Non-Monetary Ways to Give Back

Sometimes, when people think of donations, the first and only thing that comes to mind is money.  How much money do I need to give to make a difference?

I've often been a victim of this myself.  Luckily, I've come across several awesome people and organizations that have caused me to think differently and more creatively.  With a lot of my "donation budget" wrapped up in recurring donations to specific organizations, I'm often trying to figure out how I can give back more, without necessarily blowing up my bank account.  While it's honorable to want to give back as much as you can, no one wants to see someone go bankrupt doing it.

Here are three things that I've been reminded of in the last couple years that are just as valuable as monetary donations: time, resources, and talent.  I realize that money falls into the resources category, but for this post's sake, I'm referring more to tangible items/goods/physical ability.  Let's take a look at some examples for all three:

Time
It's so easy to find organizations that need volunteers.  In the last year, I've had a blast volunteering with friends and co-workers at several charitable organizations including (not limited to) the National AIDS Memorial, San Francisco AIDS Walk, and the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito.  Whether you enjoy gardening, administrative work, or cleaning up after animals and sorting their fish (I bet you can guess where that happened!), there is something for everyone when it comes to volunteering.  Check out volunteermatch.org for some cool ideas on how to get started in your area!

Resources
*I'm going to start this with a disclaimer that both of these ideas may require money and use a particular talent, but I don't list them under money since the item needed isn't directly bought for a charity, and the talents used aren't necessarily specific, but rather humanly universal.

Smart phones.  Where would our world be without them?  Probably much less connected, but maybe also more personal (that's right, I said it - I think we all spend too much time on our phones instead of with each other!).  That said, both of my "resource" volunteer options involve smart phones.

This first option, however, doesn't even involve the use of your smart phone, but rather, the non-use of it.  Currently, Unicef has sponsors for it's Tap Project, which provides a day a clean drinking water to those in need of it for every 10 minutes that someone doesn't use their smart phone.  All you need to do is go to tap.unicefusa.org on your smart phone and start the timer.  If you move your phone at all, it will stop recording your time.  My record so far is 50 minutes, or 5 days of clean water.

The second option is using your regular exercise routine to benefit a charitable organization of your choice.  I've mentioned Charity Miles on my blog before, but need to mention it again because it's just that great of a chartiable giving phone app.  Just download the app and run it while you walk, run or bike and Charity Miles' sponsors will donate to an organization of your choice (25 cents for every mile walked/ran, and 10 cents for every mile biked).  I'm addicted to this app and use it during all my outdoor hikes and runs.

Talent
Last is talent.  This involves using your creative, mental and administrative skills and abilities to come up with unique ways to give back.  Using your talents can also fall under the time category, but I've decided to use the time category to refer solely to existing volunteer opportunities.  For this, I'm thinking original ideas!  Do you like to paint, draw, create?  Try creating something to sell in a charitable auction or try selling your own work and donating the profits to a non-profit.

Maybe you could provide a non-profit with creative goods that they need.  For example, my knit circle at work is currently in the middle of a knit-a-thon month where we try to make as many hats as possible over the month of March to then donate to chemotherapy patients in local hospitals.

A friend of mine is a very talented artist and he recently used his abilities to create a year long drawing-a-day project that he's turning into a book, with publishing costs funded through Kickstarter, and all proceeds of the finished book benefiting the San Francisco Children's Creativity Museum.

How could you use your talents to give back?

How I'm staying motivated to make more hats for hospitals!

Now that you've heard some ideas, get out there and start making the world a better place.  In the words of Kid President, "It's everybody's duty to give the world a reason to dance."

Happy Monday everyone!

Be My (Knit) Valentine

I realize this is a few days late, but I thought it'd be fun to have a Valentine's Day themed post here.  There are so many cool ideas for Valentine's Day knit projects that I just wanted to share some of my favorites!

Valentine Mug Cozy Knit Pattern XO (source: ravelry, $5.00)
 This mug warmer pattern is so cute!  I wish I had found something like this to knit for a friend prior to the holiday.  Oh well, next year... Or maybe I'll just have to make one for myself! ;)

"Be My Valentine" Flirty Fingerless Gloves (source: ravelry, $5.00)
These are just too cute.  I've noticed more and more people wearing these fingerless gloves lately, and this is a very fun Valentine's twist on the idea.

