Three students will receive a total of $7,500 in scholarship funds for the 2024-2025 school year.
"This year, the Beans for Brains scholarship will look a bit different. Jimmy Beans Wool is partnering with Madelinetosh to give out just three scholarships valued at $2,500 each," said Laura Zander, co-founder of Jimmy Beans Wool. "Both companies will be co-sponsoring one scholarship that focuses on a knit project, one scholarship that highlights a crochet project, and the third scholarship, named Story's Stars, will be awarded to a local maker in the Sierra Nevada Region."
The Story's Stars scholarship is a new addition this year to the Beans for Brains scholarship. The scholarship honors Story Worth, daughter of Aubrey Lynn, a friend to Jimmy Beans staff, who owns Knits and Knots Minden and Tahoe local yarn stores and is the yarn dyer behind Storyteller Yarns. The Story's Stars scholarship will be awarded to a local student maker with either a knit or crochet project who resides in the Sierra Nevada region.
Additionally, Zander said she wanted to be sure to celebrate both knit and crochet makers with the other two available scholarships by offering a crochet-specific scholarship and a knit-specific scholarship.
"This just means we're guaranteeing there will be a representation of both amazing crafts with all our winners this year," Zander added.
Established in 2010, the Beans for Brains scholarship program was created to help aspiring knitters, crocheters and students attend college or university to date, it has awarded over $75K in scholarship funds and has helped students in the past to places such as the University of Nevada, Reno, Portland State University, Yale University, and Harvard University.
"I was inspired to start this scholarship as a result of my own experience," Zander said. "As a self-funded student, I was always on the lookout for niche scholarships like Beans for Brains to help me pay for everything. Our hope this year is to highlight top-tier knit and crochet projects and offer a little peace of mind through financial assistance for tuition and fees to the three student makers who will be picked this year."
Beans for Brains recognizes students for a variety of criteria such as GPA, community service, project knowledge, financial need, and more while uplifting their creativity through the fiber arts.
Applications are open to students who have a 3.0 GPA and knit and/or crochet with consideration going to those who have financial needs.
- The application will open on March 1st.
- The application closes May 1st.
- Winners will be contacted June 21-28.
- Winners will be announced on or around July 8th
For more information contact: scholarship@jimmybeanswool.com.
About Jimmy Beans Wool: In 2002, former Silicon Valley engineers Laura and Doug Zander opened up a tiny yarn shop in Truckee, California. Jimmy, as Laura is lovingly known, sold coffee alongside the wool (hence beans in the name), and Jimmy Beans Wool was born! In 2004, the company settled down in Reno, Nevada. Over the last five years, Laura has expanded the Jimmy Beans Wool brand family through strategic acquisitions & product launches, including della Q, Madelinetosh, Jimmy's SmartStix, Dream In Color, Yarn Citizen, Shibui Knits, and Simply Shetland. In 2024, Laura announced the formation of the Maddytosh Group, a distribution group for its wholesale brands. Jimmy Beans Wool is known for its lightning-fast shipping, award-winning customer service, and innovative Just at Jimmy's products.