Community Crochet

September feels like a new beginning to me- fall is coming with its fresh crispness and colors and pencils are being sharpened as the academic year gears back up.  In recent years, I've also associated another event with the beginning of autumn- the Yarndale Festival in Yorkshire, England.  I've never been (dare to dream!), but I've followed it from afar, especially each year's charity crochet/knitting project.  

(image from Attic24 blog, link here)

This year, the charity chosen by the organizers is Mercy Ships, an international medical aid organization sailing around the world, providing surgeries and medical help to communities in need.  I can't imagine a better charity to benefit!  As you can imagine, many of the patients are children, and Mercy Ships is collecting handmade stuffed bears to distribute as comfort animals to little ones who are experiencing the stress and anxiety of medical procedures.

The 2019 goal is to collect 500 knitted/crocheted bears to display at Yarndale as an awareness and money raising display, and then to send to Mercy Ships to be distributed to little ones in need.  If you're reading this and know how to knit or crochet, please get involved!  If you haven't learned to knit or crochet yet, maybe you have a friend or relative who does?  Please pass on the information!  You can find the patterns on Lucy's wonderful website Attic24 (click here).  All bears need to have arrived in the UK by September 20th.  My guess is that the fiber community is going to well surpass the 500 bear goal!!!!!

I just finished mine this weekend, and I have to admit that I actually made some rookie mistakes!  The pattern is so cleverly constructed and so clearly explained, but for some reason I didn't read the pattern all the way through, even though I know that you always read a recipe or a pattern from start to finish before beginning.  What was I thinking?!?!?!  Because of this, I had to attach the arms and stitch the ears post hoc which turned out fine, but took much longer than necessary.  Hope it's smoother sailing for you!  Another part of this project that I thought was brilliant was that the only stitch used is a single crochet stitch, making it totally accessible to beginners.  In fact, I think beginner stitchers would feel pretty snazzy after completing an adorable bear!

Let me know if you are contributing the the 2019 Community Project.  I'm really looking forward to seeing all the bears together.  And I really hope that they bring comfort to little ones around the world.    

Lots of love,

~Mersy