Can you please help?

Each holiday season a group of Scantron employee's provide singing and entertainment to some of our communities senior "shut-ins". This year as part of our outreach festivities, we are hoping to provide knitted scarves to about 130 men and women. Since this is a voluntary outreach program our funds are limited. We will be able to contribute about $3.00 per scarf. Our holiday event is schedules for December 13th, so our deadline would be December 12th. Is there a possibility there might be a group of knitters willing to help us bring happiness and warmth to our needy inpatients? A timely response will be greatly appreciated. Best Regards, Susan Swanson
Susan L. SwansonFront Desk AdministratorScantron Corporation34 ParkerIrvine, CA 92618-1604[ P ] 949.639.7649www.scantron.com

Our trip home from Stitches

It's been a few weeks since we got back from Stitches in Baltimore. As you know, Dutch and I drove the 3000+ miles pulling our trailer. The trip this year went well, no vehicles stolen like last year. We decided to visit Dollywood in Tennessee and spend a couple of days there. We continued on without any problems until we hit Arizona. Then the problem wasn't ours, but as has been well documented, our part of California was on fire.

Because we were pulling a trailer and there were such high winds, the roads home were closed and we had to spend an extra 3 days in Arizona. I had to resign myself to not feeling guilty while laying by the pool and relaxing. This, of course, is the short version. There are many details to the long version, but suffice it to say that I was quite aware and very thankful that God inserted a few days of being still into my schedule.

Although the media coverage has stopped, we should still be praying for those who have lost everything to the fires.

Elaine

It's been over a month since I last wrote. So much to do so little time.

You may remember our friend Elaine who was always at Stitches with us and besides seeing her at various times in the store, you for sure saw her at our bag sales. Elaine had a stroke earlier this year and it has been a long haul for her to first regain conciousness and then improve from there.

Dutch and I just returned from visiting her and we are so happy to report that she looked real good! She is able to eat applesauce and can manouver the bed controls. Her memory is better than mine! She can't talk and still has a trich, but it was great to see her looking so good! Her family said that she will probably be able to go home this week for Thanksgiving for a couple of hours. This will be her first outing since her stroke other than ambulance rides to the emergency hospital for one reason or other.

Go Elaine!

Lots of special events at Yarn lady

We frequently host special events at our store. Our aim is to provise a fun place where you and your friends can come and learn all about knitting and crocheting, get inspired and have lots of fun!

I've put together some pages where you can see what's going on. Please check our events calendar so you can sign up for any future events.

http://yarnlady.com/newsletter/eventscalendarpastnew.htm

http://yarnlady.com/newsletter/eventscalendar.htm

Check out this wonderful baby blanket

Amy sent us this message:

This is my Nephew, Liam James Keays. He’s 3 weeks old today! Here he is wrapped in the ABC blanket I knitted

Didn't she do a wonderful job with her forst project? The baby's not half bad either. I wonder f she knows that we trade yarn for babies :-)))

Thanks for sharing with us Amy!

HOLDING HANDS Charity Event at Yarn Lady

A few months ago we asked you to use some of your left-over yarns and some of your time to make 5-hour baby sweaters to be given to charity. We called the event "Holding Hands". To us it signified that as we help each other, we indeed are holding hands! We have displayed these sweaters all along the perimiter of our store so the little sweaters were holding hands. We took your names as you donated the sweaters and entered them into a drawing for a $100 Gift Certificate to Yarn Lady. The winner was announced yesterday and can be found in our latest Newsletter. http://www.yarnlady.com/newsletter/2007/september/september2.html

I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it has been to see your creativity and generosity! These gifts will be distributed by Stitches From The Heart.

Way to go everyone!! Thanks so much for your participation!

Another fun day at Yarn Lady!

Lots of workshops coming up at Yarn Lady

Well they did it! Got me to commit to teaching some workshops. Actually, I'm so excited! If you've been at the store lately when I was there, you probably saw me working on a great purse! You will have to see it! I know you will want to make one as well.

If you've been there when our Janet was there, you may have seen her adorable snowman. She is teaching a workshop on that as well. There is also a workshop by her which deals all in projects for Christmas. Please check it out.
I promise that I'll take pictures, so please check back.

I was just reading in a trade magazine about some ladies who visited a yarn shop in Brussels and they were talking about how scarves are THE hot thing over there now and the article showed a picture of the shop owner wearing a scarf made out of yarn tape. This is exciting news, since fashion often begins in Europe and then makes its way to us. This time though, it seems like it's the other way around. We have made scarves and worn them and given them and sold them and we made them out of that very same yarn tape! I'm just thinking: could it be that we packed up our scarves too soon? Could it be that since winter will follow summer and fall, could it be that the scarves will be back this winter? I mean, it's going to get colder than the triple digit heat we have been experiencing. I'm working on a mitered square afghan right now--- or could it be that I'm working on a scarf??





