Afghan Giveaway

120 Replies

We are entering into what may be a very hard winter in the United States: election, pandemic, etc. And my dear friend Rachel, who many of you know as Doing My Best, made me an afghan that is like medicine: it is so cozy and warm, and so cheerful and bright. The first two pictures are Rachel’s:

Then this is me opening the box and immediately pulling out an armload of satisfyingly heavy warm softness, and being a little pink/weepy about it (it had been a long day, and this was Exactly The Thing):

And here it is on my favorite chair in my personal sunporch room:

And here is the ridiculous fearful cat who NEVER sits on laps, sitting on my lap because I have the afghan on me, a situation that has happened multiple times since then:

 

And here is what happened: Rachel ended up with double the yarn she needed. And she said this pattern was a very cheery therapeutic one to make, and that she would enjoy making it again. And so between us we devised a plan: the ad fund from the blog would cover the yarn and shipping, and she would make a matching afghan to give away to one of YOU.

We wondered if we should make the giveaway a fundraiser. But we are both aware that this is not a financially good time for many people—and the people who might MOST need an afghan in their lives might be the very ones who absolutely cannot make a donation right now. So here is what we came up with. IF YOU ARE FINANCIALLY ABLE, make a donation to a charity of your choice, as if it were a requirement for entering the giveaway, and comment with the name of the charity. IF YOU ARE NOT FINANCIALLY ABLE, comment the name of the charity you WOULD be giving to if you were able. DON’T SAY WHETHER YOU DID OR DIDN’T DONATE! Just say the name of the charity. We want the entrants who donated money to be indistinguishable from the entrants who were not able to donate. We also want to get lots of good ideas for charities as we enter into this long dark winter / the season of giving.

The giveaway is limited to U.S. addresses—but if you don’t live in the U.S., you can still enter if you have someone in the U.S. to ship it to. Let’s give a full week to enter, just to make sure; I will try not to forget to choose/announce the winner on Friday, October 23rd. The blanket will then arrive When It Is Ready. It is hard to know how long a big project will take, especially because it is hard to know how much despair there will be, and whether that potential despair will take the form of EXTRA crocheting or LANGUISHING crocheting. The hope, though, is that one day, perhaps when the winner has forgotten about it and/or is having a very long dark day, a box will arrive, and inside will be a satisfyingly heavy warm soft blanket, and it will be Exactly The Thing.

 

Update: The winner is Bitts!

120 thoughts on “Afghan Giveaway”

  3. Megan

    Linus Project. They make blankets for children who are ill, but they also give me (funeral director) blankets to give to children who have lost a parent or sibling.

    Reply ↓
  9. Suzanne

    Why is this post making me so weepy??? I mean, probably the BEAUTIFUL afghan is a BIG part of it — it’s so lovely and the colors are perfect and it has cat! magic! — and then there’s the fact that Rachel MADE IT and then also that she has offered to make ANOTHER ONE and that you, Swistle, are making that HAPPEN and then there are all the people who are supporting ALL these wonderful causes. WEEP.

    Reply ↓
  13. Tracy

    If you could tell her that I think of her often! She lifted my spirits so much a few years ago and her gifts continue to be moments of joy. I see the wall hanging in my room and smile, remembering that I was treated so special.

    Reply ↓
  15. Leah

    Maple/Morgan Park Food Pantry <3 <3 <3
    (it doesn't have a website but they're serving people from Wisconsin to Indiana right now because there's so much need in the Chicago area.)

    Reply ↓
  19. Carolyn

    The afghan is absolutely beautiful!

    The Bloom Foundation (Provides training for providers to help parents living with postpartum depression and anxiety). Their peer-to-peer support counseling helped me so much when my kids were babies.

    Reply ↓
  20. JenniferB

    It’s such a HAPPY blankie; so delightful!

    I’m choosing pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder research; OCD has tried repeatedly to rob my children of their childhoods. The IOCDF is a fantastic organization with lots of resources if anybody else needs help:)

    iocdf.org

    Reply ↓
  23. Nowheymama

    I miss her so much!! What beautiful work ❤

    The Grove City Community Food Pantry. Their numbers keep going up and up. They do a backpack program for the school district, too.

    Reply ↓
  26. RubyTheBee

    Please let Doing My Best know that I miss seeing her on Twitter! I always loved seeing her crochet projects, and this one is especially gorgeous.

    As for charities, ACLU is always a good choice.

    Reply ↓
  29. Angela

    Mary’s Place, which is a local nonprofit that helps homeless women/children.

    And a plug here: social services are so important but please consider supporting arts organizations too. They are so dependent on ticket revenue and we are in serious danger of losing so many big and small orgs. Think of the joy you got seeing this amazing work of art Rachel made, and send a few bucks to your favorite group(s) or cultural organizations.

    Reply ↓
  33. Kate

    That is 100% Exactly The Thing- even the pictures are making me happier than I had been.

    My charity is SmashSMARD. SMARD is a degenerative neuromuscular disease that has been diagnosed in less than 100 children in the world and two of the 100 are my nieces. Gene therapy has the potential to be promising and SmashSMARD is dedicated to raising funds to support that research, since as an orphan disease, funding from other sources is limited.

    Reply ↓
  36. BSharp

    READI Chicago, which gives young men at risk of gun violence meaningful work and supportive community and longterm training.

    That is THE cheeriest pattern. Do you happen to know what the fiber is? Wool, cotton, acrylic?

