Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Blankets

As a new member I'm wondering if blankets are part of a campaign or are always for a Cure drive? If they are not for Cure is there a size requirement?
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3 comments:

Elizabeth D said...

Hi, Kathy -- First off, be careful to check out the web site for afghans for Afghans -- click on the first thing under Links and Learn More, over on the right about halfway down. Many of your questions are answered on that site. Short answer -- each campaign has its own rules. Blankets come around fairly often, but on no set schedule, and size varies according to campaign. And there are campaigns for which blankets are not appropriate. The web site will tell you more, but there are a few things to bear in mind: (1) afghans for Afghans does not collect anything until a specific request has been made from a reputable organization and shipping arrangements have been finalized; (2) afghans for Afghans has NO storage space, so can't keep anything that isn't being shipped out in the current campaign; (3) a4A relies on the people over there to say what they need, and then sends only what's been asked for. So, right now we're madly finishing up baby blankets for the Cure Hospital. It may be a year until they ask for them again and arrangements can be made. It may be less; it may be more time. The next campaign could ask for much larger blankets, for bigger kids. Or it could specifically say no blankets. Does this help?

(Also, not entirely sure what you mean when you differentiate between a Cure drive and a campaign -- all collections are specifically targeted and in response to a definite set of requirements.)

Elizabeth

November 18, 2009 at 5:31 PM
Kathy F said...

Right now blankets are made for Cure hospital. Is there a time when blankets are not for the hospital and those size requirements might not be used. I see on the Ravelry site that some are adding borders or making hems in blankets so the will fit the size requirements of Cure. Could they instead be saved and sent when items weren't going to Cure? I understand the need for blankets to be of a size for the hospital, but a parent wouldn't really care if the blanket was 38" rather than 40". It's not always easy to get a pattern to work out to a specific size.

November 19, 2009 at 6:06 AM
Elizabeth D said...

Kathy, when the Cure Hospital asks for blankets, they request that they be a minimum of 30 inches by 40 inches (and there is an upper limit, as well). Since our goal is to help, it seems only right -- and polite! -- to send what they've asked for. I usually pick a pattern that I know will give me the desired size. If your blanket is really close -- if, for instance, it measures 39.5 inches -- no one is going to reject it -- but if it's significantly shorter it does need to be adjusted. Or, if you already know the pattern you're going to use won't work with the requested size, why not just use a different pattern?

Afghans for Afghans isn't enforcing some arbitrary rules just because they can -- when something's been asked for, and specific dimensions requested, they honor the request, figuring the people who have made that request have a reason.

It's really hard sometimes to remember, when you're working on something and you love it and want to send it but it doesn't meet the guidelines, that, ultimately, this project isn't about us -- it's about people far away, living lives we can't imagine, in what seems to be a perpetual war zone. If the size of the blankets didn't matter, they wouldn't give us dimensions. We honor them and help them best when we send what they've said they need.

November 19, 2009 at 6:27 AM

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