Charity Project for the Children's Shelter

I know that I have been guilty for not posting on this blog for the last few months, however, sometimes things happen in life that rob you of your time.  I have been busy with family, and as a result, I've stayed away from my blog.  

Even though I had to take care of some family matters, I managed to continue working on my charity knitting and crochet projects.  

I got in touch with several residents in my new neighborhood and spread the word that I was volunteering with the local children's shelter to gather children's hats for the kids at the shelter.  With the help of the new volunteers, we managed to collect about 70 knit hats and about 20 baby blankets.   

However, below you will see a couple of the items that I made & delivered to the shelter.  The third photo below shows the hats that the group of volunteers made for the children's shelter.

The knit hat is a simple pattern that any knitter can make and the baby blanket is a crocheted item with some textured stitches which I really like.   If you go to the link on the right of this post you will be able to go to my Ravelry page and get the free pattern.

As always, I thank you for stopping by and visiting.  Stay safe and be blessed.

The HookDude

Happy Holidays 2016

Mission accomplished !!  As of mid August 2016, I officially moved into my new living quarters (my new apartment home).  

Going through all of my closets last summer, my garage, downsizing, and making numerous trips to the local Goodwill to drop off donated items finally paid off.  I had lived at my former townhouse 14 years and didn't realize that I had many material things that I actually did not use.  So a decision was made that all items would be donated to Goodwill and another local charity.

It was a sigh of relief when the day of the planned move finally arrived in August.

The move went smoothly except for some thunderstorms that interfered late afternoon.

I am happily settled into my new home and enjoying every minute of it.

At this time, I want to take this opportunity to reach out to all of my blog and Facebook friends and family and wish you all a very safe Christmas season.  May 2017, bring you peace, prosperity and much health.

As always, I thank you for stopping by.

Moving Through the Long Days of Summer

I acknowledge that it has been a while that I've posted something on the blog.  The truth be told ... I have been too busy with my life and other responsibilities to allow myself time to write.

But here I am and writing to tell you that it is going to be a long HOT & SIZZLING summer here in Texas.  I'm still very involved in working with the local children's shelter and volunteering at a local hospital.

The time has come where I have made a decision to move from my current living quarters to another location which will provide more amenities and a better community to live in.  For the next few weeks, I will be busy downsizing, making trips to the local Goodwill and packing away my stuff.

In case, I don't post during the remainder of the summer, you will know the reasons.

In the meantime, I wish you a safe summer and if you are lucky enough to travel on vacation, then I wish you a safe and pleasant one.  Be well.

Keeping Them Warm for Winter

As many of you know, most of my knit and crochet projects go to local charity organizations.  There are so many persons and families in need of warm clothing to keep them warm during the cold winter season.

That's why I chose a family this winter who would benefit from some items that I had recently finished.  It was a family of four with two beautiful little girls (ages 6 & 10) and they were so happy to receive scarves and hats.

If you have any knit or crocheted items that you wish to donate and are not close to any charitable organizations in your area, you may consider sending your items to any of the following organizations found in these links:

http://www.crochet.org/?page=charity

http://knitforkids.org

http://www.handcraftingwithlove.net/charity/hcharity.html

As always, I thank you for stopping by.  

The HookDude

Men's Ribbed Neck-Warmer/Cowl

I often times look for something online or in books that I might like to make and wear for myself.   However, the majority of the time, I find nothing that catches my eye.

I've crocheted or knit several scarves for myself, but I have been looking for a simple neck-warmer.   Since I couldn't find anything that I liked, I decided to design one and keep it on the simple side.

The photos below show what my new neck-warmer looks like.  I like wearing it because on the one hand, it's very easy to slip on just like wearing a hat.  The second added benefit is that it's very warm especially when it's windy outside and you don't have to mess with the scarf ends ... in other words, it stays in place.

You can find the free pattern at CLICK HERE.

Keep in mind that this neck-warmer/cowl was designed to be worn by a guy, but it can easily be adapted to be worn by a woman.  If you want to make this for a woman, you can add more chains and make it to your preferred length.   I hope you check out the link above and have fun making this !! 

As always, I thank you for stopping by and checking out my blog page.  I know that there's a lot of talented folks out there, so please consider making one crocheted/knit item and donating it to your favorite charity.  

The HookDude

Winter Hat Project 2015 Completed

The winter hat project for 2015 was completed in early December.  I usually work on this #charity project by myself throughout the year, but this year, I decided to try something different.

I submitted an article through our neighborhood's newsletter around July of last year enlisting the help of any crocheters and/or knitters in my subdivision.  It was a simple request:  submit one hat for this project and in December, the hats would be delivered to our local children's shelter.  We have 180 homes in our subdivision so I figured we would at least have 1 or 2 other crocheters/knitters who would participate.

I didn't get much of a response but thanks to another gentleman, a knitter, who lives in the neighborhood, I was able to have enough hats for the shelter. 

Sometime in late December, I delivered 40 hats (in different sizes)to the children's shelter.  

Below is a sample of some of the hats(#crochet & #knit) that went to the children at the shelter.

Now it's time to start working on the winter hat project for 2016.

As always, I thank you for stopping by and visiting.  I know that there's a lot of talented crocheters/knitters out there, so please consider donating at least one item to your favorite charity.

The HookDude