their holiday party at Housing Opportunities for Women, and everyone goes home with a scarf. Again, good job!

If you're in the giving mood but, like me, find yourself spending countless, lost hours on the computer, either surfing the Web in search of the right item or best price, or trying to navigate the checkout lane on line (I'm sure if I added up the minutes of indecision I would have a whole 'nother lifetime, or at least a sweater finished), take a look at Clara Parkes' gift suggestions here. Skip to Number 10 if you're not shopping for a knitter. There's a critter to fit everyone at Heifer International, and nearly no better organization (the perfectionist in me is couching this, but really, charity, well-being, medical care for those who can't obtain it - what more could we ask) for caring than Doctors Without Borders.

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