Author: Jessica

Yes, we still need scarves in the summer!

Whether you’re sitting at home in the cool air or sitting outside, now is the perfect time to knit or crochet for Threads of Compassion OKC. 

The sad reality is that the work goes on, even when it’s warm outside.  The YWCA serves an average of 30 clients a month all year long. 

So, please keep the scarves coming even though the temperature outside is warm!

A friend of mine contacted me a couple of months ago to see about learning to crochet. Though we live in the same city we hadn’t seen each other much in the past couple of years. 

She was used to running as a hobby, but had to take a break for a while and wanted to do something meaningful for others with her time.

She had heard about Threads of Compassion OKC and wanted to be a part of it. We were pretty close back when I was raped, so this is just another way she has  provided some comfort directly to me! 

We started meeting for “lunch & crochet” once a week. It was so great to have time to talk and catch up with one another!

It was an adventure for me to try to teach someone who is left-handed. She was a trooper! Since I couldn’t figure out how to explain things backwards, or how to do it myself left-handed, she watched, listened, and figured it out.

Her first scarf is pictured above, and she’s already working on her second one.

I’m so encouraged by a friend who is learning a new skill so that she can reach out to comfort others!

A sweet lady donated yarn to Threads of Compassion OKC! 

As you can see, there is a lot of it… and we’re moving out of the dorm apartment in about a month.  So, I’m hoping for some volunteers to turn this yarn into beautiful scarves of comfort.

Please let me know if you can use some. It would be great to get all of it into capable hands before we move.

This Sunday is our next work day.  Boy am I looking forward to it!  We have been really busy at work; with graduation today everyone is checking out of the dorms, which keeps us hopping.

I’m so glad I have some scheduled time in 2 days to sit down and work on scarves for Threads of Compassion OKC.  It will be really nice to just visit with the people who come and get some work done.

If you’re in Edmond, come on over to the Memorial Road church of Christ building and join us, we’d love to have your company.

Today was a big day for Threads of Compassion OKC! 

We received 2 different packages of scarves.  A box of 6 and an envelope with 1. 

Thank you to those who donated!  Before these we had delivered 66 scarves to the YWCA this year. 

Some practical crochet advice about joining yarn.

There are several reasons you may need to join yarn to a work in progress.  These include changing colors, adding more yarn because you ran out, or finding that your yarn has a crazy knot in it where it was tied together at the factory.  (don’t just work the knot into your project, cut it out and join it back together).

I can’t say that joining new yarn is something I just love doing.  But, I do think it is important to do it well.

There is a simple way to do it that doesn’t result in an ugly knot in your project.

Here are the step-by-step photos:

1. Get to the point in your stitch where you’re almost done and you have just 2 loops on your hook.

2.  Get the new yarn on your hook.

3.  Pull the new yarn through the 2 loops.

4.  Proceed as normal, you now have the new yarn on your hook to work with.

I hope this is helpful for some of you! 

Next week I plan to do step-by-step of what to do with the ends that are left behind.  We get ends when we join yarn and when we start and stop the project.

The last couple of weeks have been productive for Threads of Compassion OKC! 

We have received several calls, emails, and facebook members from being on TV.

And, lots of scarves have arrived! 

One person had been working for awhile and brought by five. Another spent months making a very soft one.  A college student made 2 during her Spring Break. One other lady mailed a box with 5. Another was given to me at church Wednesday night. It’s so encouraging to have so many people participating in this good work!

Today I got to be on News Channel 4 to talk about Threads of Compassion OKC. 

Yep, I was nervous!  But, Linda was nice and tried to make us feel comfortable.

You can see the video below:

April 17th the OKC YWCA is having a 2 Minute 5 K.  This is an event to raise funds and awareness to combat sexual assault.

We can help!  There are a couple of ways…

You can register to walk or run at: YWCA 2 Minute 5 K registration

 

Or, you can come to the Threads of Compassion OKC booth at the event.  While there you can work on a scarf and tell other people about Threads.  If you can do this, please rsvp at our facebook event!

This looks like a neat opportunity to be part of a cool event that could really make a difference.

I hope to see you there!

Making scarves for Threads of Compassion OKC has given me the opportunity to try out lots of different patterns. 

I think I’ve found a favorite… it looks nice, is easy, and works up quick.

The pattern is available online for free at Simple Scarf Pattern you just go there and click on the red text that says “free pattern instructions”.

It seems to look nice in various types of yarn.  I like both the ones that are a single color and the multi-color ones as pictured above. 

This one took me about 2 evenings to make (while watching TV).  I used an h hook and most of a  6 oz skein of Red Heart Super Saver yarn that had been given to me by a friend for this project.

If you decide to try it out, please let me know what you think!