Magic Balls of Love

In early April, I came upon a group called Handmade Especially For You.  A group of volunteers who knit or crochet "comfort" scarves for sixty California Women's Shelters from San Diego to Central Coast SLO County.  Founded in 2008 by Leslye Borden, her mission is for "every woman who comes into a shelter to receive a comfort scarf simply because she was brave enough to leave her abusive situation". 

Handmade provides free yarn to use.  The yarns have been generously donated by yarn companies, local yarn stores, or from people's own yarn stash.  Multi-strands of diverse yarns are combined in creative and colorful ways, the volunteers call them "magic balls" because they become such beautiful scarves.  Handmade requests a donation to cover the cost of shipping which has become a considerable cost to them nowadays and is their biggest (and almost only) expense. 

I sent off a donation via Paypal and a few days later received a box of eight magic ball kits.  I'll have to say I am usually not a fan of fun fur, eyelash yarn, or other types of "novelty" yarns but I was instantly charmed and smitten by these magic yarn balls.  The color, the texture, the softness - it all made me smile. 

     


I had to make a little purchase before I started knitting as the soft, lofty scarves require being knit on large-sized needles:

Bambucha (big!) needles: US15 (10mm) & US17 (12.5mm)

For the next two weeks I happily knit one comfort scarf after another on my bambucha US 17 needles.  On such large needles the scarf only required 10 stitches across.  I knit until the yarn ran out for a recommended finished size of 4 inches wide by 60 inches long.  On the back of the "Handmade with love especially for you" tag I personalized (handcrafted with aloha) and signed my name and attached it to the finished scarf.  The scarves are soft as a cloud, cozy, and colorful.

Happy Scarves

I mailed the finished scarves back to Handmade Especially for You.  I'm looking forward to my next box of Magic Balls of Love.