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DECEMBER NEWSLETTER
December 20, 2010
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Today’s Topics:
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We delivered 650 comfort scarves in December which made our total 10,000 for 2010
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We reached all the shelters in Los Angeles County and a few more
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Our core group is outstanding
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We sent thank you letters to 347 individual contributors throughout the country
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The shelters appreciate comfort scarves
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More news from our affiliates
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The generous contributions from yarn companies and individuals continue
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Ideas for making comfort scarves from “scraps” of yarn
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Looking back on 2010 and getting started on 2011
And now for the details:
We delivered 650 comfort scarves in December. The last scarves arrived on my front porch on Monday, December 6, and they were wrapped and in their boxes the next day. Barbara Klein drove over and crammed the 7 huge boxes into her car to ship the next day from her business. It really took all of us to get this done. Honestly, I wondered if we would be able to achieve our goal of 10,000 scarves made and delivered in 2010 given that we were out of scarves at the end of November, but with all of you working so hard, we did it. Your output and dedication to reaching the goal were amazing. You really care about helping abused women change their lives. This shows in the beauty of your work, your attention to detail, and your determination to get your completed scarves to Handmade by the deadline.
We achieved another goal in 2010. We delivered comfort scarves to every one of the 27 shelters for abused women in Los Angeles County, as well as 4 shelters in Orange County, and 2 shelters in San Diego County. That indicates there are a lot of abused women who need protection. You’d think that during happy times celebrating the holidays, abuse would abate, but contrary to common sense, abuse increases during the holidays. That’s the reason we make and deliver our comfort scarves all year long, starting in January.
We couldn’t do this without the contributions of all of you, but I must mention our core group which meets every Wednesday evening at Concepts in Yarn in Torrance. Many in this group not only make scarves, but also make the kits, wrap scarves, and support Handmade in all kinds of ways that don’t show in the finished scarf. The photo below shows us at our holiday party at Il Toscano, an Italian restaurant near Concepts in Yarn. I know you can’t see us very well, but you can see we are having a good time. 10,000 comfort scarves! We had a lot to celebrate. |
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Many people ask how many people actually participate in Handmade. I know there are a lot and that people from all over volunteer in our project. Before our holiday party, I alphabetized and then counted all the thank you letters I sent this year to individual donors. 347 different people received letters. That doesn’t count people who participate as part of groups. 347 is a huge number. I appreciate each and every one of you!
More shelters sent warm notes of appreciation. Luis Nagel, at The Good Shepherd, writes: “A thousand thank you’s for all the beautiful scarves sent to us and handmade by your group. What a joy they were for our moms. . . I knit a little so I know how special a gift this was.”
In like manner, Christina Sathi, Outreach Manager at Su Casa, sent a card: “Dear Leslye and all our friends at Handmade Especially for You! Thank you so much for sharing your talents and kindness with our families.”
Executive Director of Jenesse Center, Karen Earl, sent a letter saying: “I would like to thank you for your continuous support of our program with your donation of comfort scarves. . . . the ladies in our shelter are very excited and appreciative to have the beautiful and colorful scarves that you and your organization have consistently donated to our emergency and transitional facilities.”
Shelly Ross, Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator at the South Bay offices of 1736 Family Crisis Center, wrote that The Housewives of Beverly Hills is one of their major celebrity supporters. While they all were setting up their holiday “store,” Taylor Armstrong, one of the housewives, saw our scarves and loved them. She picked one to wear for a photo op which will be used to promote 1736. Great for 1736 and great for Handmade. Here she is: |
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The slogan on the wall behind Taylor says: “It takes a community to heal an individual. Really! I believe it takes a really big community to make 10,000 comfort scarves.
Our affiliates are going strong too. Marg Grieve, founder and organizer of Giving Hands, our affiliate in Nelson, BC, reports that her group donated 334 items to 4 different shelters in Nelson. Marg reports that “one of the great things I have experienced being the leader of the group is how we help and encourage each other in situations unrelated to our common goal. I . . think that ‘giving to those in need’ is very applicable in our case.” I agree. Over and over I see that the makers of the scarves get as much from making them as the recipients do from receiving them. A win/win situation for both.
