In between time

While I am re-working and re-knitting the coasters for :cough::cough: a week from yesterday... I wanted to post about something that means a lot to me.

Doing something you love for a cause that you care about...

This project was introduced to me by a woman I work with- fortunately the new job change has allowed me to be a little less stressed and actually less busy. This means that I can knit during my lunch breaks... I had my Christmas knitting at the office last week and she asked me if I would get involved in this project.

Scarves for Special Olympics

The project is to knit scarves for the participants, volunteers, coaches, etc. involved with the Special Olympics. That I know is a terrible description of the project so here is a description directly from their page:

Handmade scarves donated as a result of the 2012 Special Olympics USA Scarf Project will be a symbol of unity, support, compassion and empowerment, as the Special Olympics athletes, coaches, families, volunteers and supporters wear them with pride in knowing they have become part of the Special Olympics family.

The idea for a scarf project resulted from an opportunity to provide a gift of welcome for the athletes of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games held in Boise, Idaho. A call went out for 5,000 Red Heart delft blue & white scarves, and by Games time nearly 60,000 scarves had arrived from every state in the U.S. and from 12 countries around the world.

Special Olympics Idaho, then, carried on the tradition with their own state scarf project in 2010, and again the knitting and crocheting communities opened their hearts and put their needles and hooks to work. Over 2,100 Red Heart cherry red and grey heather scarves arrived from 48 states in just five weeks for the Idaho State Winter Games, and the celebration of unity began as they were presented to the athletes, coaches, families, volunteers and supporters during the Opening Ceremony – for all to wear throughout the Games.

In 2011, the Special Olympics USA Scarf Project spread its wings and went national! Thirty-five Special Olympics Programs participated, and by the conclusion of the project in March 2011, we had received over 26,000 scarves and contributed to an unprecedented sense of unity, support and community for the athletes and the Special Olympics Movement as a whole.

 This time of year there are all kinds of ways for you to volunteer your time. I recommend finding something that you like doing (for me its knitting-- a no-brainer, I know) and find a way to do that for others... If you are interested in starting to knit this is a great project to get you started and teach you how.

The yarn they require is VERY inexpensive- I do not normally like knitting with synthetic yarns but for a cause I will do just about anything- except anything that might be a challenge on an episode of Fear Factor. Today I bout two skeins of the yarn at my local Hobby Lobby but you can buy it at almost any chain craft store or even Wal-Mart. each skein has 364 yards and only cost me $2.99 (Holy S***, does anything cost this little anymore?)

Scarves are how I started learning how to knit back in college and are very simple... You can do a couple and learn some basic patterns or you can be adventurous and use Ravelry's pattern search and find something challenging.

Whether you find your own project to participate or you participate in this one- be sure you do something... this is the season of giving!