Just a wee minute...

Most of you, like myself, are feeling a bit frazzled right now. We've got just a week until Christmas Eve. Even if, like me, you chose to not to try and knit every present to save some of your sanity, there are still cards to address, cookies to bake, gifts to buy (don't forget those small businesses!), clothes to pack, houses to clean....I could go on forever with all the preparation we get ourselves into for Christmas. And I do love all of it; as crazy as it gets, it's a blast. But it's busy, and so easy to get so wrapped up in the business of it all we forget about what the whole point is, myself included.

So now is when I'm asking you to take just a minute, as hard as it is, because I know you've got stuff to do. I nearly didn't even take the time to write this because well, it's all there, looking at me, saying, "Come on, get going! Do you know how close Christmas is?" So I'm ignoring it right now. Because yesterday I got together with some amazing friends to share cookies and conversation and "mama support". I got to come home to my warm , lovely house to two beautiful children and a husband who loves me. I got to tuck my boys in bed, relax and knit on my cozy couch. This morning I was able to watch my son perform in his first Christmas pagent, my baby squeel and laugh through the whole thing, and....you're getting my point here, right? Sometimes I get these moments when it seriously hits me: how lucky I am, how incredibly lucky I am, considering how many people there are in this world, all the places and situations I could be in yet I've gotten to have a life as nice as this.

So where am I going with all this rambling? I'm asking you to take just a wee bit of time for something else in the next two weeks, something that will make a big difference. My Coffeeswap partner, Lia, brought this up on her blog last week: Caps to the Capital. They were written up in Interweave's holiday issue and I had forgetten all about them. Four million newborns die each year, half in the first 24 hours, for want of basic medical necessities, such as a cap to keep them warm. Not only do these babies need hat and medical supplies, they need the voices of the rest of us to let our politicians know how important it is to help them out.

The group has the goal of sending 50,000 caps to the capital by January 31st and send the message to our politicians that these babies are important and worth our time and money. The sad thing is that Lia reported they are falling short of their goal. This blew my mind, because aren't we knitters a generous bunch? Shouldn't we have exceeded that goal already??? It's time to step up annd make some time for something this important.

Here's what I'd love to see. Knit at least one hat. Go here for the PDF file and the instructions. Honestly, these babies are so tiny and the hats so small that it will take you about 5 minutes to knit a hat like this. Heck, you could even make a hat swatch for that Christmas gift I know you've not started yet. If you're local, I will even mail if for you. Just e-mail me at knittymama AT yahoo DOT com and I'll let you know where you can drop it off. If you're not local, pop your hat in the mail when you're mailing all those cards and packages. They need them to be mailed by January 2nd, so you could use the hats as the perfect roadtrip knitting. What ever the deal, please find some time to knit or crochet up at least one little hat. Be sure to e-mail Lia as she's having a contest to keep you motivated! Let's get these caps to these babies and send this message!!