Renee Hoffman donated another 50 scarves to Interval House in Long Beach CA.
Merrilyn Mancini, in Monterey CA, donated 100 scarves to SOP (Shelter Outreach Plus).
In San Diego CA, Susan VanWinkle’s group donated comfort scarves to Rachel’s Women’s Center and Women’s Resource Center (in Oceanside). Susan prefers to deliver personally and not ship scarves, so her group supplies these 2 shelters and our group takes care of 2 other San Diego shelters.
In Clarkston MI, Marie Woodman reports that her small group has donated 15 scarves in December, which gives them a total of 30 for the year.
Kathy Amiott in Cincinnati OH, received more press for her work with students at Mt Healthy High School. Kathy set a goal of providing 200 comfort scarves to the local YWCA shelters for abused women, and with the support of Connie Willliams and Stamp Your Art Out, Kathy collected 400 scarves and donated them to 6 YWCA shelters in the Cincinnati area. Here are the teens and Kathy with some of the scarves they made: |
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PA has the most affiliates outside of CA. Karen Walborn organized a group that donated 12 comfort scarves to the Domestic Violence Shelter in Cumberland and Perry Counties. Sheri, the Resident Coordinator of the shelter, was thrilled with the donation and told Karen she looks forward to distributing them to the women.
Dr. Laura Guertin, Penn State University, organized a group that donated 100 comfort scarves to the Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County. This shelter provides services to 5,000 victims of domestic violence each year, just in Delaware County. Laura expects her group to make and donate 100 scarves per month. What a great goal!
Chris Polamalu started a group in Norristown PA. She is very excited to make her first delivery of 15 comfort scarves to Laurel House.
Founder of Comfort Scarves, Barb Kochuba in Pittsburgh, donated 300 comfort scarves to 4 shelters there. In addition to comfort scarves, her group also made 90 fleece scarves which they gave to children in their 4 shelters. She plans to add more shelters in 2011.
Participating in Handmade Especially for You is contagious. Scarfers throughout the US (and Canada) are “catching” the Handmade bug. I have not counted the scarves made and distributed by the affiliates in the 10,000 distributed by our Torrance CA based group. We do receive scarves from people throughout the US; but we distribute them here in So. CA, so they count in our 10,000. I know that’s confusing but really, it doesn’t matter. Women throughout the US are making comfort scarves and the scarves are being donated to shelters for abused women here in So. CA and the rest of the country.
Peggy Bomba, in Craig CO, sent another box of scarves made by the female inmates at Moffet County Jail. So I did the only thing possible and sent her another box of kits for her “girls” to crochet. Peggy marvels at the calming effect making scarves has on her girls. Another example of how scarfing helps the scarfers. The men at the jail saw the women crocheting scarves so they wanted to make scarves too. Peggy taught them to make fleece scarves. Even more moving, she provided enough fleece for the inmates to make scarves so they could give handmade gifts to members of their families. To me, Peggy illustrates how one good deed leads to another. What a wonderful way for inmates to keep in touch with their families.
Lucky for Handmade, we have so many yarn companies who donate yarn. This month, we received 2 more cases of yarn from Knitting Fever, one of our most generous and consistent donors. Thank you so much, Tymon. Schaefer Yarn also donated some skeins. We will use them all immediately when we get started again in January. We definitely understand that we couldn’t make our beautiful scarves if we didn’t have beautiful yarn.
As the year ends, I see we are overwhelmed with pieces of good yarn too small to make a scarf. And so are many of the affiliates. Everyone wants to know what to do with all these pieces. Here are some ideas. If you have other suggestions, we’d love to have them so we can share them with other scarfers. The patterns will be on the website soon.
