Lap Robes For The Veterans' Hospital

Since the start of the year, I've been working on lap robes that will go to the Veterans' Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This hospital receives between 30 & 35 military personel a month who have been maimed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The chaplin from the American Legion who picks up the lap robes at the Senior Center where our K4group meets and delivers them to the hospital tells us that many of these men & women arrive with absolutely nothing and the robes help them to cover the wounds thus preserving their dignity. Anyway, here are the latest ones that I've turned in. All are crocheted in the brick (box, brain-dead) stitch using leftovers from last year's hats & scarves along with the creams, whites & beiges that our group has in abundance.











The day I took the photos of the finished robes was brighter than I thought & the flash on my camera didn't go off. The photos above show the center sections quite well but the darker colored ends sort of blur together. The following swatches match the order of the above photos and, with the flash, give a better idea of the colors I used although they're actually darker than shown - somewhere between the two sets of photos.











I'm already working on the next lap robe but I need to take some time to knit another pair of Fuzzy Feet as DH has already worn holes in the pair I made him in January.

For Love Of Reading

I found this meme via a Plurk post by BubbleBoo.


What have you just read?

Spare Change, by Robert B. Parker, the last of the Sunny Randall mysteries that the library has on the shelves.

What are you reading now?

Killer View, by Ridley Pearson, a new to me mystery writer, that was on the New Books shelves when we went to the library on Friday.

Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?

I have three more mysteries by Robert B. Parker (two Jesse Stone & a Spencer) waiting on the pile along with an Arthur C. Clark & a Dale Brown.

What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?

That's easy! Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann in college.

What’s one book you always recommend to just about anyone?

I'm more apt to recommend authors depending on what sort of book the person enjoys.

Admit it, sadly the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?

Of course, & not sadly but proudly! When Mom & Dad moved here from the farm, Dad wanted to get a library card but didn't have the address change yet on anything. I went to the library with him not remembering that I had had to show my address on my driver's license some 21 years earlier. The librarian at the desk went ahead and issued him a card because, as she said, "Jane practically lives here." {g}

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein, I've read it five or six times but some people don't seem to enjoy science fiction.

Do you read books while you eat?

Yes, but more likely a magazine.

While you bathe?

Taking a book into the shower doesn't seem like a good idea..

While you watch movies or tv?

Yes, I usually read during commercials.

While you listen to music?

Yes.

While you’re on the computer?

Not much now that we have DSL, but back in the dial-up days I'd read while the page was loading s-l-o-w-l-y..

When you were little did other children tease you about your reading habits?

Only when I missed a word on purpose in the spelling bee so I could sit down & continue reading whatever book I was on at the moment.

What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?

Seeing that I regularly fall asleep in the recliner while reading - usually sometime after 1 a.m. - probably quite a few. But I still remember staying awake all night to finish Heinlein's I Will Fear No Evil back when it was published in 1970.

Have any books made you cry?

Black Beauty, the first library book that my Grandfather borrowed for me when I had the mumps at age 8. Most horse stories seemed to be so sad until I discovered The Black Stallion series a few years later.

One of the great things about being retired is that I have lots of time to read. I find that I'll discover an author & then go through just about everything that the library has by him or her. There's a list of all the books I've read since I started this blog over in the left side bar that goes back to when I started the blog in 2005.