by Amy Pass, Team Yarn Co-Founder

Happy Birthday, Team! We’re 5 years old - a whole half a decade! I am so proud of you and your commitment to making the world a better place, saving the world one stitch at a time. In 2017, you collectively made 785 items, including 46 blankets and 18 shawls, which put us at a grand total of 3,877 since our beginning!

Team Yarn donated to 8 different facilities this year and several family members and friends of team yarn. Our list of donation sites this year included: The University of MN Children’s Hospital, Hope Lodge, HCMC, Ronald McDonald House, Fairview Southdale Cancer Care Center, St. John’s Hospital, the U of M Cancer Care Center, and the VA Medical Center.

We especially want to acknowledge those who took 1st-5th place as top contributors this year. Team Yarn could not reach nearly so many people without them. Jody Gilbertson from Beldenville, WI held on to her position as our top contributor with a total of 235 items! We are amazed at Jody’s continued commitment to Team Yarn, as she has never met any of us in person! She even got her mom involved, and we received such beautiful items from both of them! 2nd place goes to Linda Moore, who made 119 items, followed closely by Sandi Fischer in 3rd with 110! Bernice Foster and Sandra Slater tied for 4th place with 84! How did they do that?! Did they plan it? 84 is such an exact number... And 5th place goes to another woman we have never met, Tammy Nelson, who donated 34 items this year. And, get this, just for kicks, there’s ANOTHER tie for 6th place - Joanna Koecher and Char Cervenka each made 26 hats! Are you as amazed as I am?!

We want to give a very special thanks to Joanna, who battled Leukemia in 2017, and now has a clean bill of health! She sat in the hospital during her chemotherapy treatments making hats for “cancer patients”...and seemed to never lose her sense of humor about it! Joanna, you are amazing and inspiring!

We are so very grateful for the work of every single person on this Team. Just last week I received a personal thank you note, passed along by one of the nurses from one of the patients at Health East Cancer Care Center in Maplewood. This one was addressed to Linda, but it really represents the work that all of you do,

“Linda, Thank you for the beautiful pink hat you crocheted for St. John’s cancer patients. I will wear it when my hair falls out. It will keep me very warm when I go for short walks outside and in my house. God bless you for what you do. All my love, Marilyn H.”

So simple and so beautiful. The world is made more beautiful in these small acts of kindness...in your small acts of kindness...in the creativity and artistry you are willing to invest in a gift for a stranger. Your care and kindness go out with those hats and blanket, shawls, cowls, and “fiddle-muffs.” And that kindness is felt. Thank you. 

In addition to celebrating our fourth anniversary with cupcakes and a short ceremony, we did some work! And you brought in 82 hats, 9 blankets and 1 other.

More on our anniversary here. Don't miss it! That post has all the good stuff.

by Amy Pass

Several years ago when I was part of the start of a small business, I was told that for a business to make it past the first 3 years was extraordinary. It meant we were more likely to succeed in the long run. Well everyone, we’ve made it 4 years, and this was our biggest year yet! In 2016, you collectively made 937 items, which put us well past 3000 total items since we began! That’s more than any of the previous years, despite so many of your items being larger projects - like blankets and shawls.

You’ll be happy to know that the Team Yarn information collecting data sheet now has a system for breaking down how many of your items were hats and how many were larger items. (Thanks to Gabe for helping with the spreadsheets!). Unfortunately, we didn’t start breaking down the numbers until August, but since August, you’ve made 35 BLANKETS...and we aren’t talking small stuff, either!

Thanks to Tesha, my partner in crime, we’re getting a little more organized every year! Not only did she help talk through what we needed on a spreadsheet, she also helped get us more organized about where we’ll donate each month. Together we’ve created a rotating schedule of donation sites to make that process easier! Tesha gets the blog posts out about meetings and donations, and she’s heading up the project to get Team Yarn tshirts and other “swag” items so you can proudly advertise Team Yarn wherever you go. Thanks, Tesha, for being the resident photographer, journalist, and kid-wrangling donation delivery partner!

Team Yarn donated to 9 different facilities this year: Angel Foundation, HCMC Whittier Clinic, Humphrey Cancer Center (twice), Minnesota Oncology, Hope Lodge, Woodwinds Cancer Care Center, Our Lady of Peace Hospice, St. John’s Hospital, and the VA Medical Center. We also donated to numerous individuals. Please always feel free to ask on behalf of a friend or family member. That’s what we’re here for, and I almost always have a small stash in my closet!

I’d like to give an extra-special shout out to our top 5 contributors this year, but first I wanted to make sure to acknowledge our two youngest members, Josey & Jordy for their very first hat donations this year! Josey & Jordy have been members of the team for a long time, attending meetings since the very beginning, and we are so proud of them for putting in the time and hard work required to learn a new skill! We’re honored that they passed some of their very first handmade items to Team Yarn, and we had the privilege of donating those items to people in need of some warmth and comfort. YOU make us proud!!

