Silver Adventures Blanket
One of my hobbies involves making blankets out of miscellaneous balls of yarn. Sometimes it is leftover yarn I have sitting in my crafting cupboard, sometimes it is yarn I find at thrift stores, and sometimes it is yarn donated to the local volunteer centre.
The volunteer centre has a group called Angel Crafters who make knitted or crocheted squares and this group has been so successful that there are now too many squares and not enough people to put them together. Last year I volunteered to put some squares together and produced a few blankets that were subsequently donated to people living in local shelters.
A few months ago I dropped by with some crocheted squares and, when I was told they could not take any more squares, I offered once again to turn them into blankets. This conversation was overheard by the woman who leads the Silver Adventures Cafe which is a group of seniors who meet monthly to learn something new. She asked me if I would lead a workshop teaching the group how to join the squares to make blankets and I happily agreed.
In the following weeks I prepared a PowerPoint presentation complete with links to useful YouTube videos, some pictures of my completed blankets, and a step-by-step approach from layout to completion using either a needle or a crochet hook. It would have been great, but unfortunately the venue’s technology did not have the necessary cable to link to my laptop. So, I winged it without the PowerPoint.
Fortunately, I had prepared a handout that included the video links I had intended to use and we were able to show them via a different computer. After that, it was a matter of reading the room and trying to accommodate a wide variety of skill sets. Some of the attendees were experienced in knitting or crocheting, and some had never held a crochet hook. I began by showing the group how to make a slip knot, and was surprised when one person told me she had never learned that before.
After the workshop was over, some of the Silver Adventurers volunteered to make blankets and took bags of squares home with them, so I consider that a success.
I took home the squares that the group had joined during the workshop and since then I have been working on them to put together a blanket. Given that the participants abilities varied considerably, I am pleased that the end product turned out as well as it did. When Angel Crafters and Silver Adventurers get together, they can make a really cosy comforter for someone who just needs to feel warm.
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