Saturday, October 29, 2011

Thanks From Moncrief Radiation/Oncology Center

This is a note that was sent to Gina expressing the thanks from the staff to the YOH group and what we do.  Our efforts truly are appreciated!

====================

Please forgive me for not quickly thanking you for bringing the knitted/crocheted hats recently. They are so beautiful and I have had probably 3 patients come by and request hats since you dropped them off. I continue to be awed by the volunteers who take the time to make them and I want them to know how their contribution makes a huge difference for our cancer patients. It remains a fun time for me to watch them go through them, trying them on, and pick the perfect one, two, or three! The looking and trying on brings good feelings to their day. So, please thank all of your volunteers again from all of us here at Moncrief!

Have a great weekend.

Sharon

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Yarn Sales This Week

For anyone needing to replenish their stash, start stocking up for those big holiday projects or need to find the right yarn for the current project there are great deals to be had at the major chain stores in the area through Saturday, the 29th.


Michaels has several of their yarns on sale this week.
Michaels flyer


JoAnn's has Lion Brand yarn, buy one, get one 50% in store and ALL yarn is 25% off on their website.
JoAnn's flyer


Hobby Lobby has all their I Love This Yarn & Coates Classic Crochet Thread on sale.
Hobby Lobby flyer


A cost-saver tip if you only need to buy one or two skeins at a chain store: wait until the week that they don't have the yarn on sale and use the 40-50% coupons at that time.  You will save more that way.  Another tip, you can use multiple coupons if you treat the items as separate purchases.  I don't know the limit but I personally have had up to five separate purchases with coupons and they haven't kicked me out of the store yet!

Grandmother Congratulations!

Congratulations to Cindy Gramley on the birth of her grand-daughter, Ella Rose.  She was born on October 8th at 7lbs., 5 oz. and 22" long. Mom and baby are doing great!

Cindy's quote: "I am having so much fun with this new baby!!"

We're looking forward to seeing more pictures and lots of crochet garments to adorn this precious child!

Monday, October 24, 2011

The Weekly Stitch

Hey there ladies!

Hope you are having a great week! Here is what is going on with YOH this week.

Meetings

Finch Knitting Club
Ok ladies, we have an urgent need for teachers for the Finch knitting/crochet club. Even if you can only help every once in awhile, even if you are a beginner and aren't sure how to teach - we can use you!! Right now, we only have 3-4 teachers and 19 girls signed up for the club. We could REALLY use more help. This is a great ministry and I really don't want to cancel it but we may be forced to if we don't have more support.


Blog Updates
You should be getting periodic updates from our blog now. if you aren't, check your spam folder. You can access it by going to http://yarnsofhope.blogspot.com.


Current Projects
  • Chemo caps and scarves for both adults and children - donated to Texas Oncology McKinney, McKinney Regional Cancer Center, UT Southwestern in Dallas and MCCH oncology unit
  • Blankets for MCCH - either a child-sized blanket or 12 x 12 squares to combine into a blanket for them.

Love you all,
Gina

Sunday, October 23, 2011

It's The Great Pumpkin, Yarns of Hope!

Fall is certainly in the air with the temperatures lowering, daylight ending earlier and decorations adorned inside and out.  Stores have been carrying fall-themed decor for months (and Christmas too but that's a conversation for another day.) I don't know about you, but I'm finally ready to stop ignoring the aisles and walk around in the corn-stalk and orange-leafed harvest wonderland in the craft sections.

One of my favorite reasons for celebrating this time of year (aside from rummaging through my daughter's candy bag for Butterfinger's and Twizzler's) is dressing up in warm and festive attire!  Outfits become longer and layered, pastels make way for darker and earthy tones, and warm accessories becomes a newfound reason to pick up our sticks and make hats and scarves for ourselves, family and others in need.

Why not celebrate the season by making a pumpkin hat!  It can be worn for at least two months out of the year, is a novelty among hat styles and will have people oohing and ahhing once you have told them that you made it yourself!  So pick up your hook, needle and/or pick and let's make a patch worthy for the Great Pumpkin to come and visit.

The below patterns are geared for children but can be easily modified to fit an adult hat by using larger materials, thicker yarn and/or adding more stitches to fit the circumference of the intended wearer.


Crochet pumpkin hat


Loom pumpkin hat

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Even Penguins Need Sweaters

Who says humans and dogs are the only ones that need to stay warm?



