I carn’t believe it is only just over 5 weeks till christmas!
Issue 12 is off the press and looks fantastic, we are busy, busy, busy addressing labels to post out this jam packed issue to make it to your letterboxes before christmas!
Here is a sneek peek at one of the fantastic competitions, good luck
Kylie Albanese
Just a quick post to let you know that the closing date for subscriptions has been bought forward to November 15, for the December edition. This gives the printers time to print out your address sheets and get the next edition to you, before the wholesalers and newsagents.
Keep your eyes out for the once-in-a-life-time prize in the December edition.
I received an email a few weeks back, from Pamela, the creator of Knit 4 Charities. She must be very well organised! Here is a sample of what she does…
The knit4charities group, created in August 2004 by Pamela Tatt, started as a very small ripple that has gained so much momentum it’s now a tsunami. Members all over Australia, the UK, Canada, USA and New Zealand are all knitting up a storm for charity.
Overseas members can apply our principles to their own communities and many have started donating after being inspired by the work done here in Australia. “There are so many needy people in Australia that are often forgotten by large organizations who are far more willing to send items overseas than to donate right here,” says Pamela.
Knit4charities supports homeless people in need by donating items such as rugs/blankets, beanies, scarves, gloves, socks, jumpers etc, often distributed via food vans, that pass out the donations along with a nice hot meal.
They also support Shelters/Refuges for victims of domestic violence, families in crisis and Aged Care Facilities. Through Animal Rescue groups they have donated such items as dog/cat blankets and toys, dog coats, pouches for possums, joeys and other baby animals and birds nests. Through Hospitals they donate items for Palliative Care, Oncology Patients, Babies and Children. Then there’s the Ambulance, Police, Fire Brigade and other rescue services such as SES who are often in need of soft cuddly toys for children in trauma. As Pamela says “for whatever you like to knit or crochet she can find a needy ‘body’ be it human or animal!”
In December 2004 there were just 4 members…this was the start of the ripple. In October 2008 there are 665, with new applications coming in every day. In September 2005 members asked for some group projects to be organized so Pamela started her Charity of the Month (CotM) projects. Up until this point in time everyone was donating privately to charities mostly in their own neighbourhood.
For the Charity of the Month Pamela asks members to nominate a charity they would like the group to support, a Calendar is made up for the year and the donations are made to each one as a group donation. Participation in the projects is voluntary and members are asked to make just one item. This way those members who are slow knitters/crocheters or don’t have a lot of time can donate with the group and not feel as though they aren’t doing enough. Our motto is “No-one is too small to make a difference!” If one member makes one item per month that’s 12 items per year…a ripple! If 100 members make one item per month that’s 1200 items per year…the beginning of a tsunami!
In 2006 knit4charities supported 12 charities and our donations totalled 1537. In 2007 it was 21 charities with donations totalling 5820. This year, 2008, we are supporting 35 charities and at the end of September 2008 donations totalled 5319 with numbers from one charity still to come in.
Knit4charities is entirely self-funded by members. They purchase their own yarn and pay the postage costs involved getting their items to the various Charities supported in the CotM’s. To help with the cost of postage, Pamela wrote and published a book in March 2007, called The Gift of Giving, which is sold through the knit4charities website. The Gift of Giving is a comprehensive guide to knitting/crocheting for charity and contains 20 easy patterns to get you started on your charity donating.
The proceeds from the sale of both the eBook ($5) and the printed version ($8.50 incl. Postage) are given back to members who participate in the CotM projects by way of a lucky draw each month where Pamela gives away 15 pre-paid post packs. “I would dearly love to re-imburse all members postage costs,” says Pamela, “but this is not possible at the moment.”
If you would like to know more about the knit4charities group, purchase Pamela’s book or make a donation towards postage costs, you can contact Pamela on 0429 021 099 or visit www.freewebs.com/knit4charities If you would like to join the yahoo here is the link http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/knit4charities/
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a knitter. Some of you may be aware of the trials and tribulations faced when trying to teach my youngest to knit on the last Christmas holidays. Well now, there has been a development.
