Sweet Relief

Sweet Relief is a very special colorway with superpowers!
It’s designed to work with any of my assigned pooling or organic pooling patterns, but it also has the power to change lives.  How? 

All summer long, we will donate the profits from Sweet Relief through abolishmedicaldebt.com to relieve the medical debt of people struggling under the weight of unpaid healthcare bills in our community. 

According to Undue Medical Debt, a nonprofit organization dedicated to purchasing and forgiving medical debt, over 100 million people in the U.S. struggle under the weight of unpaid medical debt, together owing at least $220 billion in past-due medical expenses.
Undue Medical Debt leverages donations to buy large, bundled medical debts at steep discounts, providing immediate relief to financially vulnerable families.

Let’s do something powerful with our love for yarn!  Read more about it on our Blog at BarkerWoo.com.

The color particulars: Sweet Relief features an accent section of vibrant peachy-pink on a background of the deepest dark blue.  Sweet Relief’s tonal companion is Boro. 

Pictured here on BFL Fingering.

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The initiative:
Our church is entering into our centenary year in 2027.  To celebrate, we are embarking on an initiative to raise money to relieve the medical debt of everyone in Potter and Randall counties in Texas.  Rather than building a new building or upgrading our amenities, we have decided to do something that would greatly impact the lives of the people in our community.  Our goal is to raise enough money to relieve $100 million in medical debt with the help of the nonprofit organization Undue Medical Debt.  (UMD)

UMD leverages donations to purchase medical debt on the open market for pennies on the dollar.  Instead of then collecting on that debt, they forgive it.  The recipients receive a letter stating that they no longer owe a dime.  No strings attached.  Nothing expected in return.  Just the sweet relief of having an unimaginably heavy burden lifted!  

Dale and I knew as soon as we heard about this that we wanted to help too, but how could we possibly make a dent in this enormous goal?  By doing what we do best!  

Introducing Sweet Relief, the colorway and accompanying pattern.  

The inspiration:
Relief: the removal or lightening of something oppressive, painful, distressing, or burdensome.  

The colors:  Sweet Relief features an accent section of vibrant peachy-pink on a background of the deepest darkest blue.  

The deep blue background symbolizes the oppressive nature of untenable debt, and the pink accent represents the joy in learning the burden is lifted. 

The pattern:
I knew I wanted something fresh to demonstrate the joy we hope this initiative brings to our neighbors, so I designed a new shawl pattern to accompany the colorway.  The profits from this pattern will also go toward our goal.  (It can be used with any of our assigned pooling colorways, by the way, and if you make a note at checkout, we will donate the profits from your entire order to this cause - even if you choose a different color!) 

The Image:
I’m trying to capture the lightness of seed pods floating freely in the wind, unhindered by the weight of the world …..or medical debt.  

The Stitch:
The carnation stitch is a brand new assigned pooling stitch that looks a lot like the profile of a carnation.  Does it also remind you of a dandelion seed blowing in the wind or maybe a thistle?  Me too, but naming new stitches is tricky work.  This carnation stitch is a derivative of a fan stitch, but it’s made a little differently since it’s always best to reconcile the entire stitch at once in assigned pooling.  If I called it a fan stitch and you looked for a tutorial on YouTube, you would be sad when it didn’t turn out like the one in the pattern.  The same is true for dandelion and thistle.  Other stitches already exist with similar names, so to avoid confusion, I decided on a new name.  

The dates:
Sweet Relief, the yarn, is available now under the House Collection tab on our website.
Sweet Relief, the pattern, will be released on Saturday, June 6 on our website and on Ravelry. 
This initiative will run from June 1 to August 31, 2027.

Ways to get involved:

Do you prefer a different color or pattern but still want to help?  Enter UMD, Debt, or just tell us you want to donate in the comments at checkout, and we’ll donate the profits from your purchase. 

Do you want to help but don’t need any more yarn? (Imagine!!)
Go to AbolishMedicalDebt.com to donate directly.  

Do you want to help but want your dollars to have a wider reach than just the Panhandle of Texas?  UndueMedicalDebt.org is always happy to receive donations.  

Does this initiative sound like something you would like to start in your own community?
UndueMedicalDebt.org can help you get started!  

How can knitting, crocheting, or weaving help relieve the problems of the world?
Let’s look at our craft as more than a hobby. Let’s start seeing it as our superpower!
Is this initiative the only way to help? Absolutely not!
Look up and look around for the next good thing to do.  Let’s help shoulder the burden regardless of race, social station, or background because in the end, we all matter.