A yarn store in New Zealand called Skeinz worked with Animal Life Rescue to aid in knitting penguin sweaters due to a recent oil spill off the coast of Tauranga.  With the oil pouring out into the water and covering the animals, they have become sick and ALR requested jumpers to help keep them warm and prevent them from ingesting the oil as they try to preen.

Stitchers can quickly make a united front.  With online articles like HERE and HERE, Skeinz has received an over-abundance of penguin sweaters to give to the rescue.

This is one example that no matter how big, small or even the cause, there is somebody and something who can benefit from this craft with an idea, some yarn and a little TLC.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Finch Knitting & Crochet Group

Hey there ladies!

Unless you're new to the group or don't read my weekly update emails all the way to the bottom (no one does that, do they?!?), you know that we will begin teaching at Finch Elementary next week.  Now to do this, we absolutely MUST have more teachers!!  As of right now, I have firm commitments from about four of you and, honestly, that just isn't enough to make this project work.  These girls (and boys) are so excited about learning but they get frustrated very quickly without the proper guidance.  So, I would love/need to have more of you volunteer to help so we can offer the attention that these girls need (and deserve) to develop a lifetime love for our craft.

We will be teaching each week on Thursdays from 12:45-1:15.  It's only a short amount of time with a huge reward (this could even be done on a lunch break for you working girls!) - just wait until you see one of their faces when they complete a perfect row.  Their smile and sense of accomplishment is heartwarming.

Please respond soon so we will know that you can help.  And, if you're worried about your level of expertise - don't.  You will know more than these girls/boys and you don't have to be an expert to be a teacher.

God bless,
Gina

The Weekly Stitch

Hey there ladies!

Get ready - the cold weather is coming (or at least that's what the weather man says!) And you know what that means - we need more hats and scarves for all of our cancer patients!

Meetings this week:
Have you become a YOH blog follower yet? You should have received an email asking you to confirm as a follower this last week. If you didn't, check your spam folder. Or, you can access it by going to http://yarnsofhope.blogspot.com.

Current Projects:
  • Chemo caps and scarves for both adults and children - donated to Texas Oncology McKinney, McKinney Regional Cancer Center, UT Southwestern in Dallas and MCCH oncology unit.
  • Blankets for MCCH - either a child-sized blanket or 12 x 12 squares to combine into a blanket for them.
  • Mission trip to Nepal: Tuesday evening, Susan Horn will be traveling to Nepal on a mission trip with Dare to Care. If you would like to help her out, she could use help accumulating the following items for her trip:
    • Italian Salad Dressing mixes
    • Cream of Tartar (1 jar)
    • Individual packs of candy for orphans and host families
    • All Spice (1 jar)
    • Bay leaves (1-2 packs)
    • Staple gun and appropriate staples
    • D-con rat bait in both blocks and pellets (2 packs each)
    • Paint roller sleeves (6+ med nap and 2 heavy nap for coarse surfaces)
    • Paint liners for tray (10)
    • Lightweight plastic paint trays (1-2)
    • Dawn dishwashing soap (1-2)
God bless each of you! Thanks for all you do for our group!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Finch Knitting & Crochet Club for 5th Grade Students

Hi all YOHers! We are going to start our 5th grade Finch Knitting Club October 27th. If you are interested in helping every week, every other week, or just whenever you can, we'd LOVE to have you!!! We had so much fun doing this last year. It is such a blessing to the kids!!

We will be meeting on Thursdays 12:45 PM - 1:15 PM. This is their recess time. We will meet at the school around 12:30ish at the front office and head back to the room together. It is a very quick meeting, so don't let time commitment keep you from joining us! Most of us that do it have young kids - if we can do it, so can you!! :) (A little begging never hurt!) So if you are interested in helping on occasion, please fill out the volunteer application and you will be ready to go! 

Email me if you would like to help. Or if you aren't sure if you can yet or not, but would like to be kept in the loop in case you can help every now and then, I can put you on my weekly email list.

Nepal Trip

Below is an update on our very own Susan Horn's mission trip to Nepal from her traveling partner, Dawn Didi. By the looks of it, Susan has quite a trip in store for her. Make sure to keep her and Dawn in your prayers. Also, if you are planning on helping out with any of the supplies that were included in the weekly update, note that this upcoming Tuesday is the last day to bring them before she leaves.  Also, the zippered sweater hoodie request has been filled. 


==========================


I cannot believe it! Only 6 days and I am again on a flight to Nepal, Lord Willing! I cannot tell you where the time went!

