Onagawa Mothers

The Onagawa Mother's group is another group of incredible women who come together each week to share life and create beautiful hand made cards.

We love these knitting cards!!!

They have many more styles all priced at 350 yen each. Last year they sold about 3000 cards!

Thanks to your generous support, Yarn Alive was able to provide the Onagawa Mothers with yarn and needles in order to make Ruffle Scarves.  We love being able to work with other groups!

onagawa-2

For more information, please feel free to email us at yarnalive@gmail.com

Apr 8 - Supporting one another!

The 2011 Great Eastern Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan left unimaginable destruction.  However, from destruction has come joy and new life. This week we will be introducing a couple of other groups similar to Yarn Alive.  These groups provide a safe haven for women to develop friendships, creativity and renewed dignity. We love being able to support one another as we all share similar goals! Let us first introduce you to the Ezer Project.  Next door to Shichigahama is the well known Shiogama which is famous for its fishing industry (apparently the city unloads more fresh tuna here than anywhere else in Japan!)

Shiogama's name means "salt cauldron" which leads us to Ezer Project's logo - a salt shaker:

salt

Ezer means "one who has something to offer the one who is in need of aid or is helpless."  This project aims to help tsunami victims who are now living in temporary housing in Shiogama and give them an opportunity to earn a sustainable income.

They have so many creative and beautiful things. Here's a snippet of some of them:

Tote bag with cat design made from kimono

Kimono bag for delicates

Kimono bag for delicates

Gloves

Small purse with embroidery

Dishwashing towel with handmade rubber stamp

Hot mat

Necktie made from kimono

Apr 3 - Profile of the Week

Endo was one of the first people to come and live in the temporary housing as she had just given birth to her son (Takahiro – the boy featured last week!). She has been coming to Yarn Alive since the beginning. Her favorite color is green and her favorite project is vests.

It has been amazing to see the transformation in this lady from being shy to make anything in class to now designing beautiful cowl scarves and large blankets! Here is the latest blanket that she just completed.

Apr 1 - Happyarn April Fool's day!

What yarn tricks will you be up to this April Fool's Day? Yarn Bombed steps of Helsinki's Cathedral

Here's a couple of suggestions (courtesy of A Little Yarn on the Side)

  • Find a new employee at a large craft store and ask them if they can special order left-handed knitting needles for you
  • Walk up to someone wearing a Fun Fur scarf and demand if they know how many "Funs" had to be killed to make that scarf