Author: Jessica

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Success at the State Fair

An idea shared by one volunteer turned into a great event!img_20161002_140911

One of our volunteers had participated in the Oklahoma State Fair Creative Arts Division competition last year, in addition to all the normal categories she really enjoyed giving to the charity division. In 2015 there was one charity: Infant Crisis Services, participants could donate lots of different baby items to the fair that were then given to the organization.

This Spring she asked what we thought about seeing if Threads of Compassion could be a category at the fair for people to enter. We loved the idea and were so glad to have her contact the fair officials and get the ball rolling. The people in charge were willing to add us and have 2 charity categories this year. In the end three of us worked together to get the proper information to the fair and it happened!

It was so exciting to see Threads of Compassion listed in the booklet for all to see!

We are thankful to have received 36 scarves  (11 knitted and 25 crocheted) donated by volunteers both old and new to Threads.

In addition to seeing the great quality of work we also are glad to have so many people who are new to Threads participating with us.

Each scarf was awarded a specially made blue ribbon titled “Fair Compassion”. In addition to that the top 10 in each category was awarded a ribbon corresponding to it’s place as well.

We’re looking forward to next year already!

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Thanks for going to the fair with us

photo of scarves at OK State Fair
2016 Oklahoma State Fair Entries

It was pretty cool to visit the Oklahoma State Fair last week and see the scarves to be donated to Threads of Compassion. As you can see from the photo we had a great turn out for this first year.

You can still swing by and see them until the fair closes on September 25th. The display is in the Creative Arts Building. There are lots of other cool things to look at in there, too.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this effort. We really appreciate it!

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Looking forward to getting together

It’s just a few days until our September meeting and I’m really looking forward to it!

Our monthly work days are a highlight of the month for me. Even the months I’d rather get a Sunday nap I’m always glad I went. Some of the reasons include:

  • It’s a chance to sit and crochet without seeing all the chores that I could be doing around the house 🙂
  • I get to see my “Threads friends” and catch up on their lives.
  • Many months I get to meet someone new.
  • I like seeing all the different scarves that people donate. Some of them are amazing!
  • I am reminded that as a survivor of sexual assault I’m not alone and others care about offering help and care to others like me who have gone through this horrific experience.

So, yes, some months I really wish I could just hang out at home and fall asleep on the couch for a bit. But, even those months, or especially those months, I come away from our time together glad I went and looking forward to the next one.

Hope to see you Sunday!

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Send a scarf to Oklahoma State Fair

Whether or not you plan to make it out to the Oklahoma State Fair this September, we hope you’ll send a scarf. Yes, we want your scarf, whether or not you can come 🙂

For the first time, Threads of Compassion OKC has been included as a charity in the creative arts competition. It’s pretty cool: participants register, knit or crochet a scarf, deliver the scarf to be displayed, and then at the end of the fair all the scarves to go to Threads OKC. So cool, right?

It’s time to register to join us at the Oklahoma State Fair! The creative arts competition has opened online registration and they are ready for submissions. You have from now until August 15th to register.

It’s pretty simple, registration all happens online, there is no fee, and you drop off your scarf September 1oth or 11th. If dropping off is a problem, contact Jessica and she’ll help make arrangements to get the scarf dropped off for you.

You can see the instructions in the Needlecraft Guide, along with our listing on page 13.

For a bit more info, check out our post from last month: Let’s Go to the Fair!

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Let’s Go to the Fair!

We’re excited about a new opportunity coming up this Fall!

The Oklahoma State Fair Creative Arts Competition is accepting donations of scarves for Threads of Compassion OKC. The scarves will displayed at the fair and then donated to us.

There’s not a fee to participate and you get a ribbon!

Exhibitor registration is available online July 1 – August 15th.

Items can be dropped off September 10th and 11th, and if you’d like we can help get them delivered for you.

You can see the instructions in the Needlecraft Guide, along with our listing on page 13.

It may seem a little early to be sharing this info since registration isn’t open yet, but we wanted you to have plenty of time to plan your entry 🙂

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Hope you can join us

We’ve planned our work days for the rest of the year and hope you’ll join us!

These are Sunday afternoons from 2-4:45pm in Edmond.

  • June 5, 2016
  • July – no meeting
  • August 7, 2016
  • September 11, 2016
  • October 2, 2016
  • November 6, 2016
  • December 4, 2016

Check out our Events page for more information.

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Check out these colors!

IMG_20160519_101649Our friends at the YWCA Oklahoma City did some fun shopping recently. They picked up lots of new yarn for us to use.

It really was perfect timing since our great volunteers had turned most of our previously-donated yarn into cool scarves already.

This picture is just a portion of the new yarn we received. Also, besides the shopping trip they collected some from volunteers who had extra to share. And, around the same time, a man contacted us asking if we would like some yarn that had belonged to his mother. So, we are all set with yarn for awhile.

Come on to our next work day and pick up a fun color to work with, we’d love to have you join us!

 

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They did it!

We are so proud of our 3 who finished the race on Saturday!

IMG_20160416_090711

Threads of Compassion had 5 people registered this year in the YWCA’s 2 Minute 5K. Three of them ran and 2 decided to “Snooze for SAAM”. What an encouragement to have these 5 join us this year!

The three in the picture made it out to the event and ran. Our youngest ran in the Kiddie K, while our 2 adults ran the 5K, finishing quite early.

A short way into her race, the little one said “I’m tired of this running thing”. We hear you, kiddo! Sometimes us survivors get tired of the running thing, too. Tired of being reminded of the assault, tired of working on healing, tired of the random moments of fear that seem to pop up out of nowhere, tired of wondering if it will happen again, tired of figuring out how to regain a sense of normal after tragedy, tired of thinking about it all.

Yet, at the end of the race she told us “I ran the whole way, I didn’t walk at all!” And she was proud.

That pride is how we feel about survivors who keep on going. We’re proud that you face another day, that you keep on going even when you wish you could turn back time. We’re proud that you move on, deciding that evil won’t win. Through our participation in this event and through the scarves we make, we are attempting to let you know we’re proud of you and we’re standing by your side.

Saturday’s event was a chance to join together to support survivors. It’s also a chance to remind our community that we can make a difference. Not only can we stand with survivors, but we can work on teaching each other that kindness is valuable, that assault isn’t ok. Five of us have new t-shirts to wear. They’re grey with orange text that says “sexual assault isn’t OK”. We’ll wear them proudly this year as a reminder of a successful race, and as a reminder that we can all work together to support survivors and stop this violence.

To the five who participated this year (and those that joined their fundraising efforts): Thank you!

We’re already looking forward to next year and hope you can join us!

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The first finished “on a roll” scarves

IMG_20160306_163305178_HDRWe finished the first three “on a roll” scarves! Working on these together was a lot of fun. Some of us really felt challenged by the randomness of the roll 🙂 We are more comfortable when things have a pattern that we can follow, and that we think looks nice. But, we stuck with it and in the end were pretty pleased with how they turned out.

Not only did we end up with beautiful finished projects, but a true sense of fun and community from working on scarves together in a new way.

So, we have a new plan for April, we’re going to pass scarves around and have several of us working on the same scarf. We’ll each have a color and make stitches till the time is up and then pass them around and keep going on the next one. We’re pretty excited about trying out a new way of doing things. Please join us if you can!