the state of the red scarf address

Is that not a beautiful stack of red scarfery ?

Collected at my hangout  Knit New Haven,  sent off to the Orphan Foundation of America for the Red Scarf project. To synopsize: the OFA does support and advocacy for foster kids who are now in college. Among the OFA's activities is sending care packages to 2500+ college kids for Valentine's Day.  Each includes a handknit scarf, donated by knitters; a personal touch that truly matters to  kids who have no "from home" to call.

If you're sort of smacking yourself in the head and saying "oh noooo, I meant to knit one but ran out of time",  no worries.  There's next year.  Even better: the scarf goal was met, but donations to the Red Scarf Fund are way down . These kids are on stripped down stipends, and the fund helps with small needs as well as emergencies that crop up: your printer's out of ink, your glasses break, you lose your dorm key card and need to pay $35. to get a new one, you have a job interview but no tie... even simple things like needing cough drops and chapstick become a problem when you're on a super tight budget.

So, here's my suggestion: if you meant to knit a scarf but didn't, hit the donation button here with whatever you might have spent on yarn and postage. See?  No knitters' guilt.

Ok now let's talk scarves. I knit the one around the (ahem, thanks Dave) awesome model's neck. It's  just a stretch of mistake rib in Brown Sheep Lambs Pride,  Wine Splash. Really liked this yarn. Glad I have a half skein left to play with.

Every year I'm struck by the wide variety of patterns & yarns people choose, and how many I ooh and ahh over. There's a crocheted cotton one on the bottom that'll be perfect for a wool sensitive student.  And you can't blame me for being thrilled to see the Lamar scarf, in the center, knit by Stacey of Fresh Stitches.

Now, back to work.  Is anyone else suffering from extreme procastination-itis with a side order  of monkey-mind this week?

3 weeks is plenty time to red scarf

How convenient !I needed something to show,

and last week's pitstop near DC caught my mom with three scarves she & her buddy Claire knit for this year's Orphan Foundation of America's Red Scarf Project, which sends a handknit red scarf to approximately  2500 former foster kids now attending college. FYI:  The scarves should be sent to the OFA by December 15th, they get sorted and mailed on Valentine's Day.*

 This one is knit from the same Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Worsted in Wine Splash I showed last week, she can't remember which scarf pattern,  it was a 2 or 4 row repeat she downloaded. The red tweed one was Claire's; Claire said she had trouble following her directions, so the stitch is not  as it was supposed to  be but it looks pretty good in a different way. 

 

The last one is Wavy, from Knitty 06, in Cascade 220 superwash.  Although Leo is a  Miami-based college student who doesn't need a woolly scarf and, anyway, eschews handknits (I know!? let's not go there!) he modeled it  to prove that it looks pretty good on a guy even if he's making faces..

*All  Red Scarf Project details here .
Essentials:

• red or non-gender color yarn, any weight except super bulky (it mails in a fed ex box)

• any knit , crocheted or woven pattern that suits either gender. Lacy, not so much.

• 5-8" wide, about 60" or so long

The folks at the OFA are not weighing and measuring with scientific instruments, it's guidelines, don't fret! Send them by December 15 and feel good. Or, you can feel just as good by sending a donation of gift cards or money to suport the kids who have no "home" to call for reinforcements. Go, cast on for one. Or send. Today.

 

A few remaining red leaves. Just for inspiration. Doncha love red with light blue?

what color scarf are you casting on?

 Fremont Solstice Festival Seattle

Quick! What color comes to mind?

Randolph Vermont general store

How about now?

 

Fremont Solstice Festival Seattle naked cyclists parade kickoff *

Ok do I have your attention? (I should have left the patch off, right? )

So. You should be just about ready to cast on a red scarf for the Orphan Foundation of America's Red Scarf project. Knit a red (or non-gender-specific) color scarf, approx  5-8" wide and around 60" or so long, to be included in a care package to a college kid who aged out of foster care and is going it on their own.  Send it in by December 15th.  The address, and more info about this wonderful effort here.

