Interview about Knits For Needs

I was interviewed about Knits For Needs! Check it out.. you have to sign in to read it.. don't worry, its free:


http://loosethreadstitchers.com/Contents/Home.aspx

At the home page, click on "Meridith Zelaya and Knits For Needs" on the right.

Thanks for taking the time to do this! Let me know what you think!

Chemo Caps

We donate to all sorts of people in need, so send along all of your knit or crocheted items and they will go to someone who needs them. But if you prefer to make hats or other items for chemo patients, or anyone else in a hospital, please follow these guidelines:

For hospital patients:
- items must be very clean
- items must be individually bagged
- please do not use wool
- items must be from a smoke-free, pet-free home

Here's the good news: I will wash (carefully, I promise!) your items for you if you like. If I receive items that I think would be good for hospital patients and they haven't been washed and bagged, I always wash them and individually bag them. Even if you have smoke and/or pet dander in your house, still send your things and I will take care of them.

Patterns for chemo caps:
http://www.chemocaps.com/page3.htm
http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/cancercaps.html

Stockpiling for Charity

Ok, now the stockpiling begins!! Since it is getting warmer out and people will be in less need for warm stuff, I think we'll hold off on shipments until, say, late September. What do you all think about this? I plan to gather as many items as I can over the summer and begin shipments when it begins getting cold once again.

Please send all items you wish to donate to: Knits for Needs, PO Box 551, Woodstock, GA 30188. Yarn and monetary donations can be sent there as well. The address is permanently on the left-hand side of our blog.

I will continue to update the blog often, so keep visiting us! I will keep you all posted on how many donations we are bringing in. I look forward to seeing tons of stuff!! Can't wait! Let's set a goal. We're at 74 items donated right now (just since Jan), I think, so how about our goal is 400 items total donated in 2009? Let's do it!

Blankets, mittens, hats, stuffed animals, scarves, hats, socks, slippers.. what can you knit or crochet? What are you willing to donate? Also, if anyone knows of an organization or group of people who are in need, please let us know and we'll add them to our project list. Would you like to donate to your neck of the woods? Let us know a good place to donate to and we'll send things. I usually search for homeless shelters and hospitals in a certain area and then I call them to see if they, indeed, are in need of warm things. Sometimes on their website they will have a wish list, which is helpful.

Email us anytime! Post comments any time! Visit our Facebook group and leave your comments please. We need your experiences posted there.

Work In Progress

I can't figure out why that image below is so huge.. just wanted to show the tag I've been using in all of our donated items. What do you think?

Items tagged with this:

Thank you!

I'd love to send out a big, huge THANK YOU to all of our supporters and, most importantly, to those who have sent their knit/crocheted items and yarn donations!! You are supporting a wonderful cause that all of us involved are so proud of. Also, thanks to Mom for supporting us monetarily as well :) She has paid for our PO Box and some shipping costs.

As you can see on the left side over there, I have added our email address and our new mailing address. Also, please message us any time for anything, and please leave your comments!

These 20 hats will be mailed out to St. Jude today! Thank you all who contributed. They are now back in their individual bags (they have to be very clean and individually bagged) and I put tags in the bags that say "Hand-knit for you with love by Knits for Needs " and included our blog address and email address. I also included "gently hand-wash in cold water and lay flat to dry". I will include these tags in everything we send now.

These hats went to The Covenant House Atlanta on March 4, 2009. The director sent me pictures of the homeless youth with the hats on!!! I cried :) Thank you all who donated for this project and others!

Hats, etc for homeless

Yes, this is me, Meridith :) This was our very first delivery of donated items. It was February 1 of this year, 2009. I took my daughter with me to put these in the hands of the homeless at Rescue Atlanta.

Brand spankin new to blogging

So people have been asking if Knits for Needs has a website or a blog, so I've thinking about it for awhile and, quite honestly, I've been pretty overwhelmed because I've never done anything like this before, so bear with me! So far, we have 92 members in our Facebook group (come join us!) and we have over 200 followers on Twitter (follow us!). Now, it looks like we have a blog!!

Knits for Needs is a knitting and crocheting charity that is made up of loving and dedicated people who donate their time, talents, and knit/crocheted items to charity. So far, since our inception in late January of 2009, we have donated over 70 items to charity. We have donated to Rescue Atlanta, a homeless outreach in Atlanta, The Covenant House Atlanta, a homeless outreach for youth in Atlanta, youth chemo patients at St. Jude, Litchfield Food Bank in Maine, and homeless in Detriot via my Aunt and Uncle's church. I am so proud of what this group has done and I look forward to seeing it grow and grow so we can help more people! We are always on the lookout for people in need, so please let us know if you know of a group of people who needs warm stuff. We supply blankets, toys, mittens, hats, socks, scarves, sweaters... anything you can knit or crochet to anyone in the United States who needs love and warmth!