Red Scarf Project

It’s that time of year when crocheters and knitters are sending their handmade goodies to the Red Scarf Project.  If you aren’t familiar with the Red Scarf Project, it is a program operated by Foster Care to Success: America’s College Fund for Foster Youth.  FCS sends foster care college students care packages, including a Valentine’s Day care package with a crochet or knit red scarf inside.

This charity is close to my heart for a few reasons.  Early in my career, I worked with a youth program and made frequent visits to foster care group homes.  That experience definitely showed me the tremendous challenges that foster care youth face.  And, when I first started connecting my passion for crochet with the online crafting community, the Red Scarf Project was the first charity I learned about online where I could send my crocheted goodies.

Due to space restrictions, donations are only accepted between September 1 and December 15 each year.  In case you’re interested in sharing some of your crochet or knitted scarves with the Red Scarf Project, I’m including the guidelines from their website here:

RED SCARF PROJECT GUIDELINES:

Size: approximately 60” long and 5” to 8” wide. Scarves should be long enough to be wrapped around the neck, with tails long enough to be tied in the front.

Style: Think unisex collegiate. Fringes are optional. Your scarf should drape, tie easily and be soft.

Color: Red! However, this could mean burgundy, cherry, russet, red stripes with other colors, or multicolor hues including red.

Finished & tagged: Yarn ends should be securely sewn in. For a personal touch, attach a tag saying “Handmade for You” with your first name, city, and group affiliation, if any. Donors have also included washing instructions, messages of encouragement, gift cards, and more.

Mail to: Foster Care to Success, Red Scarf Project
21351 Gentry Drive Suite 130
Sterling, VA 20166

NOTE: Scarves are accepted between September 1 and December 15 annually.  As we have limited storage space, please send your scarves only during this time period.

As I was looking over the Red Scarf Project website this year, I saw that there are links to nine pattern pages, but only one is to a crochet pattern :(.

After working relentlessly on secret projects for the past week, I’m in the mood to mindlessly follow someone else’s pattern.  Now that I’ve been so good about busting stash, I only have about 250 yards of red yarn left, so I did a Ravelry search for low yardage, unisex scarf patterns.  I came across the Eva’s Ribs Scarf Pattern by Vashti Braha (interviewed by me here).  I remember Vashti’s slip stitch explorations in her newsletter, so I’m excited to try this out.  Who knows, if I like slip stitching, I might end up making myself the Eva Shrug

 

Do you have a favorite charity that accepts handmade donations?  

 

I’m  blogging daily throughout October.  Visit I Saw You Dancing for more Blogtoberfest bloggers and  CurlyPops for Blogtoberfest giveaways.  Search #blogtoberfest12 on Twitter.

Leave a Comment

Subscribe to the newsletter to get my secrets and access to the subscriber vault!

5 Secrets for Improving Your Crochet Skills