For the Birds

     Crocheted items are not just for people.  They can also be for the birds.  The South Jersey Crochet Guild recently received a huge amount of donated cotton yarn.  Cotton yarn doesn't lend itself to our usual projects - baby items, hats and scarves, and afghans.  It's great for making dish cloths or wash cloths (and we are filling a request from a shelter for the homeless for wash cloths).
     As I said, we have "a huge amount" of cotton yarn.  We had to find something to make besides wash cloths.  A little googling reveled that wildlife refuges use crocheted nests to rehabilitate birds and other injured or abandoned animals.  Rescues will take cotton nests as an alternative to acrylic.  Yarn nests are soft.  They are superior to the plastic containers sometimes used as nests because animals that might flail around don't aggravate their injuries if they bump into the sides of a crocheted nest.  It's easy to toss cotton nests into the washing machine when they get dirty.  I found two rescues that are thrilled to receive our nests.
     There are free patterns online for bird nests.  Bev's Country Cottage (not me, another crafty Beverly) provides instructions for knitted, crocheted, and loom knitted versions.  Here's the link:

http://bevscountrycottage.com/nest.html

     I just can't resist the urge to tweek a pattern.  Here's my version:

Bird's Nest in Two Sizes

Small Nest

Use two strands of yarn. 

Keep your work tight so birdie toes do not get caught in the nest.

Use H hook 

Don't worry too much about the stitch count.  If, at the end of a round, you don't have exactly 12, 24, or 36 stitches, don't fret.  If you are short on stitches, just increase and go on.  There is no need to decrease if you have an extra stitch.  Being close to the stitch count will produce a nice nest.

R1 : 12 sc into a magic ring.  Join with sl st into the first st. (12 sc)  Pull the ring tightly closed.

R2 : Ch1, do not turn.  2 sc in all 12 sc below for total of 24sc.  Place marker.

NOTE: Do not turn and do not join rounds unless indicated.

R3 : Sc in each sc.  Place marker (24 sc). 

R4 : (2sc in next st, sc in next st) around.  Place marker (36 sc).  Nest bottom should be 3" - 3½" in diameter. 

Rds5-7 : Repeat R3 (36 sc) marking all rounds with the marker.

After R7, turn the nest inside-out.  It is easier to weave in and clip the beginning strands before turning the nest 

Continue making 4 more rounds using your marker or until the nest is 2½ to 3 inches deep.  You can finish off with an edge of slip stitching, but it is not necessary.  Clip yarn and weave ends.   

 For a larger nest: After R4 do another round of 2sc, 1sc to reach a total of 54 sc.  The bottom of the nest will be 4½" - 5" in diameter.  Repeat Rds5-7.  Turn nest inside-out.  Complete 5 rounds of 54sc.  Sides should be about 3" high.  This nest will benefit from a round of slip stitch at the rim to add stability.  Clip yarn and weave in ends.  

Birds don't care about the color.  Making these nests is a great way to use up all your scraps of yarn. 

The most used size has a 3.5 to 4.5 inch bottom diameter, but nests with a bottom diameter of up to 6.5 inches are useful.

     

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health

     I received a letter yesterday from the United States Department of Health and Human Services which informs me that my address is one of 200,000 randomly chosen for participation in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.  The letter looked official.  It was signed by Grace E. Medley, National Study Director, and Ilona S. Johnson, National Field Director.  Both of these ladies work for RTI International, a non-profit organization contracted to conduct the study.  An interviewer named Theresa Albino would come to my house to conduct my survey interview.  There was a picture showing a sample of the badge that Ms. Albino would wear as a way of confirming her identity.  The letter also referred me to a website (https://nsduhweb.rti.org/respweb/homepage.cfm) and provided a toll free phone number (1-800-848-4079).  As an incentive, I would even be paid $30.00 in cash if, after answering some basic questions, I were to be chosen to complete the full survey.  Of course, I spent an hour googling to determine if this was for real.  Turns out it is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Survey_on_Drug_Use_and_Health

