what we take for granted
This recent absolutely heartbreaking article in the New York Times stopped me in my tracks this morning. After 10+ years of military occupation of Afghanistan, and children are freezing to death in Kabul? It's unthinkable. I can't imagine the grief and anger those families are feeling. How many of us take our heated homes for granted? Probably all of us.
It's so easy to feel completely and utterly helpless in the face of suffering that is this massive, this unjust, and above all, so easily preventable. But instead of throwing up our adequately warm hands in despair, the important thing is to do the right thing and take action. For me, that means contributing knitted items to Afghans for Afghans when I can. It may be the drop in the proverbial bucket, and it may not save a life or right the terrible wrongs that have been committed in Afghanistan, but one more sweater or blanket or pair of mittens may help keep a child a little warmer, and that's something.
Last night I finished sewing the zipper into a cardigan for the current A4A campaign. They are calling for children's garments (to fit kids age 7-16) and blankets. In light of the harsh winter they're experiencing, this seems more urgent than ever.
Pattern: Children's Neckdown Jacket #249 by Diane Soucy (Knitting Pure and Simple)
Yarn: Northampton Bulky, in the color "dark navy", which isn't very dark at all. I bought loads of this to make a sweater for my husband, but it turned out to be a bad shade of blue for him, so I'm making it into A4A sweaters instead. This one took exactly 5 skeins (down to the last inch, as it turns out), and I've got 8 left!
I feel like I should cast on another right away. I have plenty of this yarn leftover, so maybe I will.
It's so easy to feel completely and utterly helpless in the face of suffering that is this massive, this unjust, and above all, so easily preventable. But instead of throwing up our adequately warm hands in despair, the important thing is to do the right thing and take action. For me, that means contributing knitted items to Afghans for Afghans when I can. It may be the drop in the proverbial bucket, and it may not save a life or right the terrible wrongs that have been committed in Afghanistan, but one more sweater or blanket or pair of mittens may help keep a child a little warmer, and that's something.
Last night I finished sewing the zipper into a cardigan for the current A4A campaign. They are calling for children's garments (to fit kids age 7-16) and blankets. In light of the harsh winter they're experiencing, this seems more urgent than ever.
Pattern: Children's Neckdown Jacket #249 by Diane Soucy (Knitting Pure and Simple)
Yarn: Northampton Bulky, in the color "dark navy", which isn't very dark at all. I bought loads of this to make a sweater for my husband, but it turned out to be a bad shade of blue for him, so I'm making it into A4A sweaters instead. This one took exactly 5 skeins (down to the last inch, as it turns out), and I've got 8 left!
I feel like I should cast on another right away. I have plenty of this yarn leftover, so maybe I will.
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