At 6am this morning (while on the phone to Meg Swanson) Hailey woke up and “demanded” some attention. Meg very kindly spoke to Hailey and of course, the conversation turned to knitting…
Before I was even off the phone Hailey was into my stash (hmmm, there should be a new house rule about that) and choosing her fave pink ball. She grabbed the Winterwood childrens needles (of course, because they are “pretty”) and I had to get off the phone, pronto.
She had completed 15 rows all by herself before school, starting to speed knit after row 3. A quick count and she had only dropped one stitch. I was impressed. The best part though, came when I said it was time for school. The answer “Just one more row Mum”.
It sometimes happens that designers come up with similar ideas, at similar times, and here we have a delicious example. Pat from The Thread Room (formerly Marta’s Yarns) sent in some lovely I-Cord creations, which we had to reject, because we had already said YES to the I-Cord necklace/scarves that were submitted by Liz Gemmell.
Pat used a 4 stitch I-Cord on 9mm DPNs using 1 ball of Flowers yarn, in red. This is my favourite. She also did 4st I-Cord using 10mm DPNs in 1 ball of Slubby yarn, which she then felted, and used her hands to chain crochet. This can be used as a choker to wear over a jacket.
The white one is a textural dream, done in 4st I-Cord, being purled instead of knitted, taking 1 ball of Flowers and 1 of Slubby, then chain crocheted in the middle using just your hands. It makes a great belt, collar or necklace.
If you are out and about in Melbourne, and you feel like dropping in, Pat will show you “how it is done”. The Flowers yarn is delectable. Check it out here.
Trudi has won the YARNblog draw for The Crochet Bible by Sue Whiting and the Fibreworks 2ply wool donated by Yarns Online. Congratulations Trudi, I hope you enjoy them.
Check out the blog entry below for how to enter the FANTASTIC 2009 accommodation/workshop and cash prize in honour of Esme Johnson. It’s a pity YARN staff cannot enter :(
The article on page 48, Yarn 11 has touched many people. It is such a wonderful gift to pass on; the knowledge and love of yarn craft.
To help encourage others Lynne has very generously offered the “Esme Johnson Prize”, to be judged by YARN, for the best feather and fan creation.
Here’s how it works…
Fibre Forum 2009 in Orange (19-25 April) includes a wonderful Mini-Forum called “Loops of Diversity” with 4 different yarn related classes (more information available from Janet at tafta@iinet.net.au). In the “Abstract & Creative Knitting” class Lynne Johnson and Jenny Dowde will combine and share their passion for exploring design possibilities within the mediums of knit and crochet. Would you like to tag along to this or one of the other 3 classes?The prize is for any one of the four Mini-Forum classes/workshops, accommodation (if needed) and the balance of the prize money (if any is left over) will be paid in cash. The total Esme Johnson Prize pool is valued at $1000.
We will have more information in the December edition of YARN. The competition will close 31 January, be announced on the YARN blog in February and featured in the March edition of YARN.
All you have to do is come up with your own Feather and Fan creation (or similar stitch in crochet, a felted design, or a woven piece, as long as it looks like feather and fan, or somehow incorporates a feather and fan element). Take pattern notes if you wish to have your pattern published. When you are finished, send us a picture, with an outline of what you have done and why.
We will need to inspect the work of finalists, but your designs will be returned. We will contact you if we need “an inspection”.
Best of luck. Please give us a call or email info(at)yarnmagazine(dot)com(dot)au if you have any questions or would like more information.
Go Feather and Fan!
We are so happy with the way Yarn 11 came out, we need to celebrate. We’d like to give 1 lucky reader a copy of The Crochet Bible by Sue Whiting, and a gorgeous skein of 2ply hand dyed wool to get you started.
All you have to do is let us know via the comments box (or email) what your favourite pattern is in the current edition. Competition closes September 22. That leaves you plenty of time to learn to crochet (if you don’t already) and get some gifts made before Christmas (even if the gifts are for you).
Good luck!
Congratulations Vicki. You have won a year worth of Yarn Magazine, by guessing that Kylie was the baby on pages 20 & 21 of the September edition. Vicki remembered that it was a popular name around that time, so took an educated guess. Well done.
We’d like to give some more stuff away. Books or yummy yarns? Let me think on it…
