rockpool candy

What measure success?

So, it's almost a year since I set up the Coral Collective, providing crochet project bags for a hospital waiting room. Each pack has everything a patient needs to crochet a small coral.
Now the idea was to get the patients to send me their corals, I would then sew them into reefs and use them to decorate the walls of the clinic, at the same time documenting the patients' stories and how the crochet had helped them.

In the last year, I've received one, yes, just ONE coral back (the rather lovely one pictured above) and even this was sent back anonymously.

So, initially, I felt I'd failed, after all, one coral does not a reef make.

But then I stopped and thought about it. I may have only received one coral, but I have put over 300 project bags into the clinic and they have all gone and continue to do so.
When speaking to those that work in the clinic, their reaction was overwhelmingly positive.

The clinic is shared between gynae and psychiatric outpatients. Apparently the women visiting, especially those in the older age group, love picking up the crochet hook again.

So maybe it isn't a failure. These women must enjoy being given a gift that brings back memories, brightens their days with the colours of the yarn and keeps them occupied during their time in the clinic (and hopefully at home, too). Otherwise, none of the bags would go.

And what do I get out of it? Well, I realised that I need to take my ego out of the equation. This is not about me, or recognition, or thanks. This is a totally altruistic project. Kindly people donate yarn,

scissors, funding and crochet hooks to me through various avenues. I am just the facilitator, bagging these donations up and putting them into a place where they help.

It's all just paying it forward in a way.

And that is how I realise that I must measure success in this instance.

Lesson learned.

So why am I blogging about it if I don't want recognition? Purely to encourage you to do something similar.

Get fibre active.

It feels good.

I'm the luckiest fibre fiddler alive!

I may be only 37, but boy, I feel 370 lately! I've been laid up on the sofa with a wonderful mixture of phlebitis, (the drugs for which, in turn, triggered my angioedema) and now a liberal dose of the killer flu. If I were a horse, the knackers yard would have been called weeks ago. But I am part of the wonderful world of fibre and I may be falling to bits, but life is great.

Surprise packages have been arriving thick and fast.

1st came Jimbo's chophook.
Jimbo is a guy living in the States, by Deadman's Crick, carving crochet hooks from the wood in his orchard and old chopsticks and selling them to fund the building of his cabin.
I came across Jimbo through ravelry and instantly fell in love with his handiwork, but on reading his blog, was also struck by this man's gentleness and generosity.

His friend's daughter has Friedreich's Ataxia, and wanting to raise awareness of the condition and the need for research into a cure, Jimbo decided to set up charitable auctions of his hooks online. Jimbo has also donated a travelling hook to the cause that will pass from fibre fiddler to fibre fiddler, creating crocheted wonders to auction and raise cash, whilst all the time being blogged about.
I've added my name to the list and eagerly await the travelling hook's arrival. Meantime, Jimbo sent me my very own chophook, with which I'm crocheting away. It's beautifully smooth and incredibly easy on the hands, as it's easy to hold. I'd also recommend it to people who maybe have problems holding smaller hooks. Go on! Get involved!

2nd came a bag of soda ash, from her Royal Highness, The Skein Queen.

She'd read about my dismal forays into banana fibre dyeing and suggested that I was using the wrong mordant. If this little bag enables me to create the sort of colourways she's selling on Etsy then I shall eternally grovel at her royally-slippered pieds.

3rd to arrive was a package all the way from Geneva.

Stuffed to the gills with squidgy balls of lurid and spangly acrylics perfect for the Coral Collective Hospital Project. Thank you Seamus!

Another day, another package. 4th came Ilidko's wonderful corals and their patterns. This woman is like yarn on acid! I asked her if she could see her way to helping me with a pattern or two for the Coral Collective Hospital Project.

She sent six! And they're SO beautiful. I'm indebted to her for her help. Visitors are going to love crocheting her designs.

And then there's Debi's package. Debi is over here in Norn Iron for a while and we're loving having her. She's always surrounded by a gaggle of women at the Guild meetings as she pulls Oak Hammock Farm fleece after fleece from her bags for us to ooh and ahh over.

I've dyed up some in luscious greens.

But as well as her lovely natural fleeces, she's like my cheap yarn pimp, bringing bulk buys of acrylic back from the States for me. This stuff is so nasty it could power a small town with its static. PERFECT for mad coral creations.

So now, all I have to do is clear the backlog of work that's sitting awaiting me after my desktop absence. Argh! There's never enough time to take in all the fabulousness of our fibre community. I need to duplicate myself.

Thanks to EVERYONE!

Inspired by the drawings of Ernst Haeckel

1900's man 2000's woman.
Science and art.
Close, intricate study and freeform imagined.
Pencil and crochet hook.

Who would have guessed that we would have such a connection in our passions?
I dream of a time machine and just an hour to pore over these scientific glories with the man who drew them. Until that day, I shall just try to bring a minute part of his genius into fibre being.
I salute you, Ernst!

The Coral Collective Hospital Project

I've spent a lot of time in waiting rooms and clinics over the years, clutching Andy's hand and worrying desperately. I always vowed that when they found out what was wrong and my time in those places was done, then I would set up a project to say thanks to the doctors & to help others in that situation. Something a bit different that made a difference.

Well, before a short stay in hospital last April to SORT IT ALL AAAAT, the idea hit me, and the Coral Collective was born.

It's taken a while to get the idea straight in my head (being involved in the IFF's reef inspired and re-organised my thoughts), as did chatting to fibre activists such as frau fiber.

Roughly, the Coral Collective is:
To provide the clinic with a basket of small bags, each containing a fibre (yarn, wool, felt) project with instructions of how to turn that fibre into a coral.
To then turn those corals into a piece of artwork for the clinic wall to brighten the lives of those who attend and work there.
To create a common 'thread' (excuse the pun) between the individuals attending the clinic and people across the world, so that they may realise that they're not alone.

So I submitted my idea to the clinic last month and they gave me the go ahead.
And then I submitted a funding proposal to the lovely people at Lush, whom I've been working with Christmas decorations on - And they said YES!

So I had an idea, permission & funding!

Next, I needed stuff to put in those project bags; yarn, crochet hooks, knitting needles, scissors, a way to keep the scissors safe, etc. Step in the wonderful generosity of people. And boy, this just gets better and better.

Yarns have already begun to be donated.

Next came the corks to keep the scissors safe. Thanks to Jane's and her husband's livers!

Now, I know that I can find crochet hooks and knitting needles in charity shops for very little, so I wasn't worried about getting hold of them, but the scissors were nagging at me. They were going to take a large chunk of the funding, meaning that I could provide fewer project bags.

Step forward the local airport security team.
Now, I don't know about you, but everytime I go through an airport, I salivate over the 'sharps' box (which often contains my own confiscated needles).
I made a few enquiries and found out that these sharps are donated to charities, so I chanced my arm and asked if I could be one of those charity projects.

They said "Yes", too! I have enough little pairs of scissors to keep this projects going for ages.

And now I've got nothing holding me back except the time to make the instruction leaflets with pics of made up coral. I've started a few easy ones.

So watch this space.
It's my plan make this so successful that it rolls out into clinics everywhere. If it's something you would like to install in a clinic close to your heart, then please do contact me as I'll happily work with you on it.

And a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to everyone that's helped and donated! You're all wonderful!