Making A Diffrence; Lattes and Llamas

Okay this is just going to be a post of me praising Lattes & Llamas. If you don't want to hear me geek out about them then please just go check them out and leave here; https://lattesandllamas.com/

L&L (which I will now call Lattes & Llamas because it's faster) is home of the Geek-Along. The Geek-Along is a knit and crochet along (they have patterns for both crochet and knit, how awesome is that?!) that does geeky blanket squares. Everything from scientist like Tesla and Mandela, TV shows like Supernatural and Dexter's Laboratory, even molecules like DNA or the molecular for caffeine.

 Every year L&L makes their Geek-Along and then send the finished blanket to the Child's Play charity's winter gala to be auctioned off. http://childsplaycharity.org/?gclid=CjwKCAjw-7LrBRB6EiwAhh1yX3NAGvt0EMc1R3m0vbcOIhNlV4QonO3KPwkHK_PofSYo0Myfy8GS0hoCiRUQAvD_BwE

I do have to talk about Child's Play for just a second, Child's Play is a charity giving gaming systems and games to children in hospitals and domestic abuse shelters and such. I never think of that, true I have plans to make little stuffed toys for children in hospitals and shelters and such but in the end video games are very good for kids. I know the media wants to say that video games turn kids into violent psychopaths, it isn't true. (The fact that in the past the media claimed the same for TV, movies, music, and even plays and operas! But that is a rant for another day.) Gaming helps hand-eye coordination, helps with thinking on your feet and even have games that are meant for education. Is too much gaming bad? Of course. But answer this, what exists that too much isn't bad? I'll wait.

So Child's Play is a great charity, but how can I craft to help?

L&L figured it out!

Not only do they make their blanket that they send to the charity gala every year, but they also sell yarn and certain yarns they will donate to this charity for every skein they sell. But what really got me, what made me smile and fall in love with this as a place instead of just as a fun Geek-Along.

Every one of their blanket squares are a free pattern, what they ask you to do if you can is instead donate to Child's Play. That just warms my heart. I want to make a blanket and I plan to make it with luxury yarns so I have to wait to save up for them, (this blanket I plan will be a geeky heirloom) but I will once I do donate some amount. I am thinking somewhere between three and five dollars. I have over 100 squares I want to do so will be doing that one at a time as I make them.

There are so many charities and this is a nice reminder that even ones that don't seem like they can be part of the fiber artist world, it can. I just really love this.