    Reply ↓
    1. Swistle Post author

      I asked Rachel, and she says: “100% acrylic, washable and dryable, although I would wash it separately (so nothing snags it…not that there will be any room left in the washer once the blanket is in there) and dry it on a medium to low heat setting.”

      I would add that it does not FEEL acrylic, if you know what I mean. Like, my grandmother used to knit with what I think was acrylic, and it felt…I don’t know, lightweight and fuzzy? This is dense and soft and heavy.

      Reply ↓
  37. Joanne Kehoe

    The fonsecatheatre.org, whose founder and Artistic Director, Bryan Fonseca, just died of COVID. It’s a great theater named for a great guy, who we miss so much already.

    Reply ↓
    1. Simone

      A fellow Buffalo reader?! I was recently reading about the Compass House to learn more about them. I was thinking about local charities when teaching my 4 year old son about community (doing pre-k at home this fall). He got to chose from a couple to give a little bag of money that he’s saved for this purpose. He chose Ronald McDonald House and brought it to them today. Not too early to have a little guy in this world thinking about others. I’m not attempting to win the afghan because I have more blankets than we can use but it’s so happy and sweet. I love it!

      Reply ↓
  44. Kim Stachowiak

    So cheery! My organization is Kids Food Basket, a group in West MI that provides thousands of sack dinners to school age children every day. It is an amazing organization!

    Reply ↓
  58. Marlene Tjiu

    https://www.plunket.org.nz/plunket/support-plunket/

    This is NZ based, an organisation that focuses on the children and caretakers of children ages 0-5, their wealth of knowledge really kept me going as a nooby first time mum.
    Unfortunately even in beautiful NZ, child poverty and getting help to those who need it most is still a challenge, especially in these trying times.

    I love that gorgeous Afghan. Would have loved to receive it myself, but a dear friend in NY, who I wish I could send a quilt to from NZ (but cannot because of the unaffordability of shipping it!!) would be thrilled to get this instead.

    Reply ↓
  60. D in Texas

    I don’t need to win the afghan, as I live in currently sweltering south Texas, but I did want to thank you and Doing My Best for this lovely gesture. My charity of choice these days is my local food bank (https://nbfoodbank.org/) because nobody should go hungry.

    Reply ↓
  74. Karen mallette

    What incredibly beautiful hearts you and your friend have. You have made me so happy. Along with the broad-reaching generous folks who are commenting. Wow. You people all make me smile. Thank you to all.

    I support Guide Dogs for the Blind (guidedogs.com).

    Reply ↓
  76. Aimee

    Oh this is so lovely ALL around!

    La Clinica del Puebla, a federally qualified health center which provides health care and wrap around services to Latino families.

    Reply ↓
  79. Emily

    My spirit is lifted by your big heart, and love reading about all of the charities. I am in Canada, so won’t enter but I am so bolstered and encouraged by all of the Planned Parenthood posts. There are good people here <3

    Reply ↓
  80. Sarah

    I go for the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto or Driftwood Theatre, and like others, I got teary-eyed at the exuberance and thoughtfulness of the afghan.

    Reply ↓
  86. Anne

    Donorschoose.org
    Because I think it is fun for (relatively) small dollars to make a big impact on a project for a specific class/teacher/group. I usually search schools in my city (Chicago), because there are a lot of schools in need here. But I search other cities in honor of other people or when there is a particular event I feel moved to help with or whatever.

    Reply ↓
  87. Kathleen

    My charity is my towns feral cat program in honor of all my cats who started life as street kittens.
    And that really is an awesome afghan. I’ve never made one that big; I tend to stick to lap size blankets.

    Reply ↓
  89. T Taylor

    I choose my local elementary school’s PTA. We usually have a big fundraiser in the fall and several other “moneymaker” events throughout the year. In light of this year’s issues, all money collections are canceled. But I know for a fact that there are still many families in the school that need the assistance the PTA provides. Halloween costumes, hygiene items, classroom books, coats, backpacks…there’s a lot done behind the scenes of a school that has nothing to do with traditional classroom learning.
    Thank you for doing this!

    Reply ↓
  91. Maureen

    I LOVE the fact that the shy cat, is now sitting on laps because of the afghan! Rachel, you are a miracle worker…

    My charity is the Audubon Society. I feel like their work not only protects birds, but by doing that-protects the habitats of so many other animals. Birds are the canary in the mine in terms of climate change (no pun intended), but as they go so many other animal fates will follow.

    Reply ↓
  96. Shari

    I chose my local volunteer ambulance station. They are having a rough year between Covid itself, trying to secure PPE, and not being able to do normal fundraisers. So many deserving options out there!
    Also, that blanket is the most cheerful thing ever!

    Reply ↓
  97. Shawna Cameron

    I’m Canadian so this isn’t an entry, but I wanted to put in a vote for Planned Parenthood – which seems to get a pretty raw deal in the US in terms of public funding – and Doctors Without Borders because with all the disaster going on domestically this year I suspect that global organizations like these aren’t getting their normal level of donations, and the coronavirus has piled on top of the standard desperate situations that they routinely help with.

    Reply ↓
  98. elizabeth

    So gorgeous! These are not revolutionary or creative, but my charities of choice are the ACLU and Planned Parenthood.

    Reply ↓
  104. Rachel

    Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield, I’m so proud of the CEO – an amazing woman I went to college with. She recently was on a podcast I listened to this morning and it gave me all the hope in the world:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NjdIuKVu7w&feature=youtu.be
    https://www.bgclubspringfield.org/donate

    Laurel and Fig Foundation, they are starting a nonprofit to provide postpartum boxes to mothers in need. https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-laurel-and-fig-foundation?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.