So, on to the top 5 this year: Jody Gilbertson from Beldenville, WI was our top contributor with a total of 238 items! We have never met Jody, but she has sent boxes of hats and blankets throughout this past year, including those incredibly beautiful flower granny square blankets, which receive high praise everywhere we go! Next is Sandra Slater with 221 items. This is 53 MORE items than she made last year! Wow! Third is another woman we have never met. Sandi Fischer from Isanti, MN donated 174 items this years. She leaves her donations at our drop site in Cambridge. (Thanks so much to Vickie Christensen for accepting those donations for us at the Century 21 office.) Contributors #4 and #5 are sisters in close competition. Linda Moore made 86 items this year, while her sister, Bernice Foster, made 85. (I'm sure if Aunt Bernice had known that, she would have made at least one more!!) We owe them special thanks, not only for coming, but for bringing their children and grandchildren to Team Yarn! 

We are so grateful for the work of each person on this Team. Every single hat matters to someone. Every blanket, shawl, scarf, cowl, or pair of mittens gets passed along to someone in need of a pick-me-up. We hear over and over again at our donation sites how much our work matters to people, and we want to pass those words of praise and encouragement on to you. You should see the smiles and hear all the thanks!! You are all artists and creators, and we want you to know that your creations are a gift and a blessing to your community, some of whom you know and many you don’t know. THANK YOU!!

More photos and stuff from our January meeting here in this post.

Please join us for the 4th Anniversary Celebration of Team Yarn!

We'd like to pause in our busy lives and consider how many lives Team Yarn has touched since we first came together four years ago, wanting to do something in the wake of Cheryl Slater's death from cancer.

Every person who has contributed, whether big or small, has played such an important role in passing along comfort and hope. As readers of this blog, as people who crochet and knit and sew, as people who pass the word along, as folks who send checks, as people who ship us boxes and drop bags off on door steps, and as regulars at our monthly meet-ups... We want you to know how much we appreciate you!

As always, we'll be at Silverwood Park in New Brighton on the third Sunday, Jan. 15, 2017, from 1-3 p.m. We'll have a short ceremony at 1:30 p.m., followed by delicious cupcakes from Sweet Retreat. (You don't want to miss these cupcakes!)

Hope to see you there! If you can, please RSVP on our Facebook event page so we can be sure to order the right amount of cupcakes! 

Amy's speech, video-style

Here is the speech Amy gave during our Year 3 anniversary meet-up at Silverwood Park on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016:

Year 3!! I know you’re all looking forward to hearing the numbers this year, and I am excited to bring them to you!! First, I have to say, though, how amazed I am by the dedication of this group. We are 3 years in and still going strong! The “member list” jumped from 70 to 84 this year, meaning that 14 NEW people contributed to the group in one way or another in 2015. Keep spreading the word!

Team Yarn donated to 9 different facilities this year (same as last year, by the way): Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis, Minnesota Oncology in Minneapolis, Fairview Riverside NICU, U of M Masonic Children’s Hospital (twice!!), St. John’s Hospital, Woodwinds Cancer Care Center, Cambridge Hospital Harbor Room, the VA Medical Center, and Minneapolis Children’s Hospital. In addition, Team Yarn contributed hats to the Alissa M. Haines Stomp Out Suicide 5K in Wyoming, MN for their silent auction. This was especially timely and poignant, as one of our group members knitted several hats in grief and in remembrance of her neighbor and friend, who committed suicide ...and we have a number of group members who participated in the 5K this year and in past years.  We gave away hats, blankets, and shawls to at least six individuals this year, known to our group or friends of our group, including one special little boy from Israel, whom we had the privilege of meeting at the U of M Masonic Children’s Hospital.  

All told, Team Yarn members made 558 items this year!! We passed the milestone of 2,000 items since our beginning, and we’ve reached a grand total 2,154! Give yourselves a giant pat on the back AND go out and tell the world! Our numbers are down a little since last year, as many of us also have obligations to ever-changing family, work, and community commitments. That said, if you know someone who would like to join our efforts, please pass along our information. I have stacks of business cards that can be shared!

I’d like to give an extra-special shout out to our top 5 handmade item contributors this year: Sandra Slater with 168, Linda Moore with 95, Bernice Foster (who is currently in sunny Arizona for the winter) with 80, Lorraine Herges (who donates at our Cambridge drop site) with 47, and Tesha Pettit with 26!! Wow! You all are amazing! This makes up over half of our total for the year! TESHA, I can’t believe you made it into the top five with all of the other work you do! You arrange donation drop-offs, take notes & photos, write blog posts, and keep our facebook events up to date! You are incredible...quite possibly a superhero! Thank you for all of that and your consistent, steady support!!

Our group continues to receive feedback on the quality of our items, the care that clearly goes into each piece. Thanks to every single one of you for generously giving of your time, energy and creativity to make Team Yarn MORE than successful. We have more to be proud of than just numbers. From Christmas hats and hats with scarves and flowers and pretty little ribbons...to round blankets and big fluffy blankets tied up with bows...this group honors people by gifting things that are beautiful...things we would want to receive ourselves. 

Finally, HUGE thanks to all of you who are HERE on this cold, cold January day! This meeting has consistently been so warm and friendly, a welcome place of grace and community in the middle of every month. I appreciate all of you! ...and now...CUPCAKES!