At Stitches West I met this month’s charity – Handmade Especially for You. Leslye Borden began Handmade in 2009 by making 300 scarves and donating them to a local shelter. As year four begins, Handmade has contributed 31,500 scarves in California alone.
Subscribe to My Crochet Channel or go to: YouTube.com TanisGalik
Handmade’s mission is “to give every abused woman who comes into a shelter a comfort scarf simply because she was brave enough to leave her abusive situation. Most of these women have never received a personal gift, much less a handmade personal gift.” Handmade hopes the scarf is a symbol of her transformation.
The scarves are not for sale; they are gifts. Forty major yarn companies and private stores donate the yarn used. It takes about 288 yards of yarn to make an average scarf. Multiply that by 31,500 and that length would stretch from Santa Clara, California to London, England. They use about 300,000 yards of yarn each month.
Women of all ages donate their time to knit or crochet these scarves. Their almost 1,000 scarf makers come from all over the United States, as well as a few from Canada, England, Scotland, Australia, Germany and South Africa.
You can donate in several ways:
- Send your unused yarn so they can create kits for their volunteers.
- Become a volunteer and receive a kit to crochet or knit a scarf.
- Make a monetary donation.
- Use your own yarn to crochet a scarf.
If you are crocheting your own scarf, follow the suggestions below:
- Use soft yarn for comfort.
- Pick happy colors.
- Make them 4 to 5 inches wide.
- Make them at least 60 inches long.
- Use open-weave stitch if possible so they can be used in warm-weather climates.
- Add some novelty yarn or ribbon to make them special.
There is a scarf pattern at the Handmade website or use one of your own. This month’s basic granny square would be a perfect match – an open-weave stitch that uses up your yarn stash.
You can read more about Leslye Borden and Handmade at http://www.HandMadeEspecially.org.
There are donation instructions, including a gift tag to download so you can personalize your scarf. Or your crochet group can start its own local chapter.
Chain Ring – One of the most popular ways and one you will see in most patterns is the chain circle. The pattern states a given number of chains and then you join with a slip stitch into the first chain, creating a ring. Subsequent stitches are worked into that ring. (Notice the space in the center of the circle.)
Working in the First Chain Stitch – The pattern will give you the number of chains (ch 2 for a sc circle; ch 3 for an hdc circle; ch 4 for a dc circle). Work the number of circle stitches (sc, hdc or dc) in the first chain stitch (2nd chain from hook for sc, 3rd chain from hook for hdc, 4th chain form hook for dc). Join with a slip stitch in the top of the beginning chain. You can pull the yarn end to tighten the ring center. (Notice the smaller center in the circle.) Picture is double crochets worked in 4th chain from hook.
Magic Ring or Adjustable Ring – Begin a slip stitch. Crochet number of chains needed for circle stitches (1 for sc; 2 for hdc, 3 for dc). Work rest of stitches (sc, hdc or dc) directly into that slip stitch space. Join with a slip stitch to the top of the beginning chain. Pull the yarn end to tighten the center. Notice the center is adjustable to make it tighter or looser as needed.
Sliding Loop presented in Edie Eckman’s Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs. Page 10 includes a series of pictures to clearly demonstrate this adjustable ring. It is a double slip stitch that works like the adjustable ring, except it is worked around two strands of yarn so it could be stronger. Work as in #3, only work around two loops. Pull the one end to tighten the ring. Pull the tightened end to cinch the other yarn strand that has not tightened. Pull the original end to close the ring.
Tanis Galik - Crochet Teacher 