     Now, I don't have problems with government surveys like the decennial census.  In fact, I worked as a census taker in 2010.  The National Survey on Drug Use and Health has been conducted every year since 1971.  RTI International got the job of conducting the survey in 1988.  The survey includes questions about use or non-use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs.  There are also questions about mental health and other health related topics.  After the initial screening, the household might be by-passed for participation.  If the household is selected for full participation, only one member will be interviewed, and that member might be a child age 12 or older.  If there is one thing I have observed in life, it is that everybody lies.  I'm willing to bet that almost everybody minimizes how much they smoke and drink, and they might increase the deception when it comes to revealing drug use and their mental health struggles.  I would almost be willing to bet my next Social Security check that a fourteen-year-old would tell the biggest whoppers of all, especially if their parents are in the room.  RTI International makes assurances that participants' information is completely confidential, but they know that this promise isn't always enough to extract the complete truth.  According to a report I read from the 2016 survey, RTI randomly samples respondents in an attempt to verify their answers.  The quote below comes from that report:               

     "Samples of respondents who completed screenings or interviews are randomly selected for verification. These cases are called by telephone interviewers who ask scripted questions designed to determine the accuracy and quality of the data collected. Any case discovered to have a problem or discrepancy is flagged and routed to a small specialized team of telephone interviewers who recontact respondents for further investigation of the issue(s). Depending on the amount of an FI's work that cannot be verified through telephone verification, including bad telephone numbers (e.g., incorrect number, disconnected, not in service), a field verification may be conducted. Field verification involves another FI returning in person to the sampled address to verify the accuracy and quality of the data."

     Verification problems might be caused by the participant changing a story or the participant might not want to talk about sensitive information with an unknown caller.  There is also the possibility  the interviewer fabricated answers to get the job done when participants won't cooperate.  The report goes on to explain that, should it come to light that the interviewer lied, they will be fired from their job.  You can read the full report here:

https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-MethodSummDefs-2016/NSDUH-MethodSummDefs-2016.htm

     Participation in the U. S. Census is mandatory under Title 13 of the U.S. Code.  You can be fined for failure to participate or for answering questions falsely.  However,  participating in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health is voluntary.  I don't have much to report to the Department of Health and Human Services other than having wine with dinner and popping the occasional ibuprofen when I work too hard in the yard.  None the less, I have decided to "just say no." 

   

Baby Blankets with Coordinating Hats

     The Crochet Guild of Southern New Jersey got a request from another local organization for baby blankets with matching hats.  Since we rely on yarn donations, often there is not enough yarn to complete a project.  Sometimes we receive weirdly colored yarn or yarn composed of unusual fibers.  Here are my contributions so far to this project:

This yarn is very soft, good for babies, but the colors are not traditional.  The fiber content is 50% rayon from bamboo and 50% rayon from another source.  Rayon is also known as viscose.  Ordinary rayon is made from regenerated wood cellulose, and bamboo rayon is made from the regenerated cellulose of the bamboo plant.  Bamboo rayon is pretty much the same as regular rayon.  Regeneration refers to the chemical change that happens to the cellulose when it is processed.  Processing bamboo cellulose involves steaming and crushing the plant then treating the cellulose with lye and carbon disulfide.  Emissions from this process cause air pollution and damage the heath of textile workers.  If you think that fabric made from bamboo is natural, made in the same way as cotton, linen, or wool, think again.  Bamboo rayon is neither natural nor artificial.  To see that something is made from bamboo sounds "green," but the processing is far from a "green" operation. In China, bamboo replaced wood cellulose for rayon production because bamboo grows quicker.  The bamboo forest renews itself faster and can grow in poorer soil than a normal forest.  While the antimicrobial properties of bamboo are questionable, the fabric is biodegradable and can be composted when it reaches the end of its serviceable life.   

There wasn't enough of this multi-colored acrylic yarn to make the blanket, so the edges are multi-colored and the center is done with white yarn.  The yellow edge brings the yellow hat into the mix.  I could go on about acrylic fiber because it is made from petroleum, but I have always known that.  The bamboo yarn story was eye opening to me, and I thought it might also be for H in H readers.  

   
   
     Note: I always wash the finished projects since the source of the yarn is almost always unknown.