Recently I finished A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penney, and have been haunted by the image of ugly Mr. Finney down at the lake “doing his sums.”  The reader assumes the wealthy Mr. Finney is taking account of his financial assets, but as it turns out, he is counting his blessings, every single one. 

It’s easy to forget, when all is going swimmingly in your life, that the holidays can be difficult for people who are ill, grieving, lonely, or afraid.  So, I am asking you to participate in our project to partner knitted, crocheted, or bought stuffed toys with children’s books for the children who will be at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth over the coming holidays.  Volunteers use these in the Pencil Partner Program, giving them to the children after a tutor session.  You can donate a book and manufactured stuffed toy, or knit or crochet toys to partner with a book.  My goal is to have 40 to deliver before Christmas.  Village Toy and Book Shop in Littleton is generously offering 20% off children’s books and stuffed toys for the project.  You can buy them and leave them with the book store, or drop them off here at Love.Yarn.Shop.  We also have a collection of yarn here at the shop that is free for the taking to knit up a toy, or if you buy a skein for the project, it is 20% off.  

If you knit a square or rectangle in stocking net stitch, casting on 24 or 32 stitches with any weight yarn, I can make it into a bunny or mouse.  Just mail it or drop it off!  I’d like to make the delivery on December 17th.

Here is a site that has a lot of links to free patterns:  http://knittedtoys.blogspot.com