Warming Grace

Blanket for Luke

  

When I posted way back at the end of March my original plan was to get the squares in, the blanket sewn up and sent off to Luke by the beginning of May.  Ah the plans of life.....

Squares were so generously sent in (thank you, thank you, thank you) and I had enough squares to begin the sewing by the beginning of May.  The ensuing months of May, June, July and August brought with them all manner of shit for me; health and personally (another post). 

My blogless buddy Carole who has put together a number of the blanket was up to her eyeballs, literally, dealing with the summer long garbage strike in Toronto.

Finally, in September (while in the midst of dealing with the H1N1 - yes, that would be ANOTHER post) I emailed Wannietta in a panic and asked her to sew the blanket together.  My guilt was huge...Luke was doing well but I had put myself out there and felt a tremendous sense of consternation that the blanket still wasn't done.  Wannietta sewed it together for me (beautifully I might add) and got it back pretty quickly - THANK YOU W!

It still took me another 3 weeks to get it sent off.  Finally, it is there.  Luke is in remission (and doing so well after a bone marrow transplant).  And he has the blanket.  And I am indebted to all of you who so generously sent such beautiful squares.

As always I am humbled by your generosity to this ongoing project.  I haven't named names (I was going to post the squares and the donors...and if I can get up the steam to do it I still will - you deserve so many kudos!!!!) but I do thank you all so very much.  Please don't stop sending the squares.  I am working on getting back on my feet (yet again) and plan to get more blankets out (this was blanket number 7 for the Warming Grace Project.  Again, thank you!

Calling for Squares

This is Luke.  He is 8 years old.  Luke was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myelogenus Leukemia) when he was 6 years old.  He had a successful bone marrow transplant when he was 7.  He had been in remission and in doing routine blood work this March it was discovered that Luke's AML has returned.  He is now scheduled to undergo chemotherapy, radiation treatment and hopefully another bone marrow transplant.

The Warming Grace project wants to send Luke a blanket.  I need 63 five inch squares in any shade of blue (Luke's favourite colour) in a soft yarn ASAP.

Calls for squares have been so successful and I thank you all so much.  We have had more than enough squares to complete 6 blankets so far which is awesome.  Unfortunately, many of the squares I have received have been unuseable for the following reasons:

1. Yarn - not soft, some downright scratchy (please rub it against your face or on the inside of your wrist)
2. Size - 5" is 5", not 3" or 6" - it is really hard to put together the blankets if they aren't relatively uniform
3. Quality - it is unfortunate that I have received squares that are so loosely knit they are unuseable, or there are huge holes in the middle or somewhere in the square.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the efforts people have put into knitting and sending squares; however I won't send out a blanket that is not first rate to a child who is putting up such a brave fight.

I am hoping that I can get lots of  5"  squares (and kid friendly colour in a nice soft yarn - please no acrylic), particularly in the blue shade as soon as possible.  If you can help out thank you sooooo much.  Email me at [email protected] for my snail mail address.  Post my request on your blog (there are so many blogs who have a much bigger readership than I do currently).  I thank you so much.  My goal is to get Luke his blanket by the beginning bit of May (taking into account mailing the squares, getting the blanket sewn together and mailed to Luke). 

A Blanket for Alisa

This is the blanket that was recently sent out to Alisa, a young girl who lives in Ontario and is currently undergoing treatment.

As always it turned out so well and I am in so in debt to all the knitters whose squares provided such a wonderful source of comfort for Alisa.  A huge thanks as well goes to my bestest friend Carole (blogless) who once again sewed and edged the blanket - you rock Carole!

Here are more photos of the blanket.  Get well soon Alisa!

Grace and her blanket

Grace and her blanket.  I think she really likes it!

Three Glorious, Wonderful Rockin' Blankets

I am back - sort of. I have to be very careful with my energy but Warming Grace is always on my mind and so close to my heart. I wanted to share with you these three lovely beauties (Justin's, Simone's and Grace's blankies from left to right).

This is my Mom and Dad (Jim and Jackie) holding Grace's blanket. Grace is their grand-daughter and I think they are quite pleased and proud to have this honour. Grace's blanket was pieced and edged by my best buddy Carole, who did an outstanding job! The blanket is just so gorgeous in person and oh so soft. There is a square in the blanket that has been knit by Briana who is just 9 years old - Briana, you get a huge shout out and a big thank you from me!

Carole did this fabulous ruffled edge on the blanket which is very girly (Grace will so appreciate that). Carole has been a godsend for me. While I have been MIA this summer she has taken on the task of collecting the squares I get, assigning sewers and working on more blankets herself. I cannot say how much this means to me. Thank you is so very inadequate however THANK YOU CAROLE!

Simone's blanket is above. Simone's blanket was sewn and edged by Ann. Actually Ann did not sew the blanket together; she knit all the squares together. She also knit the edging in this really fabulous manner (I have to get the details because the final result is so lovely looking). I do promise to post some closeups so that you can see the details. The softness is unbelievable. Thank you so much Ann! Justin's blanket was sewn together by a bunch of us at our sewing party way back when. Julia from Village Yarns sewed the panels together and began the edging which Dale finished. The result is wonderful and truly a collaborative effort. Thank you to everyone who helped with this blankie. Again this blankie is so soft and squishy perfect for a little boy!

Of course my biggest thanks goes out to all of you who have knit squares, are planning to knit squares and who have sent so much positive energy, thoughts and prayers this way. I can attest to the special energy the blankets have - they are absolutely wonderful and vibrate the love that has gone into them.

My goal is still to complete twenty blankets (Carole has finished another one which I will post soon I promise - there is a three year old named Hannah who will be the lucky recipient of this blanket - more on that as well). i promise to make sure the posts are regular and you are kept up to date.

