Author: Jessica

Here’s a picture from today’s mail…

This scarf was mailed by a lady that I’ve never met. I think she learned about Threads of Compassion OKC when we were on the news months ago.

I think it is so neat that people from lots of places are all working together to make Threads a reality!

Not too long ago one of my great aunts asked if we could use yarn for Threads of Compassion OKC. I told her yes, we definitely could. So, she got my address and I came home one day to the above package at our front door.

Talk about exciting! I was so curious to see what was inside. After unwrapping it, I discovered it was brimming with skeins of yarn.

Then, I dumped them out so I could see them all! Here they are:

I find it so encouraging that through an email I sent to much of my family about something unrelated to Threads my aunt found out about it and wanted to help. I love that technology allows me to share about important things with people, no matter where they live. I think it has been 6 years since I saw this precious lady, and we’ve never even talked about Threads. But she read about it, and wanted to help. How cool!

I look forward to seeing the beautiful scarves that come out of this yarn!

At Hobby Lobby I saw Christmas decorations already!

Yep, they were just across from Halloween and Thanksgiving ones. Seeing all that made me think that “the holidays” are going to be here before we know it.

While that can mean some really yummy food and good times with friends and family, I’m concerned that the general busy feeling of November and December may make it difficult for some people to keep going on making scarves for Threads of Compassion OKC.

And, I’d hate for someone to be at the hospital and not get a scarf and note from us!.

So, I’m hoping that the rest of September and October will prove fruitful for scarf making & donating.

Of course, I’d still love to take packages to the YWCA in November and December, but I’m hoping we can get ahead in the next 6 weeks or so.

Our next work day is October 10th –if you can make scarves by then please drop them by the Memorial Rd. church building that day. Or, we can meet up any other time that is good for you, just let me know.

Yes, we still need scarves for Threads of Compassion OKC!

 

Earlier this week Karla from the YWCA called me because the supply of scarves had gotten pretty low.

 

Last night she met me to pick up the 22 scarves pictured above that had been donated by a variety of people.

Our next work day is Sunday, September 19th from 2-4 PM, I hope to have another great batch of scarves to deliver after that. 

My friend Kayla has been helping with this project. 

When she started several months ago in my dining room it had been a long time since she’d crocheted.

Now, she’s working at it like a pro!

Her blog has pictures of her last 2 masterpieces, and they just seemed worth sharing!

You can find them on her blog.

I can’t wait to see what she brings next month!

Now that we’re 7 months into Threads I thought it could be good to share a bit about why it started here.  I wrote most of this months ago, when I had my two minutes on the news to talk about threads of compassion OKC. That chance to be on TV made me want to share some more about why I even began doing this. Here goes…

A little over nine years ago I was raped.  Talk about a surprise, that sure was something I never thought would happen to me! 

Back then I didn’t know how to crochet, and I had no idea I’d be telling the whole world (or at least the part of it that finds this blog) about my experience.  In fact even saying or hearing the word was hard for me, and for my family. What I did find, even back then, was that when I was willing to be a bit open about my experience I came across others who had been through the same thing. No story was exactly the same as mine, but many parts of the experience were. It’s almost like once it was open people kind of came out of the woodwork and said “that happened to me too”.

I can’t explain why people feel shame following rape – it seems to creep in even for those of us who know without a doubt that the situation was not our fault, that there was nothing we could have done to prevent it, that it was the result of some person making evil choices. I think that it has something to do with silence –with feeling like it’s something that shouldn’t be talked about.

But I can say that there is comfort in not being alone, that finding someone else having the same crazy emotions is a great reminder that though life can be crazy that doesn’t mean we have to be; that the turmoil of emotions is often a very normal reaction to trauma. And that sense of not being alone can help remove some of the shame.

So, when almost 9 years to the day after my attack I saw a description of Threads of Compassion on the Lion Brand Yarn website in the charity section, I thought “hmm, maybe I can do that here.” I learned to crochet about 2 years ago with some ladies at church. I’ve loved it –it’s been so fun to make baby blankets for friends. Threads seemed like a perfect way to reach out to others and put my hobby to good use. I contacted the YWCA and they said yes, let’s do it!

Giving or getting a scarf is certainly not a magic tool to healing –but I do think that it can be a step towards it. For the receiver it is a reminder that you’re not alone and it gives you something soft to cling to at a time that everything around you may feel cold and yucky. For some givers it is a way to move forward, a way to say “yes, I was hurt, but now I can help others”.  For others who give, it’s a way to express sorrow that such a horrible thing is happening and to try to offer some assistance. 

For me this has been a great project! It’s encouraging when others give me yarn or a gift card to help get yarn. It’s been fun to help friends re-learn to crochet so they can help. It’s been neat to experiment with new patterns. It has felt like a huge vote of confidence when someone brings me a scarf to give. And, it’s just incredible when I hear back from the Y that people are thankful for the scarves, that some cling to them like teddy bears.

OK, this was a lot to read, and if you’re skipping to the end, the bottom line is: I’m doing Threads because it’s a way for me to offer support to others a time when they really need it.

Our last work day was so much fun! 

We had a bag of scarves that had been donated since the last work day that needed packaged. Doing it as a group lets everyone see what others are making, which was pretty neat!

Seeing those made some want to learn to make tassels, so Jeri taught us! It was good to see us sharing new skills with each other.

Visiting with each other as we worked was great, it truly was fun to be together.

I look forward to August 1st when we get together again!

It’s been pretty interesting to watch the happenings at Threads of Compassion OKC over the last six months. 

Here is Morgan helping untangle a lot of yarn.

How did it get tangled?? 

It was a gift and needed washed before it was used. 

I wasn’t sure if it would work to wash it or not, but figured it was worth a try. Since it was already wound into balls, they kind of un-wound in the washing machine, turning into a big tangled jumble.

We’ve been working on it for awhile now, and it’s getting more usable and less tangled. I’m thankful for all the parts that have come together to make this whole work possible!

Now that Threads of Compassion OKC has been going for almost 6 months it seemed like a good moment to review and take a look at the numbers.

I think it’s pretty amazing… 24 people have made 114 scarves!  That doesn’t include countless others who have offered encouragement and supplies.

I continue to hear from different people what a good impact this project is making on women who receive the scarves.  It’s neat to be part of something that is continuing to grow and make a positive impact during a tough time.

Thanks, everyone for helping this become a reality!

Sunday, June 6th is our next work day. One great part of Threads of Compassion OKC has been the chance to get together once a month to chat and work on scarves.

We have plenty of yarn to share, I’m hoping to get a lot of it handed out this time so that it can come back next month turned into scarves.

We’ll be meeting in the Potters Room at the Memorial Road church of Christ from 3-6, come on by for as long as you can!