Hands

"Christ has no body now on earth, but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he is to go about doing good; yours are the hands with which He is to bless people now." -- St. Teresa of Avila

As I mentioned in my previous post, several Angels sent in boxes and envelopes recently, and I'm anxious to show you all the yarny goodness they sent in -- and they sent in LOTS! Oh...I'll explain that picture over to the left at the end of this post (got to build excitement, you know!!).

First up is Chicago Angel Margie Chan:

Sweet baby hats, Birgit, for your challenge!! In her note, Margie said she has been very busy at work, and this was all she could get done. And that is just fine, Margie -- that hats are lovely and will be just perfect for the babies we serve at Swedish Covenant Hospital! Thank you!!

Angel Alexis Leuth from Winter Springs, FL sent us two PACKED boxes -- take a peek:

Hats for all ages -- just perfect for the families we serve at Cornerstone Community Outreach's and WellSpring Center for Hope's shelters!

Spa cloths for our challenge!! WHOO HOO! Alexis said she really enjoyed making these this summer when it was so hot in Florida -- and don't the colors just look like Florida?!?

Alexis said that she doesn't make sweaters or clothing, but she did hit a super-great sale at Target -- and look what she sent for the kids we serve:

Just look at all these great sweaters, baby things, and socks! They are absolutely wonderful for the children at Cornerstone's shelters! Thank you so much, Alexis, for sending us so many lovely things (including the tiny Whitman's Sampler box, which I DID NOT share!!). This is just great!

Angel Linda Faubel from Ladd, IL emailed me during the summer and asked what the Angels needed for the folks we serve, and I told her that we could really use some hats and scarves for men. Linda took that to heart:

WOW!!! And DOUBLE WOW!! Now that is a LOT of hats and scarves -- they will be great for the men we serve at Good News Community Kitchen!

Linda was also thinking about our babies:

Isn't this a lovely baby blanket? I just love the pattern!

She also sent SO MANY baby hats for the challenge, Birgit! Look carefully -- Linda used sportweight or baby weight yarn that is the striping and jacquards yarn, which makes patterns like sock yarn. It turns out looking like you did Fair Isle crocheting or knitting -- when in fact you just did plain crocheting or knitting. If you haven't seen this type of baby yarn before, check it out. There are patterns on the ball bands that take advantage of this striping feature, and I've seen the cutest baby sweaters that you would swear were drop stitch or Fair Isle knitting - but the yarn did all the work! Very cool!

Linda also makes wonderful afghans, and she sent us two:

Check out the hearts inside the colored squares! Perfect for one of our seniors at Cornerstone's Friendly Towers!

Ever make a baby blanket and think: "I wonder what this would look like made into an afghan"? Wonder no more:

This afghan was made with the same stich pattern as the baby blanket Linda sent us, just made larger and in a different colorway. Awesome!! All the Angels who crochet who were at our get-together now want to make this blanket! I will be saving this blanket to use as a comfort afghan for a man who is facing a health crisis or the illness/death of a family member. It will be treasured.

Linda --thank you so much for your commitment to the Crafty Angels and for blessing us with the wonderful yarny goodness you make. So many people will be touched by your kindness!

As I opened all these boxes and envelopes of yarny goodness, I thought of the quote up top. It has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and I came upon it after a discussion in my high school youth group during which we argued heatedly about how God worked in the world when He was up in heaven. As only teenagers can, we were fixated on how all that blessing stuff actually got DONE - other than by divine miracle, and none of us had ever seen a miracle.

I thought St. Teresa nailed it perfectly -- and it opened up a whole new world to me: we human beings were God's hands and feet -- we did the stuff to get the blessings done here on earth, following His divine direction, according to His divine plan. I remember thinking: "Whoa! What a responsibility!" and feeling slightly overwhelmed. But that teenaged epiphany literally changed my whole mindset, and the course of my life. I definitely think that Margie, Alexis, and Linda are being God's hands by creating all this wonderful yarny goodness -- and so are all the Angels. What marvelous calling we all have!!

Oh....about that picture up top. Angel Linda also sent something else:

Have you ever seen women fighting over bargains in Filene's Basement or something in the movies? It was sort of like that when I pulled these skeins of Pound of Love yarn from Linda's boxes. Angel Jeannine Patt lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw them (that's her up top!!) - it's her favorite yarn. There were serious negotiations over who got what color! Linda -- there is lots of baby yarny goodness being made being made as I write this with your yarn!!