But I can't quilt- easily- in Uganda. It is hard to find some of the supplies, although of course there are fabulous fabrics in Africa. And there are so many bits and pieces to go along with quilting- needles, thread, numerous fabrics, a frame, a sewing machine (usually) and the batting. (note: I think there is a new term for batting, but apparently I'm too old to know it as yet).
Anyway, I HOPE to do some quilting when I go back this time.
So I was thinking of something else I might learn to do with my hands, which would be easier to carry around (vs. all my quilting supplies). I'd like to have something accessible to teach Africans, so they can learn a new skill, and maybe use the craft to make a living.
Well, in January, I went to my town's knitting store and took some lessons. I've made 3 scarves so far (for my sisters and my Mom), and have started 2 more learning different stitches to continue growing my skills. I’m itching to make a baby blanket or even an afghan, but with only 5 weeks left before I leave for Uganda, I will wait. Once I get these skills down, I'll be able to help dear African ladies, Lord willing.
Well, I met a number of neat ladies at my knitting classes, and one called me with some great news! She was helping a neighbor "downsize" some of her crafts items, and had some yarn to donate for me to take to Uganda. I picked it up today, expecting maybe a bag full of yarn. Nope, it was 5 huge lawn/leaf bags full of 287 skeins of yarn! She estimated that it was about $3,000 worth of yarn- I can believe it since I've been learning prices of yarn. WOW- what a blessing!
Yarn is available in Uganda, but not the quality or colors that they gave me today. So to the best we can, I'm trying to get the yarn to Uganda. And this afternoon I was chatting online with my friend Delight (WGM missionary) in Uganda and told her about the yarn.
She got excited and said she has a contact who is shipping a container to Uganda, who can probably take all the yarn for us! And she also volunteered to help me teach ladies how to knit or crochet (she knows how to do that). Fun! Won't this be an exciting outreach? Pray for us to be able to get the yarn to Uganda okay, and to have opportunities to minister to women with this craft. Yep, I still need to go get some extra needles and hooks, but I'm definitely set in the yarn department.
This is a "potato chip scarf" (I'd call it a cork screw scarf) which I made for my sister Abby. We chose the yarn to work with her coat, and I was surprised to find how quickly the yarn colors changed. On my Mom's and sister's scarves, the change from one color to another (their yarns were also multicolored) took longer. So Abby's scarf turned out looking a lot more camouflage than we anticipated, but it ended up being cute. Since it is camouflage, can you see it? Ha. :)