Yarn Bomb?

Clients and instructors visiting from AbilityFirst.

Terry is very happy to be knitting on the loom.

Karen G. and her mother create pieces for the installation.

Michelle Miller/Fickle Knitter discusses knitting with Cindy H.

Pei-Lin and her mother enjoy the fiber arts together.

Objects from the 'wrapping' station.

Rene and her mother work together on the knitting loom.

Pieces of bright colored weaving along with the many tubes that will be installed.

Our videographer Stephanie Serna interviewing student Frank L's mother. 

The students of Hope University are preparing for a bomb...a yarn bomb that is!  We received a grant from the VSA to create a 'yarn bomb' and present this concept along with knitting, weaving and other fiber related arts to other facilities and the community.  We have done knitting and fiber arts workshops at several other facilities including Social Vocational Services in Norwalk, AbilityFirst in Long Beach and Fairview State Hospital in Costa Mesa, California.
On March 14th, we hosted a 'knit-in' here at Hope to bring together parents, volunteers and clients from some of the other facilities we visited to get together and have some fiber art fun!  We had a weaving station, a knitting station, a stitching station and a wrapping station.  The weavers worked collectively on our rigid heddle looms, the knitters used both needles and the knitting looms, the stitch-ers sewed and embroidered while the wrappers, wrapped various objects with yarn. We were also assited by the knitting celebrity, Michelle Miller, the 'Fickle Knitter' who helped us knit a piece for the installation.  Thank you Michelle!
 As you can see the 'knit-in' was a success!
Our installation will be at the Westfield Mainplace Mall in Santa Ana, California on the 19th of April, ready for the VSA celebration at the mall on Saturday the 20th, where several of our Hope U students will be performing along with other persons with disabilities from around Orange County and beyond.  We will also have demonstrations and a 'mini class' of weaving so anyone can create a piece for the yarn bomb.  We hope to see you there!

New Happenings in Fiber Arts at Hope!

Christie learns to weave.

Ana has caught the weaving bug.

A warped and woven Cricket loom.

Crystal shows off a weaving shuttle.

Tanette loves to weave.

A point of view of weaving view.

The weaving station is attracting a lot of attention.

The Hope University Fiber Arts program has expanded into WEAVING!  We have acquired 4 new Cricket rigid heddle looms for the students to use.  As soon as they were warped and ready to go several students jumped at the chance to weave.  They are enjoying it so much and are feeling very successful creating beautiful fabric on the loom.  You can look forward to seeing new items appear in our Etsy shop and at our various Boutiques during the year to come as we explore the therapeutic fun of our new rigid heddle looms.  

Valentine's Day Fun At Hope University

Joanna making Valentine's.

Oscar looks happy about the goodies in his bag.

Melanie stirs the white chocolate for the strawberries.

Yummy Valentine's Day treats. 

Lori and Brian enjoy the day.

Miguel plays a Valentine's Day themed Bean Bag Toss game as Richard looks on.

Pei Lin is thinking about all of the Valentine's she will get.

Joe enjoys singing Karaoke. 

On the 14th of February we had a party to celebrate Valentine's Day.  Students made Valentine's to give to their friends, filled up bags with Valentine's Day loot, played games, sang Karoke and had a DJ with a dance.   Here are a few of the students highlights.  
"I liked the dancing."  Pei Lin Stotler
"My favorite part was listening to the music."  Margaret Kelley
"I had fun passing out my Valentines to all of my friends." Rene Smith
"Singing Karaoke was my favorite part of the day." Carol Wallen
"I liked doing the Bean Bag Toss." Jennifer Doyle

A wonderful day was had by all. 

Etsy Preview

Little owl with a belt

Little owl with spectacles.

Soon to be available on our etsy page is this adorable brown owl sporting a green belt.  He is ready to sit on a desk top, shelf or table showing off his new accessory.  Our owl is sure to bring a smile to anyone who passes by.  This little fellow makes a wonderful eye glass holder, how wise he looks in spectacles.  We hope you visit our etsy shop and peruse our selection of our handmade items.  Don't forget that all proceeds go directly to the program.  

Christmas on the Radio

Frank changes a station on the boom box.

Many shoppers at our Boutique of items handmade by the students.

Joe V. is the driver in the 'car' skit.

Our wonderful Choir.

Jason R. and Chris F. ham it up backstage.

Jason R. and Fred M. perform in a skit.

Joe V. relaxes before the show.

A wonderful light show.

Dancers with lights captured attention.

The light show continued.

Rockin' out to the radio.

Melanie V. and Crystal S. act out a fun skit.

Snowflake Dancers move to the sound of the Bell Choir.

This past December Hope University has it's annual Holiday program at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton California.  The title of the show was 'Christmas on the Radio' and we featured skits, dance and music from different eras.  Some of the students remember their favorite parts of the show:
"Singing in the Choir."  April Renick
"The car skit." Ben Simendinger
"Listening to the Hi-Hopes." Joe Valierie
"Hearing 'Silent Night' sung by the Choir."  Amy Lacher
"I really enjoy rehearsal and the anticipation of performing." Chris Friedman
"I like being in the sign language part."  Darren Petersen
We all had a wonderful show.  

Santa's Elves Can Knit!

Ben was excited to see his hand knitted gift was his favorite color, red!

Darren's hand knitted hat fits him perfectly.

Kim just could not get over how soft her hand knitted scarf was.

Gary looks like a little elf in his hand knitted hat.

Jason will be warm  while waiting for the bus in his hand crocheted scarf.

Joe loves his new hand knitted hat almost as much as he loves baseball.

You can see by Crystal's smile how excited she is about her new hand knitted hat.

Rene and Gary show off their new hand knits.

Darren was pleased to pose for a photo in his new hand knitted scarf. 

This Holiday season a local knitting group became Santa's knitting elves as they adopted us for their seasonal charity.  They hand knitted scarves and hats for the students of Hope University to receive as presents.  The knitting group is based in Long Beach California and is called the Long Beach Stitch and Beach and can be found on yahoo groups.  One of the instructors at Hope U is a member and her knitters were so taken by her stories of the clients that they wanted to contribute.  We here at Hope are so grateful to this wonderful group of ladies for giving of their time to create knitted gifts for the students.  Each gift was hand delivered by Santa and as many of us know, there is nothing quite so nice as a hand knitted gift.  Thank you Long Beach Stitch and Beach for your big hearts and warm knits! 

Hope Holiday Updates...

In November we all were able to take a few days off to celebrate Thanksgiving with our friends and family.
Here are some highlights of the students' holiday:

"I helped to feed the less fortunate in the day and then went home to have dinner with my family."
Rene Smith

"We had dinner at our house with all the trimmings, my two brothers and their wives were there too."
Darren Petersen

"I enjoyed peace and quite at my parent's house.  I was able to stay there for four days before returning to my group home."
Cathy Acton

"My favorite part of my Thanksgiving was helping my Aunt make the mashed potatoes."
Ben Simendinger

"I liked seeing my relatives that came to my house for dinner.  My Aunt came from South Carolina."
Crystal Serna

"I had a good time with my dad at his house, we cooked dinner together.  I was able to stay overnight at his house before going back to my group home."
Tom Veltman.

We Hope you all had time to enjoy the holiday.