Guest Post

I guest posted today over on the Playdate Crashers website. I spoke a little about my miscarriage, as well as sharing about this blog. Give it a look if you get a chance!

Update!

I sent out 3 blankets today. Ladies (Rachel & Mattie) when you get them, let me know so I can post pictures!

I received two boxes of yarn recently from some sweet ladies! I'll post pictures later tonight!

I bought some wooden crochet hooks, just waiting for them to come in. SUPER excited about this as I think they'll help with some yarn slippage issues.

Do you think we should start a Facebook Page? Do you think it would make it easier for you to share with your friends and family?

I'm interested in branching out and doing blankets for parents who lost a baby due to SIDS or something like that. I want them to be different from the pregnancyloss/miscarriage blankets, but as of right now I'm at a loss of how to do that (and to signify how old the baby was). Maybe I shouldn't worry about showing the age? Any suggestions/comments would be VERY welcome. :)

My sweet girl has a cyst/boil/unknown on her leg....would you pray? She's starting antibiotics tonight, and is already on topical antibiotic.... if it's not better soon they're talking about lancing it... and...um... that scares me a LOT. So if you could, please send some healing prayers our way.

Also.... I would love to include some Bible verses in my notes with the blankets, any suggestions? I know it's pitiful that I'm asking this... but I have 95 irons in the fire and 2 arms to get them out.

Healing & Hope

I would love to see this blog blossom. I'm getting more followers every day (*waves* hello!) and I want this to be a place for healing and hope. I don't want to just post about my weekly crocheting, or just pictures of blankets. I DO want to post about that stuff, but I would love for this to be a place of inspiration as well.

I have 500 irons in the fire right now, so... that's where I hope you come in. If you would like to write a post to be featured on the blog, please email me. Just tell me the subject you'd like to talk about. I want them to be posts about healing, about hope, and about... just... well, feeling better.

Also, if you have followed this blog in the last week, and I don't follow you back... please leave me a message with your blog address. I'm a little overwhelmed, but I'd love to link back to you.

Thank you everyone!

Accomplished!

I feel very accomplished this evening. I'm 7 rows in on Carleigh's blanket. I mailed three blankets out (P.S. Ladies, please contact me when you receive them, I'd love to post their pictures here!). I did some other errands.

I also received a beautiful box in the mail today. It was a yarn donation made in honor of Mikayla Grace. Three beautiful skeins of yarn that will make gorgeous blankets. I was so honored and excited!

So that's been my day.

Check out our new Resources link! Let me know if there are any specific links you think I should add.

Also, under Angel Families, you can tell if your blanket is being worked on now! If your name is BOLD then you are currently who we are working on. We attempt to work from the top down (although sometimes, due to skill level & yarn we do skip around some), so if you're near the top you should be next! Please be sure to pass us along to your friends.

Blessings!

I have four finished blankets to mail out this week. Four families will get their remembrances.

I received a box of yarn today! I'm so thankful and so blessed by people who are willing to help this ministry.

I got to teach my husband how to crochet today because he had watched me crochet all weekend.

I have a clean house, which greatly influences the way I crochet.

I am weighted down by thoughts of sweet baby Skyler, but thankful for my beautiful daughter.

I had a great weekend with friends and family, was able to finish up MY first blanket for this ministry.

I have two wonderful ladies who are helping me with this ministry, and I could not be more thankful to them.

I am blessed beyond words today.

Resources?

I'm interested in putting a "Resources" page together, for any parents who are new to the miscarriage/pregnancy loss world and may stumble upon this blog. I've been out of the circuit for a while now, so I'm not up on where the good resources are. Blogs (for both miscarriage and pregnancy loss) would be good, or other sort of things. I really don't know what I want there, but I'd like it to be something.

Anyway. If you have any links you think may be beneficial to other families going through a miscarriage or pregnancy loss, please either email me, or leave a comment here. Thanks!

Yarn!

I'm so excited!

After digging in my parents shed, I discovered a trunk that housed my yarn. My yarn from many, many years. So I dug through the entire thing and pulled out all the yarn that would work for this ministry.

Behold.

That's a full laundry basket!

Close up of some yarn

I kind of stirred it, and viola, more yarn! ha!

 I'm so happy to have found all of this! My husband and I don't have a lot of money at the moment, so finding this stash has taken a huge burden off of my shoulders. If you have any PINK yarn laying around your house, and would like to donate it, we would really appreciate it! We received a donation of one skein at church this morning! We have several girls on the Angel Family list that need pink blankets. 

Also, this is a shot in the dark, ha! But you never know, if anyone has a yarn ball winder that is gathering dust... we'd love to take if off your hands!

Thank you, everyone, for your support. Pictures of our second blanket coming (hopefully) later this week!

Our First Angel Blanket is Done!