So now you are wondering why I am showing pictures of buildings and a smiling lady and a yarn store. Well, there is a story to go with that, so read on! I thought if a trip to a yarn store in Brussels would warrant an article in a trade magazine, I should tell you about OUR experience last summer/fall. My husband claims to be Norwegian but he had never been in Norway. I always teased him because I am German and I was born and raised there. So I have a legitimate claim to the nationality. He on the other hand, had never set foot in Norway. Well last fall we set out to fix that and we went to Norway, accompanied by his cousin and some ideas of where we could find ancestors or at least find out where they lived. We rented a car and drove 500 miles around southern Norway, map in hand and knocking on doors when we thought we were close. Others in Dutch's family had made the trip and found some places and we had some of that information with us.

At one point we had stopped at a gas station and they had a restaurant and since we were hungry, we stopped for a bite. On my way back out to the car I saw this building a bit up the hill. From a distance I could make out the word "garn" amongst others on the building. Well I don't speak Norwegian, but in German, Garn mean YARN!! So you know I had to investigate.










I went in and was greeted by this very friendly lady. Of course I was "forced" to buy some things and I asked her if I could take pictures of her store. Hers was a combination yarn and gift and souvenir store and she did have a table where one could sit and knit. (None of the stores in Germany that I visited had that).

Anyway, after a pleasant chat, we got back on the road to continue our quest to find where Dutch's great grandmother had lived. Or was it his great grandfather??? I never could get that straight.... After knocking on some more doors and talking to some more people, we were led up a steep driveway to another house. (I was driving an unfamiliar stick shift while they were walking in front of me- I didn't kill the engine too many times...) Anyway, we get to the house on top of the hill and knock on that door and who should open the door of THE RIGHT HOUSE but the smiling face from the yarn store!! How is that for guidance and not knowing that you have arrived. If we had told her at the store why we were in the area and what we were looking for, our search could have ended right there!
So we got to chat again with Inger Olsnes, owner of Vinjebue in Vinje, Norway. How cool was that?

I have other stories about other yarn stores we visited. Let me know if you want to hear them and I'll share them....

Yeah!! I crocheted this blanket!

That's what Danny is saying to her crochet teacher, Jan. What a great feeling it is to have actually completed something that you crocheted with your own hands.
Great job, Danny! Thanks for sharing.

Knitted purses are HOT!

Everyone is making knitted purses- felted and unfelted.
Here is what Janet has knitted! Check out those leather handles to top off her wonderful work!

Yarn Lady gives $100,- Gift Certificate at County Fair

And the winner of a hundred dollar Yarn Lady gift certificate...from the L.A. County Fair in Pomona is:

MARY GARING of Ontario, CA
Mary won first prize and sweepstakes in the professional category. She is a knitting instructor and designer.

Congratulations, Mary! Great job!

Look what our customers have knitted

We often wish that everyone could see what our customers have knitted and the talent they represent! Here is a sampling of Michelle's accomplishments. Who said that baby sweaters couldn't be made in a new way??

Great job, Michelle!

Pictures of kids wearing scarves YOU knitted

Even more pictures from Camp Summersault

More pictures of knitted scarves for campers at Camp Summersault

More pictures from Camp Summersault

Thanks for your donated knitted scarves

A few weeks ago we asked for your support for Karen's Kids at Camp Summersault. You came through and knitted lots of beautiful scarves! Thank you ever so much!

Karen sent us pictures of some of the kids proudly wearing their scarves as well as their beaded necklaces wich karen also helps them make.

See?? We can make a difference in someone's life! Keep on knitting! The following is what Karen wrote to us:

Hello from Camp Summersault with many thanks from all of us!!

Just a note with pictures to show you the joy that you have brought by your generous donations of beads, hand knitted scarves and love and support. This years theme, "Polar Adventure" was a huge success. The children love their beautiful scarves and had so much fun choosing their very favorite. And again, this year our beading class really had all of the campers creative juices flowing. They made necklaces, bracelets and keychains for themselves and to give as gifts to friends and family.

Again, thanks to all of you for your time and effort. It is appreciated from the bottom of my heart. If any of you are interested, I accept bead donations throughout the year and if anyone would like to continue sending scarves I am Chairperson of the Long Beach Cancer League Adopt-A-Family program and would be happy to include beautiful scarves as gifts for the families that we help at Christmas. This is for families in need who have children in Miller's Children's Hospital. We provide gifts for the child who is the patient and their siblings and parents also. Thank you so much in advance.

Karen Braverman-Freeman
4907 E. Colorado St.
Long Beach, CA 90814

Many hugs!

Karen