Knitting My Way Around the World by Shelly S .
It started with a quilt square . Tracy M . gathered a group of us to work on the Heart Pillow Project , and while we were cutting , stuffing , and sewing heart pillows and drainage bags , she and Susan S . -W. displayed the latest FAWCO quilt to be auctioned off at the next conference . They both indicated the need for individuals to help sew squares for the upcoming quilt , and simply seeing the pattern — a beautiful butterfly in green tones — was enough to reel me into the quilt project despite my novice status . Now , many quilts later , I am still sewing these squares , always thrilled to see how much money each quilt brings in , which in turn is donated to the current FAWCO target project of the year . Most importantly , I was invited to spend Tuesday nights with the Stitch ‘ n ’ Bitch group , where I met some of the most confident and skilled crafts-ladies who were willing to share their knowledge . Before long , I was introduced to crocheting , cross-stitching , and knitting while hearing wild adventures and interesting tidbits .
I started with knitting scarves , hats , headbands , and sweaters . I donated some of them for our yearly auction in the hope that they would find a new home and the money earned would go to the target project . I then decided to combine this
Shelly visiting a school near Kalaw . Below are two recipients of Shelly ‘ s hats and scarves : a woman in Padaung and Becky T . in Hamburg . ( All photos courtesy of Shelly S .) new hobby with an old hobby : traveling to isolated places and helping the local communities . I usually go deep into the mountains or into deserts with school supplies , books , paper , etc . I find the local schools and then volunteer time teaching English to children , teenagers , young monks , and nuns . English is essential for them to further their education . The first time I traveled into the mountains in Myanmar , Laos , and Thailand , I noticed women wearing very light dresses weaving silk and linen scarves in the cold . These scarves would later on be sold to us . Most of them were working long hours on their looms . Strangely enough , wool seemed to be nonexistent here . So I decided on my next trip to make 70 wool scarves and gave each woman I met a friendship scarf . The pandemic has slowed my traveling down but not the production .
A heartfelt moment was giving Becky T . a scarf as a post-surgery gift , which she immediately threw over her head . Looks like all this extra time didn ’ t go to waste this year , since I can ’ t stop compulsively knitting and am waiting impatiently for the borders to open again . My advice to all the newcomers in our club is , get involved in making some FAWCO quilt squares or learn a skill that will bring you into a circle of lifetime friends .