I don't have pictures, as my friend is the one who has finished it. But it's for sweet Baby C, who was only six weeks along.When my friend comes home next week, I'll be sure to take pictures of a finished blanket before we ship it off to it's Angel Family.

Also, if you notice at the top, we're slowly adding pages to make it easier to navigate. Stay patient with us as we slowly begin building this blog and this ministry.

Comments and suggestions are, as always, welcome!

How To Get Involved

I'm beginning to get interest in this ministry, which is awesome! I'd love to share with you how you can get involved.

If you would like to help produce the blankets: Great! We are currently doing knit & crocheted blankets. I will provide you with a (very, very simple and customizable) pattern, and if needed, yarn. I would then contact you with the color of blanket needed, and the final size (amount of rows).

If you would like to donate: I'm not going to ask for monetary donations in any way, shape, or form. I don't ever want anyone to feel "fishy" about this ministry. If you would like to donate, we do accept yarn donations. We ask that they be in pastel (baby) colors and of a soft yarn. Baby yarn works, as does brands like "Simply Soft." These blankets are baby blankets, even if they will never hold a baby.

If you would like to be ministered to: Please don't feel rude or odd about asking to receive a blanket. That is what we're here for! I'm trying not to search out blogs and push my ministry on them, I would much rather that they come to me and ask to receive a blanket. If you yourself have not lost a child but would like to nominate someone to receive a blanket, that works too! There are a few questions I would need to know before beginning the blanket, but they're easy and non-intrusive.

If you would like to pray: Pray for our ministry! Pray that we continue to find funds (or yarn donations) to meet the need. Pray that we truly are a blessing to families in need. Pray that we bring hope, or at least comfort to these families. Pray for me, as I pour over each babies story, and pour my tears out onto my keyboard. Pray that our message gets out, and we are able to minister to the ones that are sometimes forgotten because they didn't lose a child, they merely miscarried.

Other ways you can help:

Share our blog! Either on facebook, by putting our "button" on your blog, or by blogging about us. Doesn't have to be anything special, just a note that says we're here. I honestly don't have time (part time working, full time mothering/being a wife, crocheting, and blogging) to search out avenues to advertise by.... so your help here would be a blessing.

I'm hoping to get a navigation bar up at the top soon, and have this be a sticky up there. If you have any comments or suggestions, please, let me know. Thank you.

Our first Angel Families

We have our first two families to minister to! As much as I hate the fact that we have people to minister to, I am thankful that I have the opportunity to do so.

Please be in prayer for these two families.

Baby C was lost around 6 weeks. The Momma didn't know she was pregnant, and is unsure of how to process it.

Baby Aiden was born sleeping at 36 weeks. You can go here to leave your love for his parents.

Pray for my hands, as I crochet these blankets.

I have 3 people willing to help me with blankets right now! And I have 8 openings for Angel families. If you know someone you would like to receive a blanket, please let me know either in a comment (please leave your email) or by emailing me at rows4remembrance at gmail dot com!

Shaina

Getting Started

Hey everyone!

I'm so excited to start this ministry. This is something that has been on my heart since November of 2008, and I'm finally pushing myself to just do it.

In November of 2008, I miscarried my first pregnancy. If you'd like to read more about it, please go to my personal blog, and read my miscarriage posts. I may post more about on here later, but for now, you can read my story there.

When I first found out I was pregnant, a family member began crocheting me a baby blanket. It was gender neutral and oh so snuggly soft. When I found out I had miscarried, she stopped crocheting it and just bound it off, then gave it to me.

It was perfect. It was soft and squishy. It was a blanket unfinished, which represented a life unfinished. It has became one of my most treasured items.

That's what I want to do here. I want to minister to families who have had a miscarriage, or suffered the death of a baby while pregnant. Sadly, I know several women who fit this niche, and I know there are thousands more out there. I want to give them a blanket, an "unfinished blanket", to represent their babies sweet lives.

Each blanket will have rows that represent the weeks of their little ones lives. Our blankets will start out with a specified amount of rows (20) and then will have an additional row for every week that you carried your baby. If you had a miscarriage at eight weeks, like me, then your blanket will be 28 rows long. If you had a baby born sleeping at 34 weeks, then your blanket will be 54 weeks. Each row signifies those memories you have of your sweet babe.

So, how can you help?

First, be in prayer for this ministry. Especially as I go through the organizational stages.

Second, If you can knit or crochet, please contact me! I would love to have a small base of crafters willing to help.

Third, You can nominate someone to receive a blanket. I'm starting out with 10 families to minister to, and my goal is to get them their blankets by April. Please email me if you have a family you would like to receive a blanket (or, if you would like to receive a blanket yourself).

I covet your prayers, and your support. Please keep an eye on us as we get this ministry started!

Any suggestions, or comments, are always appreciated!