 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

* When I asked my 16yo son Gabe if he'd come out to Seattle and work for me on a series of photo shoots right after school ended this past June, he surprised me by asking if we'd be there for Solstice. He's not usually much of an earthy-crunchy-granola guy. I asked why he cared.  The Fremont festival, said he. Naked bicyclists. Like, hundreds of them.

You know what? It was a fabulous parade and party. The naked cyclists were just the kickoff. In fact the whole week was full of fabulous.  We might just go back in 2011. Gabe says he's going to be in the parade. On a bicycle.

tossing off FOs & catching ZZZs

Red Scarf action!  Linda & June at their shop,  Knit New Haven, hoisting this year's harvest of red scarves. Let me tell you, those are some really, really nice scarves. Since I was heading down to DC and was going to see the OFA folks, I personally delivered them. You sent yours, right? If not, you're one scarf ahead for next year, just remember where you put it till then.

My two scarves were finished and amongst the delivered.  I kind of hid the striped one in the bottom, it was looking more rustic and folksy by the minute. No need to reassure me, I have faith a rustic, folksy loving student will be matched with it.  It's just that there were so many lovely, very polished looking knits. The top one is my worsted weight version of the Gathered Scarf designed by Maryse. Great pattern! Considering  it involves increasing , decreasing & changing needle size- not difficult but a little bit more time consuming than your straight knit- it still seems to be an uber quick knit. The ruches add high entertainment value, that must be it. I might try an  even chunkier one for myself, just for funs. Or see what happens if you knit it as a tube ina lighter weight.

I also knit a thick cowl for myself that I've failed to shoot, it's starting to look a little worn so I'd best hurry that one up. Me not finding a way to take a photo of an FO is so ridiculous, I shot 1000 images in the last two days but no, sorry, too hard to include a cowl. L-A-M-E.

A carbohydratey FO. Soon as it got chilly in November I was back with the breads from that work of genius Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes. I've been doing different filled breads for a while, sometimes cinnamon & brown sugar, sometimes cheese or vegetables or both. Rarely do they come out as evenly swirled as this one, usually there are unsightly bulges. So I have to show it. . It's the Eurpean Peasant Bread recipe with sundred tomatoes and sharp cheddar baked in. And very super crusty (extra cornmeal on it.) FYI you can't go wrong with that filling. Stuff your old shoes with sundried tomatoes & sharp cheddar and bake: also good.

You know what else is taking up my time? Sleeping. I jumped right on Ann and Arianna's bandwagon. Soon all those REM will result in a thinner, cheerier me. With less problems remembering stuff. If it works, I'll be able to remember to tell you about it.

mid month review

Ahem. I called this meeting to review the status of monthlong goals and objectives. Referring to post 349 dated Nov 2 . Entitled "commitments with issues":

1. NaKniSweMo First let me say I heard Shannon Okey speak last Friday night and she smoothly spews out NaKnitSweMo as a noun, no pausing or giving it verbal quotation marks. Because she is just. that. cool. As far as my personal progress? I cast on this manly cabled sweater for Dave, got a good manly cabled start, and then found I had less manly cable knitting time than I thought. No way it will be done by month's end. Fail. But win for me because I love this kind of knitting and the Ultra Alpaca from my new LYS, Knit NewHaven , is heavenly to handle.

Win for Dave, who hasn't had a new handknit sweater in ages. Also win for me, I am tired of looking at this last one, which appeared recently for its 15th season. You'll note it is also manly cabled. What can I say? The guy knows what he likes.

2. NaPoBloMo The truly alert amongst you may have noticed this commitment was dated November 2nd which means..yup,technically a fail before I began. Cool. No pressure. So I missed another day in there too? Big deal. It's the 18th today. I'm declaring this one a cautiously optimistic win.

3. Vestvember Beyond fail. A non-start. I kept it real with my other projects....

4. ...such as the Red Scarf Project which I wouldn't dream of missing. I'm finishing this one I began last year. The brightness , randomness of striping and simplicity of stitch are a fine counterpoint to the manly cabled knitting . Although it may not be ideal (nongender), I feel pretty sure it'll find it's way to the right college student through the OFA.

5...and some holiday gift knitting. It's Malabrigo and it feels so fine I decided to wind the ball by hand last night, so I could touch all 215 or so yards. .

