Fiber Arts at the Boulder County Jail

HGB volunteers and representatives from the Boulder County Jail distribute lap robes to residents at a Boulder nursing facility.

One day each week, volunteers from HGB visit the Boulder County Jail women’s unit, teaching crocheting and knitting to inmates as part of the jail’s “productive day” program.

When the women have mastered basic stitches, they create lap robes that are distributed to nursing facilities, particularly those housing low-income residents.

The Guild provides financial support, along with Shuttles, Spindles & Skeins, Schacht Spindle Company, and individual members. Guild members also donate yarns for the project. The Boulder County Commissioners provided a start-up grant in 1998, the first year of the project. Though donated yarns have made up a large portion of those used, the financial support has enabled purchase of inexpensive synthetic yarns for the project, along with other materials (such as pattern books).

Photos from a recent visit to Applewood Living Center.

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Department has high praise for the project: it is the longest running program at the jail where the same volunteers have been coming (over 5 years now), and it has had a settling effect on the women’s unit—inmates in the program are less stressed, and though they constitute less than one-fourth of the total women in the jail, the overall tension levels are reduced.

Women participating in the program indicate extreme gratitude for the chance to do something that helps them lead saner lives while in jail. Many find it also provides a way for them to relate to older members of their families—mothers, grandmothers, and aunts, who often tried to teach them handcrafts when they were young and with whom they now can share a skill.

Contact Nancy Thornton or Jean Cleavinger, to get involved with this very rewarding project!