Veteran's Day Rememberance

Today is Veteran's Day. A day to honor all those who have served our country. I am a product of the the Vietnam era. I grew up watching news stories filled with protests, conscientious objectors, and much antiwar, anti military sentiment. What I don't remember is any discussion in my home about such topics. My parents always voted but current events were never discussed. What I know now is that my dad, a WWII veteran held such topics very close to his heart. Like many of his generation he didn't talk about his experiences. All we knew was that he was a paratrooper, Rod Serling (Twilight Zone) was in his platoon and he served in the Pacific theater.

In the last 6 weeks of his life he shared more about his service than we had ever hoped to know. It was discovered that he was due a second bronze star for bravery in battle. This was awarded to him just weeks before he died. It was an extremely moving moment that none of us will ever forget.

Memorial Day and Veteran's Day always make me sad. Sad that Dad is no longer here with us in person; sad that there is still so much I never asked or said; but above all very, very proud that my dad was a part of the greatest generation and because of his service we enjoy the freedoms and the life that we have today.

My heart is tender towards all military folks, but particularly these now elderly heroes who are dying every day. I have been looking for a charity so that I can give a small something back to these folks. Thanks to the work of the D Day Museum in New Orleans a modern "Knit Your Bit" scarf project sends scarves to veterans in VA hospitals around the country. The patterns are free. They will take any scarf but prefer that their patterns are used. There are crochet and knitting patterns.

Click on the link and find out how you can Knit Your Bit.

**************************** In memory of *****************************

Robert E. Perkins

Take the Pledge

I may not be able to personally make everything I give, but I can take advantage of the hand crafting skills of others and buy handmade. Don't we all already have enough "stuff?" With the chaos of tainted toys from China this is the perfect year to "go handmade." Click on the link and you can join and also find many links to sites with handmade items for sale.

Lettuce Wrap

Lettuce Wrap
Originally uploaded by Hip Cat

When we unloaded our order of Large Loop Boucle from Claudia Handpaints I knew I wanted to do something special with it. Several months later I paired on hank of it with a complimentary color of Malabrigo and this fun, flirty cape was the result. It is done in tunisian crochet, making it fast and fun to make.