In my last post I mentioned that it was red hat and scarf time. The hats are donated to my local American Heart Association’s chapter for the Little Hats Big Hearts campaign. The red scarves that I made are for Foster Care to Success (FC2S) to give young people who have transitioned out of the foster care system a red scarf as part of a care package in February. This is an organization that I have made scarves for several years. I make scarves because I don’t like being cold. I don’t like being really not either, but as a Midwestern girl, I know that if you don’t have the right kind of winter gear, it is difficult. As a young person who may not have that strong family support or random notes of encouragement from home, this is why this program is important, because everyone should feel love and it’s great to receive a care package. I sent a few care packages to my Sunday School students who went off to college and some of them still think about those. I always liked receiving mail when I was in college even if it was a card or an article that my dad cut out and sent to me in an envelope with a note on work stationery.
Foster Care to Success’ Red Scarf Project requests red scarves and notes of encouragement. Donations for the programs or gift cards for the recipients are also accepted as well, but for the scarves, the possibilities are endless. Donations are accepted between September 1 and December 15 annually because of space limitations in the FC2S office.
This is one of my favorite projects because it allows me to be very creative. When you look at the program guidelines, they just spell out the possibilities for fun unisex red scarves that are soft. The scarves don’t have to be a particular shade of red, they can be wine or something that is predominately red. This year, I tested a new yarn from Premier for pooling that comes in two plaid shades that predominantly feature red. I purchased the Red Black Plaid and Red Berry Plaid. The yarn is soft and has good drape, next time I use it I will increase a hook size, but the suggested hook size – I – was fine. The drape turned out well, but I crochet tightly so I think that I would like the finished product with a J hook next time. A few years ago, I ventured out into a color beyond the basic red or burgundy range. The scarf in the center of the photo at the top of this post has a darker burgundy background than in the photo, but I do like the look of a nice, luxurious, bright & cheery cherry red. What I like about this project is that there are no material requirements and if I want to splurge and buy a nicer yarn that I normally would (e.g. wool, wool blend, or superwash).
Yesterday, I started on a more intricate pattern in a red wool that I think will work up nicely. I didn’t get far other than sketching and working up the stitches from my sketch, I’ll share more pictures as it progresses. When I make scarves for FC2S I like to experiment with different yarns or patterns especially since it would be very easy to use the same yarn and pattern for all the scarves but I want the recipients to feel special, though we may never meet.
Happy crocheting!