It has flown by with wings of its own... and now I find solid wings... on Alaska Airlines to LAX where I meet up with my friend Susan and we join together to share the rest of the trip and the month on the adventure of a lifetime.  All my trips are, aren't they?

Pray for us... we fly Korean Air to Seoul, Korea and after a 3 hour layover on to Kathmandu. I think it is a total of 21 hours in the air! We need safety and wide seats? and room to stretch out??!!!??? We lose a whole day somewhere over the ocean so arrive in K-du on 10/20/11 a little after noon. Pray we will quickly get over any jetlag.

We will spend 3-4 days in K-du while I pretend Susan is my TEAM and introduce her to Nepal: a few tourist attractions, our Orphanage, our Women's Beading Enterprise (the women whose day jobs are making bricks in a brick factory... many of you have a piece of their great jewelry to remember to pray for them by!) and the markets where I will stock up on supplies to take out west. (We are role playing as if we have a whole team along to do a pilot run of where to go/ stay and visit! her response will be very helpful in determining the events of next trip... Team Nepal excursion!)

I will be exposing her to local transportation and the looooong bus ride way out west. OH YEAY! We hope to then visit the leprosy colony and evaluate how they are faring. We have been told they need toilets built so we will assess the feasibility of our team in March installing such in this village as well as a Tharu village in the Terrai (plains area.) Then up the last 5 hours of danger into the hills to the 4th range of the Himalayas 2nd ridge on the right the little village/ suburb of Dadeldhura called Thufendana. We will spend most of the rest of the month there arranging legal/ practical details for the new facility.

We are so close! We have raised $8,500.00 of the $10,000 we need to begin construction of phase 1 of the building!

This will be a new home for 2 paraplegic girls who have been literally "broken" for the last 13-20 years. They fell out of trees cutting foliage for their cows/ buffalos that many years ago and currently live in a rat infested dungeon with a leaky roof and corroded cement floor. They deserve better!  Many thanks to those of you who have contributed to their new facility!

Do you realize that if the rest of us could each contribute our cup of Starbucks change just for this one week we would have the remainder needed to pull this off for them! You would be making a significant difference in their lives for the rest of their lives and may be even in the lives of others for eternity!

Phase 2 of this building will be a skill training center for women and a DIY library (the first of its kind in Nepal) enabling poor women to begin microenterprises! We will need an additional $15,000 for that. Phase 3 would be another level up and be a guest house for teams to stay that come to help out! Pray you will one day be on one of these teams! Our next one will be for the entire month of March 2012 if the Lord wills! You could be on it! Wouldn't that be exciting!

We will be frequenting the new bakery/coffee shop (Manna Bakery) regularly if not daily!!! I hear from many, that God is blessing the whole community through it! What fun!

Around Nov 18th we will travel back to K-du. We will spring for the $150 flight from Dhangadi to K-du so she can experience that. She wants to do the Flight by Mount Everest on her own so pray for safety for that for her!

Susan and I will be back in our respective Dallas and Seattle homes just in time for Thanksgiving (Nov 22nd) so this will be a marathon trip!

Additional prayer requests:
  • Our health... we are spring chickens but need strong immune systems and no aversions to a steady diet of rice, curried vegetables and lentils.
  • The Divine contacts the Lord will give us... that we will recognize them and be faithful to show His love and grace in any language!
  • Protection: the dangers are innumerable... His angels... about 10,000 strong.
  • That all the transitions will go smoothly... with landlords, widows, lawyers, contractors, supply sources, excavators etc.
  • Existing ministries to flourish: The above mentioned and the radio broadcasts (we need $300/month to continue those) the homeless dal/bhat (soup) kitchen, our widows care ministry both that operate on the QT and keep a low but effective profile. I think there are 8 in all.
  • That we will bear much fruit and be faithful to our calling and Glorify Him in all we do.
If you are getting this... you will get my updates as internet is available!

Thanks for praying and supporting us! You are truly our backbone!

Love Ya,
Dawn Didi

Monday, October 10, 2011

Guest Designers in the Metroplex This Month!

One of the exciting perks about living in a major metroplex is that we get the opportunity to have some great guest designers visit the area: Ysolda Teague and the Yarn Harlot herself - Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

For those new to the stitching world, these names might be new to you so don't be alarmed.  Our craft is very much an individual form of zen that we do on our own, however, there are the few that have become household names and that is when all knitters and crocheters come out of the woodwork to work our handicraft in public while listening to the more experienced ones spin a tale of love, laughter and yarn.

