Fiber Arts Friday: St. Baldrick's

One of my very favorite friends is tremendously generous.  She is always giving of her time... volunteering and raising money for important causes.  Her most recent effort is for the St. Baldrick's Foundation.

We don't live near each other anymore...  I miss her very much...  She's shaving her head today...  It's still winter...  I think her head might get cold...  I made this hat...

The yarn is merino + silk + baby alpaca.  So yummy, soft and squishy.

It should keep her bald head nice and warm.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday.

Fiber Arts Friday - Matter of Trust

Today's post is not necessarily about fiber arts, but more about the by product of fiber arts and a use for the waste.

With shearing season in full swing and a nasty oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I thought I would talk a little about Matter of Trust for today's edition of Fiber Arts Friday.

I learned about Matter of Trust about 18 months ago when I wanted to make a hair donation for cancer patients.  Most organizations that take hair for wigs, have very strict guidelines regarding the amount of grey, length and whether it's been colored or not.  All of which meant I was not able to donate to them.

I found Matter of Trust through @SusanVLewis on Squidoo.  I made my own hair donation and vowed to send them the remnants from our alpaca shearing days.

@MatterOfTrust will take hair of any length and type as long as it's relatively clean.  They use the hair, fur and fleece to make booms and mats that collect oil.  Hair is a very good collector of oil, which is why we wash it on a regular basis.

Their Contribution Page has instructions for how to send in hair, fur, waste wool and nylons as well as cash and other donations.

Perhaps you have a dog or horse that needs brushing, or some waste fiber from making beautiful yarns, or need a haircut.  I encourage you to consider sending that fiber waste to Matter of Trust and put it to good use.

Our shearing day is scheduled for May 22nd.  I will be sending our waste fleece to Matter of Trust.

Hair Donation

When my sister-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer recently I decided to donate my hair. My hair is a trademark, but this was a no-brainer. I absolutely wanted to donate it. I wondered if there was a way that my hair could be made into a wig for her.

The agencies I found have very specific criteria for length, color, health and chemical treatments. Very few make wigs for adults and I did not find any that make custom wigs. I'm sure they're out there, I just did not find them.

So, no problem on the length and my hair is very healthy. The problem comes when we get to color and chemical treatments. I'm close to the minimum 5% grey. Therefore I color my hair, which makes my potential donation unacceptable to most agencies.

Then I found Matter of Trust, an organization that accepts hair donations of any condition. They turn the hair and animal fiber into mats that are used to clean up oil spills, like the Cosco Busan Spill in the San Francisco Bay last November.

I am excited about this discovery and I feel very good about being able to make a donation that will go to a good cause. As for my sister-in-law, she found a couple of very good synthetic wigs.