Our 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!
We are so proud of our 3 who finished the race on Saturday!
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!
We 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!
The YWCA OKC has a 2 Minute 5K in April. Yep, you read that right – 2 minute 5K.
No, they don’t expect you to run super fast. The title references the fact that every 2 minutes someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. April is sexual assalt awareness month and this 5K is their effort to raise awareness and funds to help survivors.
Again this year we have created a team and welcome you to join us. If you aren’t able to run with us on April 16th, you can choose the “snooze for SAAM” option and still be part of the team.
Registering is easy, just join the team online. Once you click on “register here” and agree, select “join a team” and then select “Threads of Compassion OKC” from the list.
This really is a great event to participate in, and there’s a spot for you whether or not you want to or can run the 5K. We hope you’ll join us!
We have a sweet volunteer that I’d like to share a bit about. She began working with us in January of 2011. Though she lives in another state she has faithfully made scarves with us for 5 years. She heard about Threads of Compassion OKC from her daughter here in Edmond and was happy to join in.
This photo includes some of her beautiful work, with her most recent donation she passed the 600 mark. Yes, 600 scarves donated by one volunteer! Amazing, huh?
What’s even more amazing is that she had a stroke a year and a half ago. Her right side was affected and she was initially unable to crochet. The use of her fingers and hand were the last things to come back. After a lot of therapy and hard work she says that she is so grateful to God that she can still crochet and quilt like she used to. Crocheting was great therapy for her and she just loves making scarves for the group.
Thank you sweet lady from another state! We appreciate you and look forward to many more years of working together. You have been a blessing to this project.
Happy new year! We’ve been getting ready for 2016 and have scheduled the first part of the year. We hope you can join us for all or part of some of the following work days.
These are all Sundays and we meet from 2-5 p.m. You’re welcome to come for all or any part of the meeting.
January 10, 2016 (bring a new pattern to work on and share)
February 7, 2016
March 6, 2016
April 3, 2016
May 1, 2016
June 5, 2016
July – no meeting
August 7, 2016
We meet each month at Memorial Road Church of Christ, 2221 E. Memorial Rd., Edmond, OK 73013, in room A123, which is between the east entrance and the main auditorium (Door 5 entrance). Here’s a map of the building you can download if you need directions to the room. Email Jessica for more information.
Have you ever tried to wear something that’s too small for you? Maybe you’ve worn it in the past, but your size has changed and you put it on to find that what used to make you comfortable and confident-feeling is no longer a good fit at all. Maybe you grabbed the wrong size at the store and got home to find that there’s no hope of it fitting. Or, maybe over time and use your favorite item has shrunk. Frustrating, huh?
So, with these scarves that we are donating to survivors we want a moment of “yay, I feel good wearing this”, not a moment of “this sure is pretty, but how in the world am I supposed to wear it?”
Threads will take scarves of any color or pattern. We don’t specify how they have to look. But, we do have one requirement for our scarves. You may have noticed that they need to be at least 5ʺ by 65ʺ, and you could be wondering why…
There is a reason.
We want something that anyone can wear. Since we all are different sizes and have different style tastes, we wanted something that anyone can use if they want to after receiving it. So, while there may not be anything magical about those exact numbers, there is something important in having a standard. The work we are doing is important; it’s impacting people at a significant moment and we want to add something good and useful — not just beautiful but unable to be worn.
As we package scarves and find ourselves struggling about what to do with one that doesn’t come close to meeting that guideline we take a moment and try to put ourselves in the place of the recipient.
Imagine sitting in the hospital following a traumatic event and being offered an item of comfort. Great, right? Now imagine you open it and it’s a well-made beautiful piece of work that is 2 ½ feet long and 3 inches wide. What started as an uplifting moment turned into a moment of wondering “what in the world am I supposed to do with this item?”
So, let’s keep working together to offer comfort. Let’s put our creativity to work to knit and crochet beautiful items that survivors will enjoy. Let’s keep making them at least 5ʺ by 65ʺ.
A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well I’d like to share some words about this picture.
Getting the word out about Threads happens in a variety of ways. One of those has been through NextDoor. It’s a private social media network for neighborhoods. My neighborhood participates in it. So one month we shared our work day as an event within the app since we meet in the neighborhood. A neighbor saw the event and stopped by the work day. We enjoyed meeting each other and she planned to join us again. But, we had some bad weather and several months passed before she was able to come back.
In July she stopped by to drop off the pictured scarf and share an experience that motivated her to keep working with us. She gave me permission to share that experience.
Working on a scarf one day someone saw her and asked what she was making (that happens pretty often if you’re crocheting or knitting out in public – it seems to be a great conversation starter). After discovering that she was making a scarf for Threads of Compassion the person who initiated the conversation visited with her a bit and then came back with a scarf in her hand. It was a scarf she had received from Threads of Compassion.
Yep, you read that right…while working on a scarf for Threads she encountered someone who shared with her the scarf they had received! What a small world we live in.
So, those times that I wonder if we should keep creating scarves and keep meeting, I can look at the picture of that scarf and remember that real lives are being impacted by the work we are doing. One of the best things about Threads of Compassion is the encouragement that comes from working together. The reminder that survivors aren’t alone is a real benefit of the project. If you’d like to join us, please check out our events page and stop by sometime. We’d love to meet you!
Yes, I’m working on a scarf on a day that it has been hot, hot, hot. The high today was 97, making it the kind of day that I try to be outside as little as possible. Yet, I continue to work on scarves for this project.
In some ways a scarf is a perfect summer project – it’s easy to move around, very portable, and doesn’t grow to a size that is uncomfortably warm to work on. It can easily be carried along on a trip and worked on when a few free moments present themselves.
In addition to being easy to work on in the summer, our scarves are needed in the summer! Last year two of the summer months saw a need for at least 50 scarves per month. Yep, 50 lives changed in less time than it takes to gather the supplies and choose a pattern for a scarf.
And, just when I wonder – should I keep crocheting scarves, should we keep packaging them and getting them to the YWCA…I come across someone who has received one or knows a recipient and they tell me how meaningful it is to receive a scarf following such a traumatic event. Knowing someone has gone before you and cares that you know you’re not alone can make a huge impact at a really tough time.
So, yes, let’s keep making scarves in the summer! They are needed now as much as anytime during the year.
Our friends at the YWCA Oklahoma City did some fun shopping recently. They picked up lots of new yarn for us to use.
