Fall 2026 Updates
Our hat knitters are in the middle of a busy holiday selling season, and we’d love to see you at our booths. The season began with the annual Dawg Dash on Sunday, October 18, where hat sales brought in $1,232, which is 50% more than last year.
Still to come:
- Tomte Holiday Market, Swedish Club (1920 Dexter Ave N): Saturday, November 7, 10am-4pm, and Sunday, November 8, 8am-2pm. We’ve had great success here in past years. On Sunday you can also enjoy the Swedish Club’s famously delicious pancake breakfast. The market’s booths are festive and offer many wonderful holiday items in addition to our hats.
- Holiday Sale, Finnish Club (Leif Erikson Hall, 2245 NW 57th St): Saturday, November 14, 10am-3pm. Along with stalls full of holiday goods, you’ll find great food (the pea soup has its devoted fans) and music and dance performed in beautiful national costumes.
These sales are as close as we can get to a European holiday market, and they make a fun outing for the whole family. Bring the grandkids or go with friends, enjoy yourselves, and support our scholarship fundraising.
Summer 2026 Updates
This summer brought two moments that showed just how much UWFA’s scholarship support, and the hard work behind our hat sales, means to the students we help.
The first came at the UW Donor Event, a garden party held in the Sylvan Grove in July. President Robert Jones introduced Sarah Desai, one of our UWFA scholarship recipients from last year, as the student speaker. She shared her experience at UW, and President Jones spoke about the Husky Promise and the importance of scholarship and financial support in making a UW education possible.
The second came from Provost Tricia Serio, who wrote to thank our knitters in the Stitchery Interest Group for contributing $5,240 to the Scholarship Fund through hat sales over the past year. Provost Serio is an enthusiastic knitter herself, and she has invited the Stitchery group to hold one of its meetings in Gerberding Hall so she can meet us in person.
2026-27 Scholarship Recipients
The UWFA Scholarship Committee (Mary Branom, Traudi Krausser, and chair Hady de Jong) met in August to review applications forwarded by Angie Hobbs of the Financial Aid Office. From a strong pool of candidates, the committee selected four UW students to each receive a $5,000 scholarship.
We will introduce these students to our membership at the Scholarship Dinner at Piatti’s on Wednesday, November 11 (Veterans Day). An email invitation will be sent to you soon. It’s always a heartwarming evening, often with a few tears, as each student shares their story and their hopes for the future.
How to Help
- Shop with us. Visit our booths at the markets above. Every hat sold supports the scholarship fund.
- Donate yarn. We welcome donations of worsted weight yarn.
- Join us. Everyone is welcome at our monthly Stitchery gatherings.
- Give directly. Give to the UWFA Scholarship Fund.
Our scholarships directly support junior or senior students with a GPA of 3.5 or above, and every hat sold and every yarn donation helps make them possible.
Hady de Jong, Barbara Archbold, and the UWFA Stitchery Interest Group