Officially, I have exceeded my goal of 75 sets for the year and met my goal of 12 scarves. Instead of stopping, I kept going. I decided to make as many as I could before the deadline to drop them off. In addition to the completed sets that I have, in the summer, my father found a box of scarves in the basement. In my craft room, as I was moving things for a furniture delivery, I found a larger cache of individual hats that I thought I had. Now, I am mixing, matching, and creating sets with the hats and scarves, and creating new ones in a flurry of stitches before I drop off the sets at a church for their hat and scarf drive.

Another organization that I have donated to for a decade or so – Foster Care to Success has decided to discontinue its Red Scarves program. The information wasn’t on the website, so I contacted the organization. After inquiring, I received a call saying that this is the last year, and I could donate the scarves locally. This made me look at my Where to Donate page and check to see if the links are current. At least three of the organizations are no longer accepting items for donation because postage costs have increased, and sending their donations to recipients costs too much. Each org recommends that people donate their items locally. This won’t deter me from making things to donate. There are many places in the Chicagoland area that will have coat drives, and if you read the fine print, they also accept cold-weather gear – hats and scarves. Even my local coffee shop has a bin for people who come in and need something to keep them warm.

My plan is to shift into overdrive this week to whip up a few hats to accompany some of the red scarves.

Here are a few of the scarves that I found in a box, and the combinations I made to complete sets. A couple aren’t exact matches, but they are close enough to make a set and keep someone warm, and that’s the ultimate goal.

Happy crocheting!