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Special Olympics Stops Scarf Project

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2012 special olympicsMany knitters for the past couple of years have contributed knit scarves to the Scarves for Special Olympics project, which had knitters and crocheters making scarves for participants in the state-level winter games. But the program has been discontinued, with the stated reason being it’s become too popular.

A statement posted on the Red Heart website (the company sponsored the project and produced the yarns that were supposed to be used for the scarves) said in part:

The program became so popular that donations outpaced the number of Special Olympics winter athletes and supporters. It was as important to us, as we know it was to you, that each and every scarf made it into the hands of the intended recipient – an athlete or supporter – something we cannot ensure going forward, due to the high volume of excess scarves. Special Olympics will distribute the extra scarves received in 2012 during the 2013 winter games season.

I’m sure this is a disappointment both to the knitters and to the athletes, who I’m sure loved to receive the scarves. Of course it doesn’t mean that individuals, or even the individual states, couldn’t decide to continue the tradition without the backing of Red Heart. In fact, that’s how the whole thing started. It was one state, Idaho, back in 2009 that decided it wanted to honor Special Olympians with scarves, and the project snowballed from there.

I don’t think knitters would have protested if the excess scarves had been, say, given to homeless people in the various states, or auctioned or sold to benefit Special Olympics. It’s a shame to see such a fun project halted because of its success.

Did you ever knit for this project? I’d love it if you’d spill your thoughts on its end.

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Comments

  2. I wondered about the US Olympic committee thing too. The timing was a little too coincidental. I’ve been knitting and crocheting scarves for them for many states since the beginning and am sorely disappointed. It was a nice community and it was nice to see pictures of the athletes wearing the scarves and reading about their special olympic experience. I will really miss doing this. Don’t get me started on the US Olympic Committee’s kerfluffle with Ravelry.

  4. I knit one for my Niece for the past couple years. It has been fun to have her wear one made by one of her fav Aunties.

    Sorry to see it come to an end. I think it brought more awareness of the program. We will have to try another angle.

  5. Our knitting group does many projects for charities and we enjoyed seeing how many scarves we could get done by a certain date. We will miss not doing the scarves this year and are disappointed.

  6. Our knitting group is disappointed that you do not want scarves this year. We enjoy doing projects for charities.

  7. I am definitely upset that this has been discontinued. What did it hurt to have too many scarves made ? I would not have cared if the excess scarves were given out to homeless or donated to other organizations, or even if they would have set up a booth and sold the extra scarves to benefit the Special Olympics. I also don’t see what it could possibly have hurt Red Heart to be the sponsor – they obviously sold a ton of yarn because of it. I do think that being the sponsor, they should have had some type of coupon system associated with it, but I imagine that would have been too much to ask !!

    It seems that a large problem was people waiting until the end to send their scarves in – if that is a problem, them move the deadline back a bit so it’s not such a crunch to get them in and distributed – leave at least a month between the deadline and the last time the scarves could be distributed – it’s not that difficult !!

    I hope they will bring it back. I’m sure the athletes enjoyed receiving the scarves as much as many of us enjoyed making them. I think it’s way past time for many of these organizations to take a look at the benefits of people’s generosity and not at how much work it creates for them !!

Have you read?

Summer T-Shirt Knitting Patterns

Knitters are always looking for ways to continue to knit and to wear their knits even when it’s hot outside, so there are tots of great T0shirt knitting patterns to choose from. I love knitting short-sleeved shirts because they feel so much faster than sweaters, and you can wear them on top of dresses or even longer-sleeved items when it gets cooler.

There are lots of different styles of knit tops, from the basic to the more detailed. On the more basic side are things like the Perfect T-Shirt from Originally Lovely, a basic raglan tee with nine sizes and worked in worsted weight yarn; Paper Bloom by Yvonne Hugo (free on Ravelry), available in six sizes and worked with cotton and silk yarn for extra coolness; or Iris H’s Amelia Top, also on Ravelry, a slim fit, DK weight top with nine size.

Jazz it up with a bit of lace like on the Athens Lace Hem top by Sarah Hatton (Ravelry). This otherwise simple project has a bit of lace at the bottom, which is an easy way to make a project more interesting without a ton of work. This one uses fingering weight yarn and comes in nine sizes.

Another simple embellishment is to emphasize the lines of your top with different stitches. The Spring Lines top uses twisted ribbing at the center front and V-neck and along the raglan lines to give it a slimmer fit and more interest. This design from Turquoise Toque Designs has 11 size options and is available on Ravelry.

Silfurberg by Joji Locatelli uses both of these elements, with lace panels at the center front and back and purl ridges throughout to make it a little more fun to knit and to wear. The pattern uses fingering weight yarn and comes in 10 sizes. Learn more on Ravelry.

Keep it simple or add puffed sleeves (and/or long sleeves) to the slim fit Knitty Committee top by Lily Kate France. This one has two length options, waist shaping and optional bust darts to fulfill all your curvy top dreams, and it comes in nine sizes. You’ll find it on Ravelry.

Take it even more romantic with the Daphne Top from Friday Knits, which has puffed sleeves and applied I-cord to emphasize the bust and sweetheart neckline. It comes in eight sizes and uses DK weight yarn.

Or add some sweet flowers with the Gigio pattern from Emilie Luis. This pretty pattern found on Ravelry has cable panels running up the front with the option for adding sweet embroidered flowers. You can also add decorative buttons if you like. It comes in 11 sizes and calls for sport weight yarn.