A personal friend of mine runs an organization called Angels for Hope. They crochet angels and smiley faces, and send them to people who need a little bit of cheering. Here’s an article that tells a bit about the organization, also.
They’re in need of volunteers, to crochet angels. They’ve got a rather huge backlog of orders, and Kelly (my friend) is also recovering from major back surgery.
I’ve just started crocheting for them. My mother has been working with Kelly from the beginning, also.
It’s a good organization. They don’t really need financing, although they do accept donations. What they’re really needing right now is crocheters.
If you want to help, fill out the form on the website. In the space for where you heard about this, you can either put my name (Cristi), “the internet,” or this message board.
Thanks!
(note to moderators: I did ask Eutychus if it was okay for me to plug this group here, and he said okay.)
Nah, I’m plenty crochety for free already. But thanks.
I’d be happy to help, except that I’m only a crocheter-wannabe. I bought a “learn to crochet” kit with a book and a bunch of assorted hooks nearly a year ago, but I can’t seem to get the hang of it. I fear my left-handedness is an insurmountable obstacle.
Okay, maybe this is a minor hijack, but can anyone out there give me a clue?
I would love to help, but I am no good at making stuff from a pattern. 
Do you think they could send me one to copy?
I can make other nifty stuff (cute little worms with google eyes).
Bad News Baboon, I can send you one. Just email me your name & address. Thanks a lot! 
Bad News Baboon, I can send you one. Just email me your name & address. Thanks a lot!
BunnyLady, you might try setting your book up in a mirror, so the diagrams are reversed. Then you can follow the diagrams exactly as they appear in the mirror instead of trying to reverse them in your head. It seemed to help one of my friends.
What exactly are you having trouble with?
I’m not even left-handed and I can’t follow the diagrams. I can make a chain ok, but I’m not exactly sure how the single crochet, double crochet, etc work, because two dimensional diagrams just don’t seem to cut it.
Does anyone know a website with good pictures?
In a double crochet, to start the row, simply poke your needle through one strand of the second stitch from the one hanging on your needle. Grab your new yarn and pull your hook back out of the chain. Now there’ll be two loops on the hook, the one you started with, and the new yarn you just pulled up. To complete the stitch, you just have to grab more yarn and pull it through both loops at the same time, just like you’d do a chain stitch.
Double crochets are a lot like the single crochet, except you start by throwing your yarn over the hook before poking through the third stitch from your hook. When you pull the yarn through, you’ll have three loops, the original, the one you wrapped around, and the one you just pulled up. Pull yarn through the first two loops (the ones nearest the hook end of your hook). This will leave two loops still on your hook, the original one you started with, and the stitch you just pulled through. Pull yarn through those loops, and there’s your stitch.
The first row is always the hardest part. You might want to experiment with making granny squares, where you chain a circle, then make your stitches in the circle. It might help you practice the stitches without all that confusing working-through-the-chain stuff. Once you’re sure you’ve got the stitches down, it’s much easier to make a first row off a chain.
Oops, that first line should read “In a single crochet”. Sorry.
I crochet like nobody’s business. I also have tendonitis. I could probably bang out a few before my hand fell off. I’ll let ya know.