The color is Pearl. Mushroomish, purplish, slightly blackish shade with undeniable pearlescence. For a requested grey accessory. I think this'll work.

6. No more procrastinating on some long term cleaning/sorting/organizing. Hmmmmm. I read an essay I found helpful. So. I'm going to choose to go make a list of tasks, and it'll be imperfect. And then I'm heading off to the gym.

Meeting adjourned.
(This was written earlier, and I did make it to the gym after the list. The items on the list, well, see imperfection, above)

bit of red

I can hardly comment on the collections I found at my aunt's home on Friday. She had a thirty year headstart on me. I'm no slouch. The next generation will have plenty to work with here.

Speaking of red & the work of another generation (smooth segue, no?)...

photo courtesy of Rita Zucker

My mom sent me this shot of scarves she & her friend Claire knit for the Red Scarf Project of the OFA. Deadline's December 15th to donate a handknit scarf for a former foster kid now in college. If you start one soon, surely you can finish it in time for this very worthy cause. It means more than you think. And, go check out the contest Norma's running for contributors.

My mom's been a supporter of the Red Scarf project ever since we learned about it, in 2006. She's helped out when I've done photo shoots for them in the DC area. The first year she had a college student run up & hug her to thank her and say how much it meant, and she saw "red scarf kids" volunteering as packers get all excited picking out scarfs. She's been knitting, spreading the word & recruiting knitters ever since. Like her senior center gym buddy Claire. Claire's scarf is on the left (pattern unknown). In the center, is my mom's Luna Lace Scarf from Shear Spirit, (yeah, nepotistic choice, nothing wrong with that, right?). She modified for DKish weight yarn, knitting it over 35 stitches. On the right, she knit a checkerboard textured pattern (generic pattern here). I saw that one in person, it looks...dare I say? very smart.

Funny, yet awful, story: Claire had knit a fourth red scarf, she'd blocked it, folded it carefully and put it in a box on a shelf by her front door to bring to the gym to hand off to my mom. Her husband, being a helpful sorta guy, thought it was a trash box and took it out. Not to a garbage can. He threw it down an incinerator chute in their building.

Can you feel her pain? Claire didn't talk to him for almost 2 days.

red:ready?

Never one for subtlety, a gentle reminder to get your needles moving for the Red Scarf Project 2009.

How lucky is it that my red photo safari yesterday segued into a job today with a red combed chicken.

Quick review: each scarf should be approximately 60" long and 5 to 8" wide, , unisex in style, preferably a shade of red, in a soft not scratchy yarn. Style up to you. You know, something you might see a successful college student wearing. Please no fun fur, no loose unwoven ends or wildy wonky mistakes. Keep in mind it'll be mailed in a fed ex box, so super bulky scarves won't work. BTW fed ex donates all the delivery, yay Fed Ex!!

The Orphan Foundation of America (OFA) is accepting the scarves for this year's care packages now through December 15th. Each scarf is sent in a care package to foster kids who have aged out of the system and are now going it on their own in college. It means A LOT to them. They do not receive care packages otherwise; there's no one to call or text at home when things are a little bumpy, or they need some help in decisions. The OFA's work in advocacy for these young people is so very worthy of your support!

Along with knitting a red scarf, ( or instead of , if your knitting plate is full ) consider:

- donating to the Red Scarf Fund for Foster Youth

- donating little items that can go inside the care packages like gift cards to inexpensive restaurants , or bookstores, or coffee shops, toiletries like hand cream or razors, , stationery goods like tape, pens, notebooks, small packets of snack foods...and if you work for a company that can do so, urge them!

- be a virtual mentor. You have no idea what an impact you can have on someone's life by mentoring. You'd be matched up with an OFA college student interested in your field, and be in contact with them for advice, encouragement and support. Read this OFA blog post entry on what a difference you can make.

- if you' re in the DC area, volunteer to help sort out or stuff care packages at OFA

- download and print this 8x10 Red Scarf Project poster/flyer, and put it up at your LYS or community bulletin board

Ok, that's my opening red post for the year. Look around at your own reds, there's got to be a shade you want to work in.