Ysolda Teague
Ysolda Teague is a knitting designer based in Scotland who will be visiting Plano at the Woolie Ewe on October 20th and 21st.  She will be teaching classes on toy shaping and how to make a fitted sweater.  If interested, contact the Woolie Ewe to reserve a class as space will fill up quickly.

About Ysolda: Becoming a knitting designer was a happy accident.  Although knitting since the age of six, Ysolda used her talents in college while in the classrooms studying English literature.  She found that she could recall more information by keeping her hands busy with knitting than with taking notes.  As she did not follow patterns, she posted her works online on her blog and her followers wanted to make what she had created, thus becoming a designer and learning how to write patterns became her focus.  By the time she was 19, she sold her first "proper" pattern and shortly after, she was able to make knitting and design her full-time career.  Now at the age of 25, she is able to sustain her livelihood with her knitting designs and teaching all around the world.  Her patterns can be found in her books Whimsical Little Knits 1 & 2 as well as her new book: Little Red in the City.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee will be at A Real Bookstore in Fairview on Monday, October 24th @ 7:00 pm.  She will be discussing her new book: All Wound Up.  In her trademark style, McPhee talks about knitting, parenting, friendship, and--gasp!--even crocheting in essays that are at times touching, often hilarious, and always entertaining. Fans of her popular blog will adore this all-new collection of tales of the woolen and silky skein, which follow the Yarn Harlot's previous exploits chronicled inside YARN HARLOT and FREE-RANGE KNITTER.  Although there is no admission fee to see Stephanie, if you would like her to sign her book or any materials, you will need to purchase the book from A Real Bookstore.  Be sure to have receipt in hand.  A word of advice about attending: Arrive early!  Last year she was here in Dallas, hundreds of stitchers arrived and there were lines out to the back of the store.  Us stitchers have no issues about waiting in line when we have a project in hand.

You have to have a sense of humor to be able to knit and crochet.  If not, we would all be in mental institutions rocking in chairs repeating "K1, P1, YO, SSK" as a mantra.  Thank goodness for Stephanie Pearl-McPhee who brings the sane out of our insanity by writing about how we feel as stitchers and our random acts of OCD.  She is the self-proclaimed Yarn Harlot and founder of the Knitting Olympics (knitting a complex project within the timeframe of the olympics.)  A blogger, writer and designer, Stephanie gives us the opportunity to laugh at ourselves and also know that there is someone else out there who is in the same boat as us.  Turns out that we are in a pretty big boat!

I hope you get the opportunity to visit one or both designers while they are in town.  I personally plan on seeing Stephanie and look forward to a fun night of laughter and looking at lots of exciting projects on everyone's needles!

The Weekly Stitch

Hello ladies,

Happy Monday to all of you! Wasn't the rain wonderful the last couple of days? And in case you are wondering, knitting and crocheting is a great pastime while watching the rain fall outside! Here is what is going on this week with YOH.

Meetings this week:
Have you checked out our blog yet? You can access it by going to http://yarnsofhope.blogspot.com. Jennifer Stover has been busy, not only setting this up for us, but also entering everyone's email as a "follower" of our blog (thanks again Jennifer for doing all of this!) Unless you notified me otherwise, you should be getting a confirmation email in your inbox which you will need to confirm before you start receiving emails about blog posts. This is going to be a great new tool for us to communicate with each other about projects, events, sales, and anything else going on in the yarn world! Check it out soon!

Current Projects:
  • Chemo caps and scarves for both adults and children - donated to Texas Oncology McKinney, McKinney Regional Cancer Center, UT Southwestern in Dallas and MCCH oncology units.
  • Blankets for MCCH - either a child-sized blanket or 12 x 12 squares to combine into a blanket for them.
  • Finch knitting/crochet club - I have had 2 or 3 of you volunteer to help with teaching and Becca Masters has volunteered to be the coordinator! (Yea - thank you Becca!) Look for details soon about when we will start the club. Also, we could use several more teachers. If you are thinking about teaching, go HERE to fill out a volunteer application.
  • Mission trip to Nepal: Susan Horn will be traveling to Nepal on a mission trip with Dare to Care next week.  We will have until next Tuesday, October 18th during YOH to deliver these items to her before she leaves that evening. She could help accumulating the following items for her trip:
    • Packets of Chile con Carne
    • Italian salad dressing mixes
    • 1 Jar Cream of Tartar
    • Birthday candles
    • Individual packs of candy for orphans and host families
    • 6 Zippered hoodies for kids/teens (size small and medium)
    • 1 Jar or box of Allspice
    • 1-2 Pack(s) of bay leaves
    • Staple gun and corresponding staples
    • D-Con rat bait in both blocks and pellets 2 packs of each
    • Paint roller sleeves: 6 or more medium nap and 2 heavy nap for coarse surfaces
    • Paint liners for tray (10)
    • 1-2 Lightweight plastic paint trays
    • Dawn dishwashing soap (1 or 2)
God bless each of you and have a great week!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Our State Fair Is A Great State Fair

