Ribbons of Hope

Tonight I'm in the mood to weave beads.  Weeks into this crazy pandemic.  Weeks of staying at home, working from home, doing my part to help "Flatten the Curve".  Crazy times, crazy moods.  So many crafting possibilities, yet sometimes just overwhelmed and in the end - nothing.  Over these weeks I've been knitting, embroidering, designing personalized gifts in the Cricut Design Space, designing a team shirt for my son's Special Olympics softball team, listening to audiobooks, watching Hallmark.....  All that, yet I don't really feel like I've accomplished much.  I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone.  Waiting for.....  what? Life seems to be on hold - waiting for us to try to get back to some normalcy.

So, tonight - working on making my Ribbons of Hope bracelets.  My plan has always been to donate them so they can be sold to raise funds for awareness and research.  You can see the ribbons in the design.  Each bracelet will include a metal tag, stamped with the word "Hope". The blue and white bracelets are made for Histiocytosis Awareness, in honor of my son.  I've also been making red and white - for heart awareness, and pink and white - for breast cancer awareness.  Those diseases, among many others, have touched my life in personal ways.

 

A Thank You from Hospice of Wake County:

Thank you so much for your recent donations of knitted goodies to Hospice of Wake County! They will provide comfort and bring a smile to our patients and families. We are very appreciative of your support.

 

Many blessings,

 

Volunteer Services Team Leader

Hospice of Wake County, Inc.

One of many blessings you can receive is a simple Thank You.  Many recipients of our gifts express their gratitude immediately, after experiencing the comfort, or by sending their written thanks to the group.

The people making these items feel blessed to be bringing comfort to others.  And it especially warms our hearts to know when we're making a difference.

From a transplant patient at Duke:

I'm a patient at Duke's transplant center, and your hat certainly came in handy.
It kept me nice and warm on some if my chillier days.
You're so thoughtful to donate your time and talent!
Sincerely,

January Meeting

Cecilia hard at work making a loomed hat for a baby.




What a blessing it is to teach new volunteers how easy it is to loom knit a hat! Trudy and Nancy make Judy feel welcome, and Judy learns a new craft.




Thelma works hard keeping the yarn and donations organized. We have so many hats, prayer shawls, scarves, blankets, and a few other items - all ready to be blessed during church service on Sunday.




Liz and Jean have been making warm items to contribute.




Baskets of hats and other warm items. Destined for chemo patients at the NC Cancer Center on Cary, warm hats and scarves for missions in Israel and Honduras, and baby hats for Wake Med Cary.




A quilt for Wake Med Cary, blankets for Hospice of Wake County, and prayer shawls for those in the church family and community.





Wow! What an amazing group of women!

- Posted by Cary2Crafty using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:New Hill Baptist Church, New Hill, NC

Donations Made

The ladies of New Hill Baptist Church have met for 3 times now.  Getting together to learn how to loom knit hats, learning how to make a brim, and learning how to make a prayer shawl - all on the round looms.  Together we've made almost 300 items to donate!  Incredible!  Donations of warm winter hats and scarves are given to the Western Wake Crisis Center.  Donations of chemo hats given to an NC Cancer Center in Cary.  Donations of baby hats given to Wake Med - Cary.  Donations of Busy Aprons given to the Hospice Center of Wake County.
Each batch of donated items is blessed by the pastor and congregation of the church during Sunday service.

First Meeting - untangling yarn so it can be knitted on the loom

Knitting the first rows - going good

Once you get going, the hats work up quickly

1st batch donated to Western Wake Crisis

The basket on the left has the 2 busy aprons; the rest of the basket is chemo hats.

  The basked in the middle is full of baby hats.  The backed on the right is another load for Western Wake Crisis

A busy apron is shown and explained to the congregation

The congregation holds hands as the donations are blessed.

When: Kick Off Meeting at NHBC

Saturday, August 20th, 10:00 am - 12:00 noon

The first Crafting Blessings community outreach meeting will be a fun one - mainly concentrating on teaching those interested in loom knitting hats.  No yarn experience needed - just the desire to learn.  I have a small supply of looms and hooks to test out - see if it's something you really want to do.  I also have some skeins of yarn to get people started.

My main purpose is to have people join me in making items to donate.  An added bonus is for people to learn a new craft that they can use - not only to help others, but also to make gifts for their own friends and family.

Please pray for a successful Kick Off meeting - and the beginning of something new and exciting to help the community.

My Own Contributions

Crochet Preemie Hats and Diaper Shirt

Crochet Granny Square Hat and Chemo Hats

Knit Chemo Hats

Loom Knit Winter Hats

Crochet Prayer Shawl