Please keep sending the squares and the positive vibes; this is truly a special project!

An Update for Cindy

This is Cindy's husband Ed. Cindy has not been well the last few weeks (her Fibro, CFS and Lead Poisoning) so there have been no posts on Warming Grace. She is on the mend and hopes to be back up and running next week. I apologize for not being able to get back to all those who have sent squares for the project. Cindy will update all the administrative 'stuff' (emails, noting squares received, photos and the June 30th draw) as soon as she is back. She apologizes profusely and hopes to get all caught up soon. She does want you to continue sending squares. Her good friend Carole has taken over keeping all the squares in order and having them knit up so that on this end things are still running smoothly in that area. Grace, Simone's and Justin's blankets are done and will be on their way this week. I don't know how to load on the photos but again Cindy will post the photos as soon as she is back. They do look great. Please hang in there and thanks for your ongoing support of the project.

Presenting...Justin's Blanket

It is done. Actually it was done and drying last week although with the humidity it take the darling thing a while to thoroughly dry. The squares were sewn together at our party, Julia sewed up the panels and started on the edging which Dale finished. Thanks Julia and Dale!

My primo buddy Carole delivered it to the farm (that woman is everywhere!) and we gave it a gentle bath and here we are. Enjoy!

This is the whole blankie - sorry about the upper edges; didn't want to lay it on the ground and I think the outside light is the best for viewing.

This is another view of the top half of the blanket.

This is the bottom half of the blanket.

Another view of the blanket full scale. Pardon the squeezed and stretched out edges; perhaps this is the first kid test (Ed's finesse was not available - he left for work early this morning and the weather was too perfect not to get out there and take these). Nick, who wanted to know why his face couldn't be part of the picture since he was modelling the blanket (I did try to tell him he was 'showing' the blanket, not modelling it - not a huge distinction for photo hogging children I guess) wanted you all to know that the "perfectly mowed lawn" is his doing. Thanks to everyone who responded to the call for Justin's blue squares (if you don't see it here you will see it in another blanket soon!). This blankie is beautiful, soft and it smells really good!

Please keep them coming! We have three finished (I don't have Simone's but I should be receiving it soon), two more being sewn together by Jean-Anne, another being sewn together by Carole and more squares waiting. My goal is TWENTY blankets so please keep sending squares when you can. Thank you again!

Sew! Sew we had a party

In spite of the toxic soup that is Toronto right now (heat, humidity and pollution are such an evil combination) sewing was had on Sunday at Village Yarns. In attendance were myself, Ann, Carole, Dawn, Debby, Julia and Jean-Anne. These chicks rock! I mean seriously rock! Given my various infirmities (of which everyone is also so considerate about) they took on the task of sorting and matching over 400 squares; it was an amazing sight to see. The squares laid out for Justin's blankie are below. We ended up going with a smaller blanket given that he is only 4 years old right now. This should be very comfy for him. We had plenty of eats. Carole brought fruit salad, cookies, muffins, cheese, crackers and ju-jubes. The woman knows how to provide. Jean-Anne brought a fabulous broccoli salad and coleslaw. They were fantastic! Julia provided lemonade and mineral water. I brought some yummy stewed chicken made by Ed. Carol sent scones via Ann because she couldn't make it (and understands the value of carbs and sugar for hard working knitters!). We made excellent progress and were able to sew together the panels for Justin and Grace's blankets, leaving just the panels. At the end of the day Ann left with Simone's blanket to sew together (from sewing together the squares to sewing the panels to edging the blanket), Carole left with Gracie's blanket (to sew together the panels and edge the blanket), Julia left with Justin's blanket (to sew together the panels and edge the blanket) and Jean-Anne left with squares for two blankets to put together (sewing together the squares, the panels and do the edging). Julia took the rest of the squares and sorted and divided them into coordinated piles for more sewing up. This girl is a dynamo - d-y-n-a-m-o!!! We have enough squares for at least 3 more blankets with more squares arriving daily. Please don't fret if your square is not up there. All the squares will be used to make blankets - no square will go unused or unloved; they will all make some child warmer! I am so humbled by their generosity and enthusiasm. THANK YOU ANN, CAROLE, DAWN, DEBBY, JEAN-ANNE AND JULIA!!! I am totally excited by the prospect that I will probably be able to send Justin's blanket out by the middle of next week. I will post pictures of the completed blankets as soon as they are done. We are so close to having our first few!!! By Monday night Julia had Justin's blanket sewn together and was working on the edging. Things are starting to take shape! I do apologize for the total lack of photo content. I have pictures which Blogger is not letting me download ***!!@@##***- must be the heat (LOL). I will attempt to edit with photos when I am able or just publish another post but I had to get this up!

Emergency Call for Blue Squares

My SIL Adrienne just emailed me this photo of Grace and her 'boyfriend' Justin. Gracie loves Justin and says she is going to marry him. Gracie doesn't know that Justin is very very sick. Justin has liver cancer and he remains very ill. According to Adrienne, Justin has surpassed his Doctors predictions that he wouldn't make it past February, and they are just so grateful for everyday Justin survives and the time Gracie has with her Prince Charming. They are all very close so this is an upsetting and emotional time for both families. Please keep them in your prayers. She also said that Justin would probably love a blankie, and it would give his parents a good deal of comfort. I did know about Justin (that he and Gracie were buddies and that his situation didn't look so good) but now we can do something! So, we need 63 squares now! Anyone who can knit up a square or three and get them to me within 10 days please let me know. Make sure they are blocked and ready to be sewn together. Don't worry about a postcard (I know how hard it has been for everyone to find them); send a note to Justin and make sure you include where you live. The first blanket will be for Justin. I want to have it ready to send within three weeks and whatever you can do will be great! Thank you. Please make sure I have your email address! Thanks!