Serendipity

This was one of those evenings where everything just seemed to fall into place.

A little while ago I found myself perusing the Meetup site, just checking out what was in the Edmonton area.  There I found a knit and crochet group called the Wandering Woolies and thought, what the heck.  They sound interesting.  So I joined.

They meet on Wednesdays in different places around the city.  Tonight it was at a location not far from where we live, and a place I had to have driven past many times, but never saw.  The down side of being the driver rather than a passenger! *L*  It turned out to be a fascinating place called The Carrot, and I'm definitely going back there again with the girls.   

While there, I met the creator of the Wandering Woolies group, Barb, and it ended up being just the two of us.  I'm good with that!  As we were chatting and getting to know each other, she mentioned that someone had approached the group recently, talking about the upcoming Special Olympics, which will be held in nearby St. Albert in 2012.  I thought it was a great idea and planned on getting the word out about it when I got home, since it's open to anyone who wants to make scarves and send them in.

Well, who should show up but Karen Manchak, Director of Events and Hospitality, and the person who had approached Barb about the project.  She was just a great, bubbling effervescence of excitement!  It was great to meet and chat with her, and find out more about the project.  Barb also had 4 finished scarves for her to take as well, and I must say, they looked fabulous!

Karen was able to leave me with this poster (click on the image to see a larger, readable, size).  The goal is to collect 2500 hand made scarves. From the poster:

To begin
1. Pick up your yarn in wool, wool- or acrylic- blands at a local retailer or online store.
2. Knit or crochet one or more scarves in white and a shade of blue as in our logo to a size of 7 inches wide and 6 feet long.  Consider accenting with a splash of "maple leaf" red!
3. Mail or deliver with your name and address before February 1, 2012 to:

2012 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games
25 Sir Winston Churchill Avenue
St. Albera, AB T5K 2S7

And feel free to attach a note of encouragement to athletes.

                         
Karen has been getting a lot of positive responses to this!  For those who live in Edmonton, both locations of River City Yarns are willing to be depots to accept scarf donations.

It was fantastic chatting with Barb and Karen, and so funny to find out the serendipitous series of events and connections that seemed to bring all three of us together tonight.  It was awesome!

Anyone interested in making a scarf or two is welcome; there are no geographical limits.  If they exceed their goal of 2500 scarves, the extras will be donated to local charities in need.  A worthwhile project! 

Have fun!