Comfort Scarf Made With 2 Different Yarns
If you have pieces of yarn 60 or 70 yards long, you can make a scarf by knitting 2 rows with one yarn, and then without cutting the first yarn, knit 2 rows with the second. You can use any stitch so long as you carry the yarn along the side. |
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As Easy As 1-2-3 Comfort Scarf
This is a good scarf to make if you have 3 pieces of yarn each around 50 yards long. Like the knit-2-rows pattern, the trick is to carry the yarns along the side. But unlike the 2-rows pattern, you knit just one row with each yarn and then change yarns. You have to take the time to move each ball of yarn as you knit it, or you end up with a terrible tangle.
Vertical Comfort Scarf Made From Scraps
Susan VanWinkle sent us a suggestion for a vertical scrap scarf. She says you could make it knitting only garter stitch, where you knit two rows with A and two rows with B, no increasing or decreasing. But she thinks it looks better on the diagonal, increasing one stitch at the beginning and decreasing one at the end of each alternate row. I like that too. I do the diagonal differently, but take your pick. |
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| Horizontal Comfort Scarf Made From Scraps
I really like making horizontal scrap scarves. We have several versions, going from very planned to more or less unplanned. This scarf uses 10-yard pieces of yarn. Mary Gravlin’s scarf (black and blue) is most planned. She uses a firm yarn on the outside edges to keep the shape of the scarf. I also like the planned scarf (yellow and orange), but I use bigger needles which means fewer rows. Mary casts on 180 stitches on size 11 circular needles; I cast on 160 on size 13 circulars.
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Hilary Cohen uses size 11 needles also. But where Mary and I always knit at least 2 rows, Hilary knits one row, sometimes 2, sometimes 3. If she runs out of yarn in the middle of a row, she just attaches another yarn and keeps going. And, instead of weaving in all the ends, she makes fringe. Of course, it is much faster to make scarves from new yarn, not worry about matching weights, coordinating colors, etc. However, it feels so thrifty to use up scraps. Luckily, we have plenty of scraps to share if you want them; and we have beautiful, new yarn for those who prefer it.
We accomplished a lot in 2010. We made 10,000 comfort scarves and delivered them to more than 30 shelters in S CA, and more if you count the donations of our affiliates in the rest of the US and Canada. Our operation has grown as well. We have more kit makers, more scarfers and more volunteers. With our huge community, we made and delivered 10,000 comfort scarves.
Many people have asked me if we’re going to expand to making and delivering 20,000 comfort scarves in 2011. I know they’re kidding. We’re not ready to double again (as we did from 2009 to 2010). We want to grow, have more affiliates, reach more shelters, but we cannot do so without a workshop.
Last year at this time, we were hoping for a 501(c)3; and happily, with the help of Hilary Cohen, our lawyer, we got it (EIN: 26-3529292). This year, we need a workshop that is independent of my house or the homes of all the people who support Handmade. We need to consolidate our kit making, wrapping, shipping scarves to shelters and receiving scarves from donors. I don’t know who will step forward and help us move to this next level, but I am confident someone will.
June Grossberg, owner of Concepts in Yarn, and constant advisor and supporter of Handmade, suggests we have a big fund raiser. It’s true if we had more money, we could pay rent. To have a big event, we would need more volunteers and people with experience in planning such occasions. If you are such a person, we need you.
I love the success of Handmade. I am thrilled that we have made and delivered so many comfort scarves. At the same time, I feel very sorry that there are so many abused women need them. I look forward to another big year, working with good people in all walks of life. There are many ways to help in the community. I’m glad that so many of you have chosen to support Handmade as your way to do good. I depend on you. Many thanks.
As usual, if you want to donate scarves or yarn, please mail to:
Handmade Especially for You
c/o Leslye Borden
30065 Grandpoint Lane
Rancho Palos Verdes CA 90275
If you want to donate money, please mail a check to the above address or use PayPal.
Thanks in advance.
Leslye
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