A Little Help for a Friend (and a Talented Fiber Artist Besides)

Scarf by Fineena.
Photo copyright Wings, 2013, 2014; all rights reserved.

Update before posting: Wings and I are in for $50; it's already been sent. This is not a purchase; it's a donation. Can you match it? If so, go to PayPal.com and use this e-mail address: PALSKaren@aol.com. And if you can't, please help by sharing this with everyone in your real-life, e-mail, and social media networks.

This seems to be the year of the housing crisis. Already. How many of these have I done so far just since the beginning of 2014? Too many.

I mean, we're still in the throes of our own, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon, but we at least have had time to adjust. Our current digs are . . . well, to call them modest is still grandiose; it's not even a house. But we've managed to make it [mostly] functional, and relatively comfortable, and despite it all, we have each other and the animals and we get by.

Not everyone is so lucky.

My peeps at DK know her as Fineena. Some of you know who by her "real" name, too, but I'm not going to post that here unless she decides she wants me to do so for some reason. But I saw that peregrine kate, beautiful soul that she is, has a diary posted for her, and I figured if I can't help out there yet, at least I can post one in support over here.

Fineena, like a lot of us, has been through ten kinds of hell in recent years. The difference between her and some of us, though, is that she's doing it alone. Her only faithful companions are her Airedales, and they're currently boarding with her vet; whatever else happens, Fineena MUST be able to find housing that will accommodate her dogs. This is non-negotiable. Her life has already been put at grave risk by medical concerns (outlined below), and the stress of homelessness is only adding to that. But I can say from firsthand experience, knowing what it was like when I had no one in the world by my dogs: Losing them would kill her.

And that can't happen.

Follow me over the jump to see just what this lovely woman has been battling alone for so long, and find out how you can help.


The DK script demons keep me from commenting and otherwise participating at DK lately, but I can still read. And I was just thinking about Fineena a week or so ago, wondering how she was because I hadn't seen her. I never learn, of course; I should've just dug out her contact info and tracked her down.

Because things have been bad.

Thanks to Bush's economy, things went south a few years ago. Fineena lost her house. [I know something about what that does to a person.] She lost a treasure trove of personal belongings, family heirlooms, and other beloved items in storage. [I know something about that, too.] She was forced to move some distance away, all while dealing with chronic disabling conditions. [I know something about those, too.]

She finally found an apartment where she could have her beloved dogs, extensions of herself, really. And from the moment she moved in, it was one damn thing after another.

Her landlord is a . . . problem, shall we say. [That's me being polite. Enjoy it while you can, because it's a rare occurrence in such situations, and yes, it's a strategic one.] He's always been a problem, as far as I can tell, but apparently, complaining about a rodent infestation was a bridge too far, and he decided that he wasn't going to wasn't going to put up with complaints.

Meanwhile, her health was worsening. A few weeks ago, she wound up in the hospital. As I understand it, her doctors feared cancer; instead, she'd had a heart attack. She also has COPD, which is going to present new lifelong health issues for her.

And about this same time, the landlord decided to serve her with a 60-day notice of eviction.

According to kate's diary, she moved out yesterday, and is currently living in a temporary arrangement, while her beloved four-legged family members are being boarded at her vets (which will present another huge bill). She's already down $2,500 in terms of trying to claw her way out of this situation, but in practical terms, she's going to need much, much more to get her on her feet in a safe housing situation while she recovers from this medical crisis.

We can help with that.

First, Fineena has an etsy shop via which she sells her fiber art, and, yes, it is art. The scarf in the photo above is one of hers; another is in the photo below. I was privileged to receive both as gifts a year ago from Kossacks (I know the trio who funded one of them — love youse guys; the other remains unknown to me to this day). But here's what you really need to know:

I wear them. Like, all the time.

And virtually every single time I do, at least one person stops me to ask where I got it.

Scarf by Fineena.
Photo copyright Wings, 2013, 2014; all rights reserved.

This photo is from just about a year ago. [Sigh] when Lilith and Major were still with us.

Since then, we were lucky enough to be able to get Wings the winter scarf he needed by commissioning it from her over the winter. His is an ordinary long scarf, but narrow, per his request, and of a lovely soft blend. I don't have a photo or I'd post it, but it's also of a blend of colors: yellow and green and blue, and just beautiful. He loves it.

And because she is generous to a fault, Fineena also sent us the "practice scarf" she made first, to make sure that the yarn would work for what he needed. It's in blues and purples and magenta and a little green. And she sent me, as a gift, one of her glorious winter cowls, in black and white and jewel tones, for working outside in the freezing weather.

I can testify to the art, the crafts[wo]manship, and the incredibly good vibes built into every stitch.

So if you'd like to buy something, go to her etsy shop, here: WillieRu Designs. You won't be disappointed. Hell, there are at least half a dozen things there that are already objects of my lust. But I need to save my pennies for a couple of other much-needed clothing items right now. And besides, I want Fineena to have her inventory to sell to someone else, so we're donating $50 as an outright gift. If you'd like to do likewise — hey, if you'd like to match it! Yeah? — go to her PayPal.com account at PALSKaren@aol.com.

And please, please, Like, Share, Tweet, cross-post, re-post, e-mail, and share this with everyone you know. If they're in the market for beautiful fiber art, they won't be disappointed.

Chi miigwech.