On knitting

I think I've mentioned that I knit. I am one of those people who knits in phases--madly completing several projects, then not touching a needle for three months. I haven't knitted in a long time, because I just got busy with school and went through a non-knitting phase. But now I'm home with spare time that I'd like to use on something more productive than Facebook. So I'm back to knitting. (Why do my mad knitting phases tend to line up with summer? It's too hot to knit. Sigh.)

I was knitting this pretty top. Unfortunately, with the body knitted, I have no yarn left to do the applied i-cord edging. Without the edging, the top rolls and curls in a very unattractive way. To the craft store for me, I suppose. I would post in a knitting group to see if someone has some leftovers, but I can't remember the name of the yarn and I no longer have the label. Oh well. Now I'm just hoping it fits.

I am now knitting the Feather and Fan blanket from this book. I like it. It's a very simple four-row repeat, only one row of which is anything other than "knit across" or "purl across," but it makes a ripply lace pattern with scalloped edges. I suspect I will get bored before it's over though. Blankets are big. I'll post a picture of it too. (Right now I'm just too darn lazy to get up and find my camera.) This blanket will be a fundraiser for Kurt. I'll sell it somehow, either as an auction or as a donations-for-entries-to-a-giveaway kind of fundraiser. I have no idea how long it will be till it's done. I'll post again when I have pictures and/or significant progress to report.

Teamwork Tuesday: Priscilla

Look at this adorable little girl! What beautiful eyes she has. Here's what Reece's Rainbow has to say about her:

Girl, Born February 2010
Pretty Priscilla! More photos available. Priscilla has many facial features of FAS. She is also struggling with "pre-leukemia", also known as congenital Myelodysplastic syndrome. She really needs to get home!!
From her caregivers: communicative; adequate reactions. Character: cheerful, active, friendly, communicative, likes to play with different toys.
More photos available.
$105.50 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

(me again) Priscilla needs a family badly so that her medical needs can be attended to. Are you that family? If not, please consider donating some money to her fund and sharing someone's Teamwork Tuesday post on your blog, Facebook page, or Twitter account. (One more thing: Priscilla has a Guardian Angel, who's committed to raising money and awareness for her, so whoever decides to adopt her will have a helper in their fundraising.)

Click here to look at Priscilla's RR page.

Help needed on several fronts

The Hansen family needs your prayers! Their daughter Maia is in intensive care. I don't know enough medical terminology to be able to explain what is wrong, but it involves seizures, neurosurgeons, and fluid buildup in her brain. The link is to the family's blog, where you can read updates from Maia's parents.

Ksenia needs your help. Look at the change in her from the picture on the right to the picture on the left. She was unlisted on Reece's Rainbow recently and we all thought she had died. But she's back. RR doesn't have enough information about her to collect money, unfortunately. She can also only be adopted by Canadians right now due to the rules in her country. Please pray like crazy, and share her with your friends--even if they aren't Canadian, their friends might be.

As always, keep praying for Kurt! Please consider giving him money. I found his guardian angel, and am hoping that we can work together on a fundraiser. (Do I have any ideas? Possibly. Not really. Yet.)

In personal news, I'm home from school. It's good to be with the family. I hope to start posting more regularly (how many times have I said that now?). Maybe I'll weigh in on the bikini argument floating around the blogosphere; I posted a link on my Facebook page and my friends brought up some really interesting points. Or maybe I won't. I'm not sure that I have anything to add.

A little advocacy for Kurt

Don't you need a four-year-old son with a very minor physical disability? Or don't you know someone who does? This little boy is waiting in an orphanage for his family to come and take him home. Look how wistful he is.

Why is Kurt in this orphanage? Because he has cerebral palsy. But his CP is so mild that he can walk on his own, even with the substandard-to-nonexistent medical care that he is likely receiving now. With proper medical care and therapy, just think how slight his impairment would be. I am not a CP expert, but from what I do know it seems like all he would need is some leg braces.

If Kurt doesn't get adopted, he will eventually be transferred to a mental institution for the rest of his life. He will be neglected, mistreated, and probably abused. He will die lying in a crib. And this is a child with the potential for a "normal" life. A minor physical disability will confine this beautiful child to a mental institution, where he will be treated worse than you would treat your goldfish. Someone needs to save Kurt from the system in the country where he lives. I wish it could be me, but I can't adopt for another 4 1/2 years at the minimum, and there is no reason why he shouldn't find a family before then. 

Kurt's region is a quick region to adopt from with relatively low costs and few restrictions. His disabilities are minor. He's adorable. What's the problem? I suspect that it's either that no one knows about him or the fact that his fund is small. Luckily, he now has a guardian angel who is committed to solving both those problems (it's not me and I don't know who it is. If you stumble across this post let me know who you are!). And you can help too.

If you aren't called to be his family, please consider donating money to help finance his adoption when it happens. Please share this post, or write your own. Let other people know about Kurt--maybe one of the people who reads your Facebook post will discern a call to adoption. And most importantly, whether you can help him financially or not, whether or not you help raise awareness, please join me in praying that Kurt's family finds him soon.