The 126th Texas State Fair is already under way and the D/FW metroplex is alive this weekend with football fans (Texas/OU game anyone), livestock and obscure fried foods (Buffalo Chicken in a Flapjack and Fried Bubblegum were the winners.)  Of course, you should not leave the fair without having the ultimate fair-going food:  The Fletchers Corny Dog.

Aside from the food, seeing a gentle giant, the myriad of events, exhibits and shows that can overwhelm the senses, the most important exhibit space to visit is the Creative Arts building (of course, we are a bit biased seeing how we are a stitching group but all the more reason to support the arts!)  Iridescent and textured jams and jellies shelved proudly, delicate hand-crafted dolls encased in glass, the saturation of color on canvas and the ever-blending grey tones on a black and white photograph adorn shelves and walls for passer-bys to ooh and ahh.

In addition to these crafts, this category is the primary entry us stitchers flock to see:  Needlecraft.  If there isn’t enough inspiration throughout the year at local yarn and fabric shops, online patterns and other stitchers projects, this is the crème de la crème of talent in the state.   This is what many dream of one day accomplishing; to have a project worthy of hanging at the fair.  This is the time when stitchers look at a project and say to themselves “I could do better than that!”, “What were the judges thinking?!?” or even an agreed “That piece deserved to win.”  Whatever thoughts that do transpire, attending the fair creates a sense of comrade between stitchers by encouraging all to go back home and try a new technique - even a new craft altogether.  No matter who has been pinned and who was left behind, we all know that even though our crafts are time-intensive and a labor of love, we knit, crochet, quilt and stitch because this is our peace; this is what makes us happy and in turn, others as well.

I encourage all of you to try to attend the State Fair this year and view all the wonderful crafts that are in the Creative Arts building.  Be sure to be on the lookout for ribboned items from our own crafters Kelli Phelan (cross-stitch) and Jennifer Stover (knitting.)

To find out more information about the State Fair visit HERE.
For additional entrance discounts during the week visit HERE.

The fair ends October 23rd so don't miss it; don't even be late!

See y’all at the fair!

Monday, October 3, 2011

The Weekly Stitch

Hello ladies!

Happy Monday to all of you! Hope you are enjoying this gorgeous day and have had lots of time to knit and crochet!

Make sure you note the venue change for Wednesday night.

Meetings this week:
Have you checked out our blog yet? Jennifer Stover has been working hard to put lots of information out there. You can also follow new posts to the blog by clicking on the "Follow by email" button, typing in your email then hitting submit. You will get a confirmation email in your inbox which you will need to confirm before you start receiving emails about blog posts. This is going to be a great new tool for us to communicate with each other about projects, events, sales, and anything else going on in the yarn world! Check it out soon!

Current Projects:
  • Chemo caps and scarves for both adults and children - donated to Texas Oncology McKinney, McKinney Regional Cancer Center, UT Southwestern in Dallas and MCCH oncology unit.
  • Blankets for MCCH - either a child-sized blanket or 12 x 12 squares to combine into a blanket for them.
  • Finch knitting/crochet club - I have had 2 or 3 of you volunteer to help with teaching and Becca Masters has volunteered to be the coordinator! (Yea - thank you Becca!!) Look for details soon about when we will start the club. Also, we could use several more teachers. If you are thinking about teaching, please fill out a volunteer application.
  • Mission trip to Nepal: In October, Susan Horn will be traveling to Nepal on a mission trip with Dare to Care. She could help accumulating the following items for her trip:
    • Packets of Chile con Carne
    • Italian Salad Dressing mixes
    • 1 jar of Cream of Tartar
    • Birthday candles
    • Individual packs of candy for the Orphans and host families
God bless each of you and have great week!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Frogs

Here's a great photo of one of our members, Barbara, showcasing the rice-sack frogs that she has made!  What a colorful selection and so much fun to do!