Help These Lonely Hats & Caps Find Owners!

We currently still have 48 handmade scarves and caps from our Winter 2012 Project that have not yet been donated.

We were originally planning on giving these items to a local shelter, but because they do not need any more knits at the moment, we are looking for another place to give our handmade items. We would like to donate them to a place that will directly distribute them to people in need, rather than sell the items and then use the funds.


If you know of any place that directly distributes handmade items to the people who need them most, please let us know at iknitmsj@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post! Thanks so much for your help!

Winter 2012 Project: Knits Donated to St. Anthony's & ARC!

 

On December 24, 2012, iKnitters L.D. and I.S. traveled by BART to St. Anthony's Foundation in San Francisco, bringing with them a total of 79 scarves and caps. The handmade items were given to guests of St. Anthony's on Christmas Day. 

Some of the gorgeous handmade scarves sent to St. Anthony's

Some of the caps donated to St. Anthony's!

A few days later, we shipped out 22 handmade children's scarves and caps to Awareness, Respect, Compassion (ARC) in Washington, D.C. These items have already been safely received by ARC and will be sent out to Asia to help North Korean refugees.

Children's scarves & caps for North Korean refugees

An Urgent Request: Knits for North Korean Refugees

Every year, refugees from North Korea escape into China, where they must blend in with locals in order to escape detection by Chinese officials. If detected and deported back to North Korea, these refugees face starvation, torture and execution.

ARC, a charity-knitting organization in Washington, D.C., and Life Funds for North Korean Refugees, a Tokyo-based non-profit organization, are working together to help these refugees through knitted items.

ARC sends to North Korean orphans and families who are refugees. While knitted goods may not seem like much to those of us whose needs are met, the impact of a new, useful gift can be immense. Knits can remind refugees of their humanity, identity, and encourage them to keep striving for a better future. - ARC

Last week, ARC sent out an urgent request for 10 sets of children's knits (each set includes a cap, a scarf, and a pair of gloves/mittens) by the end of the month. iKnit has decided to help out by knitting as many of the needed items as possible.

How can YOU help?

You can help out by crafting items or by donating yarn for the items! The items must follow certain color & style requirements and not look "foreign, too prosperous, or atypical of local style" so that the refugees wearing these items will not be detected.

(From the ARC website) 

What Colors and Styles to Use:Ordinary, inconspicuous colors such as black, brown, dark green, navy blue, dark purple or maroon. Styles should be simple and plain; avoid stripes, polka dots, etc.

• Hats: Beanies are best. Earflaps are okay, but no pom-poms please, as they make it easier to identify the wearer in a crowd.

• Scarves: Straightforward garter stitch or ribbing is preferred. Various designs should not be too distinctive or uncommon; no tassels please.

• Gloves & Mittens: Unadorned but made to keep warm.

For more information, please visit ARC's website here. If you have any other questions or need to drop off items, please email us at iknitmsj@gmail.com.

Thanks to Green Planet Yarn for donating yarn!

Last Saturday, we delivered 31 items for Hurricane Sandy victims to Green Planet Yarn, an eco-friendly yarn shop. Green Planet Yarn is one of the collection points for Knitting Fever's Operation Sandy Relief drive.

Recently, we have been contacting many local companies and yarn shops, asking for donations of knitting/crocheting supplies for our charity projects.

Green Planet Yarn was extremely generous and donated  22 lbs. of beautiful wool & wool-blend yarn! GPY, thank you so much! It's thanks to people and companies like you that iKnit is able to accomplish so much in our charity projects. :)

Donating to Hurricane Sandy Victims

We've decided to expand our Winter 2012 project to include both St. Anthony's AND Hurricane Sandy Relief. The project will still end on December 21, 2012.

We'll be donating scarves and other items for those affected by Hurricane Sandy through Knitting Fever. You can learn more about Knitting Fever's relief project here.

Well, will you look at that!

I'm all ready to head over to the East Coast and help spread some warmth and comfort to those who need it!

Over the past two months or so, iKnit has already crafted and collected a total of 31 items, which includes 26 scarves (24 of which are handmade), 2 knit handwarmers, and 3 caps (2 handknit). Many of these scarves were crafted using yarn donated by our community. Thank you so much to everyone who crafted these scarves and to everyone who has ever donated yarn! We really couldn't accomplish this much without your help.

It's vital that we give the scarves to people who need it ASAP, so later today, we're going to be delivering the scarves to a store affiliated with Knitting Fever, which will then get the scarves to where they're needed the most on the Sandy-ravaged East Coast. We'll post photos later, so check back soon!

A Need for Knits on the East Coast

As you probably already know, Superstorm Sandy recently wreaked a lot of havoc on people living in the Northeast, especially in New York and New Jersey. We are planning on donating some scarves to those affected through Knitting Fever, a yarn distributor that has organized a Hurricane Sandy Relief drive. They accept not only handmade scarves, but also caps, socks, gloves, and other warm clothing - including store-bought clothing - so there's a lot of flexibility with what we can donate.

We could donate to both Sandy victims and St. Anthony's or focus on only one project this winter. If we did both projects, we'd probably focus on one project for several weeks and then switch to donating to the other cause for another few weeks. What do you think? Send us an email at iknitmsj@gmail.com!

Whichever project we do, the deadline for turning in items to donate is December 21, 2012. We'll update you soon on which project(s) we're doing, but in the meantime, keep on knitting and crocheting! :)

Weekly iKnit Meetings at MSJHS!

We are having weekly club meetings now! We have less than two months until Winter Break begins on December 21, and since we aim to finish our winter project by then, we need to move ahead at full speed!

Our third meeting is this Friday, November 9, in B21!
In case you missed our first two meetings, here's a brief recap:

• October 23: First official meeting! :) Welcome to our new members!
• November 2: Member introductions, Scarves for St. Anthony's requirements, and yarn discounts!

We mainly notify members of meetings & events through email, so if you haven't been getting emails from us, please email us at iknitmsj@gmail.com so we can add you to our list! We're also be posting updates on Facebook and the MSJ ASB website.