Armed with Pointy Sticks: Time to Walk

Hello everyone!

It is truly getting to be spring time. More melty than freezy, the birds are coming back, and it's time for the MS Walk.

Many of us know someone with MS (I know most of you do ;)). They may be older, wheelchair bound, or they may be younger, with very few signs of the disease. They may be male or female, any color, any walk of life. The disease rarely discriminates. It just comes in and changes stuff around. It's annoying, it's embarrassing, and it's a thief. It steals stability (har har), self reliability, and pride. I have lost vision, lost balance, lost control of facilities that no one should lose control of, and once or twice, I've lost faith in myself.

There as my savior stands the Multiple Sclerosis Society. NMSS funds research, treatment, and education. It is a beacon in a world filled with people who could very easily make a hobby of hating them selves. The NMSS gives hope. Hope that we will continue to treat this disease, taking away it's hold on the lives that it affects. Hope that one day there will be a cure. Hope that I won't ever have to knit a wheelchair cozy.

This year I am incredibly lucky to be walking with a team. We have named ourselves The Champions of Cumulative Action. Those of you who have seen The Yarn Harlot speak know part of the reason for this name. The rest of you yarn wranglers will catch up quick.

When you knit a sock, you don't knit it all at once. You knit it one stitch at a time. You make thousands of stitches, one at a time, and you have a sock. When we walk 5 miles next month, we will do it one step at a time. Through many small, repetitive actions, we will achieve great things.

Which brings me to the peanut butter. Why we walk. We walk to raise money for the NMSS, and we'd be deeply touched if you'd help us do that. If you can only give 5 dollars, that may not seem like a big deal to you. If I can get 19 other people to donate 5 dollars, well, all of us together, cumulatively, if you will, have just raised 100 dollars to kiss MS goodbye.

Please help us by donating to the Champions of Cumulative Action. Or, if you feel like it, you can use the same link to join us and walk with us on April 20th (we'll probably be knitting while we walk).

Please feel free to look over the NMSS website to answer some further questions about MS. It was the first place that I went when I was diagnosed.

And please keep in mind, I started knitting after I was diagnosed with MS. One day I lost feeling in my hands. I couldn't do anything with my hands without looking at them. It irritated me so badly that I decided to teach myself how to knit. I wouldn't know most of you if it weren't for my MS. Is that a mixed blessing, or what? :D

Thank you :)