Hugathon!

I was over on the island last weekend visiting my husband, who is doing a show at Chemainus Theatre. On Saturday, I had some time to myself and happened upon a flyer for the Hugathon the last time I was at the Loom. I emailed the women at the Handmade Hugs Society and decided to get my hug on!

First of all, this society does some amazing work. They collect items for donation and sew, knit, crochet, etc all year long. There are a couple of hugathons a year, and they have a big Christmas Chaos event where they sell items to give to people in need. I donated a bunch of toys that were lingering in my toy box. (Ones with embroidered eyes can go to hospitals, ones with hard safety eyes or buttons can be sold at the Christmas event.) Bye, bye guys, hope you find a nice home!

In the morning, they accept and sort the donated supplies. Batting, fabric, polar fleece, and of course, yarn.

Then they package like items into groups and bundle the projects into a clear bag. People can then take the bags home, assemble the projects, and drop them off at the society's drop off centre.

From there, the quilts, or blankets, or hats, or scarves get given to anyone in need of a hug. Isn't that great??

I spent the day tangled yarn into manageable balls, and helping sort knitted squares into like-colours so they could be made into large blankets.

I grabbed three project bags and some yarn and batting to take home with me. I'll make some more of my toys (more with embroidered eyes so they can go straight to hospitals), hats, scarves, one blanket, and a super duper exciting project that is SO cute! I will blog about that soon.

All in all, it was an awesome day. I met some very nice ladies, donated some of my goods, put my extra time to good use, and even learned a thing or two. I already received a thank you email from one of the ladies from the society, and I will definitely find ways to help in the future. Crafting for charity, yay!