 

Love My iPad Case (source: red heart, free)

And last, for you crochet folks out there, this is a very cute iPad case pattern.  I'm still not skilled enough with crochet, but hopefully some of you readers are and can take advantage of this free pattern!

 

Happy Belated Valentine's Day to all my readers!  Thanks for reading!

New Year Catch Up

It has been quite some time since I posted here.  The holidays were very busy and I also caught a couple colds both during and just after the break, so I've been resting (and knitting) a lot.

I spent most of my time finishing up orders and gifts for family and friends, but I found some time to enjoy other hobbies during the holidays and just after the new year as well... Here's a little peek into what I've been up to since Thanksgiving...

 Made my first pair of potholders for my grandparents

 

Drank a lot of hot cocoa, especially ones with giant marshmallows and brown sugar :)

Made more lussekatt buns for St. Lucia's Day...

...while knitting of course :)

Tried making a gluten free mac and cheese for my roommate

Celebrated 2014!

 

Ran my second race...with a very slow pace...

...and this was waiting for me at the end :)

Happy 2014! Here's to another fun year!

Baby Bear Hats

Hey all!

Been crazy busy with life and knit projects for my Etsy shop and work's craft fair.  As I mentioned in my last post, I have several items that are now for sale on my online shop, so feel free to check those out!

In the meanwhile, I had some hats commissioned by a co-worker and I managed to take some photos real quickly before handing them off to her.  Sorry for the horrible phone photo quality, but it's all I could manage.

 

They're for two toddler boys, so hopefully they like them :)

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers!  I am thankful for all of you!

For Sale SNEAK PEEK!

Here they are!  Some of the projects I've been working on that will soon be for sale on my Etsy shop and/or my work's craft fair.  Had a blast taking photos with the lovely Sam Samuels today.  You can check out her blog here.

Enjoy! :)

City Knitting

Sometimes it's fun to get away from the usual knit spots and get some fresh air.  Since I live near San Francisco, I especially love the idea of knitting by the water and really giving the project a bit of life and a better story.  Here's a picture from a recent excursion.

In other news, I'm getting ready for some holiday sales.  I've already had a couple commissioned projects, and other than those, my main focus has been getting ready for my work's craft fair.  I'm also hoping to get some items on my Etsy shop soon.  It's just a matter of setting aside the time to create the listings...

To the left is a fun glove project I just sort of whipped up this past weekend.  I still need to finish the second glove, but the first one turned out pretty nice:

I have several other ideas in mind, like some knit boot cuffs or ankle warmers.  Since I've started wearing more boots again for the cooler weather, I wouldn't mind having some myself! :)

Well, thanks for reading.  Hope everyone has a great Halloween coming up!  Here's a fun idea for a Halloween themed project: knit candy corn!  You can find the pattern at Purl Bee.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Knitting Therapy

When life gets fuzzy and complicated, what do you do?  You knit.  A lot.

There's something really therapeutic about knitting, which I'm sure all knitters have discovered to some degree.  The methodical movement and structured creativity provides a nice outlet and consistency when the rest of life is all over the place.  I always think of that one moment from Julie & Julia:

“You know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure (and when I say nothing, I mean nothing), you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. That’s such a comfort.”

Granted, that was about cooking, but you get the idea.  You can know that when you knit two together and do a yarn over, it will have created a lovely eyelet hole that's visible just after knitting the next row.  

That's what I was doing for the last week.  My knitting friends and I have been passing around a pretty cowl scarf pattern with random rows of eyelet holes.  I took some time to use some merino wool that's been sitting my stash for the last year and made myself a nice warm infinity scarf (after modifying the original pattern to make it longer) for the coming cool weather.  Here's a picture of it in it's "in progress" form.  It's finished now and I've already worn it once to many compliments.  I'm currently making another in a different yarn and color.

You'll notice I was also enjoying a chai tea latte.  Yep, when life is crazy, there's nothing better than a good knit project and a warm cup of coffee or tea.

Here's to the busy holidays, lots more coffee, and lots more knitting!