As everyone will remember, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans on August 29, 2005 and devestated not only Louisiana, but also Mississippi. One of the hardest hit areas in New Orleans was the Lower 9th Ward which was flooded when the levees broke due to faulty engineering. Over two years later, New Orleans and what happened there has largely been relegated to the back pages of newspapers, or only mentioned when politicians are trying to get elected. Many of you may have seen interviews with Brad Pitt and his foundation, Make it Right whose goal is to build 150 homes in the Lower 9th. The Lower 9th had the highest percentage of homeowners in New Orleans, and when Katrina happened, many of these homeowners lost everything. These homes will be raised to withstand flooding and will be environmentally friendly. Make It Right is asking for donations to build these homes. Each home costs $150,000 to build. Homeowners will then receive a need based finanacing package insuring that they are able to afford the home. People are not just given a home and it’s “see you later, good luck making the payments.”

Where am I going with this? Well, for the last two years, I have hosted the Hurricane Sock Party, which is a swap where participants knit one sock, and send it and a ‘hurricane survival package’ to their partner. This year, I’d like to do something to make a difference. Many of us have yarn stashes that can keep us in yarn for years without ever having to darken the door of the local LYS or point and click on our favorite online shop. Many of us have declared 2008, the year of the yarn diet. I know that I can certainly knit all year at least with the stuff in my stash. For HSP 2008, I’d like for everyone to donate money to Make it Right. I figure that an average skein of sock yarn runs about $20.00 and that if 7,800 knitters would donate the equivalent of one skein of sock yarn, a family in New Orleans might just be able to get their lives back on track. I’m not saying that the donation should be $20, any amount is appreciated, I just used that number, because it was a nice round number! I cannot comprehend what it would be like to lose absolutly everything I own, and then as I try to rebuild meet roadblock after roadblock. I would love for knitters, who have proven that we are a generous bunch–look at The Harlot’s amazing Knitters without Borders–to say that yarn built a house in New Orleans. Within the next week, I’ll have a dedicated website up and running so we can track our progress. I have already contacted the Make it Right foundation and they have put us up on the Team Page so we can see the progess of the  donations. I have it set it up so you donate directly to the foundation–that way, the donations don’t go through me, and you have a tax record. On their exisiting Team Sponsored Home page, The  Ellen Degeneres Show is raising money for house #2.  I know she has millions of viewers, but I think knitters can build a house, and therefore I’m calling this project, The House That Yarn Built.  If should decide to donate, you can click on the big pink house in the header, then as you donate, you can choose from the drop down menu of the team sponsored homes and have your donations added to our house.  When you donate  PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU CHOOSE THE HOUSE THAT YARN BUILT AS YOUR TEAM.  I’m also hoping to be able to give out door prizes at the end of this, so if you are a business who wants to donate things to give away,  please contact me at christy@thehousethatyarnbuilt.com or christy@misplacedsouthernbelle.com.  Once you’ve donated, you can send me your name to put in the drawing, and when we reach certain levels, I’ll do a drawing. Let’s shoot for the first $10,000 and we’ll have the first drawing! The first site won’t be up and running until the this weekend, but the email should work. If not, please use the other one.  What do ya’ll think? Can knitters build a house? I think we can! For more detailed information on the Make it Right Foundation, you can visit www.makeitrightnola.org .

 PS, I’d love it if everyone who reads  this can get the word out. That would help so so much!