Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Flooding Strikes Woodstock

UPDATE: The PO Box is fine now!! It looks like they did not sustain much damage, which is hard to believe considering all the flooding. So.. safe to send items now. Send 'em on in!


I'm sure you all have heard about all of the flooding here in Atlanta. I'm in Woodstock and we were hit hard with tons of rain. Many places we frequent are under water, including our PO Box!! The post office is across the street just to the left of this picture to the left, which is right in the same area as the pic below.

Please do not send anything for the next few days... I'll let you know when everything is in working order.
This is a picture of a gas station that is not even a mile from my house.. just down the street!
My home and family are perfectly safe. We are up high and did not experience any flooding.. just tons and tons of rain and erosion.
I'll keep you posted about the PO Box.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

A Kink To Work Out

Hello all!! As you know, Knits For Needs continues to grow and grow and grow, which is perfectly wonderful and I could not be happier. We have had approximately 200 skeins of yarn donated and our total number of items donated to KFN so far is 324!! We've almost reached our goal of 400 items donated in 2009. Keep sending in your items as you finish them. I really appreciate all of the loving support this special group has received.

HOWEVER, I need to discuss a current problem with you all and I'm open to any and all suggestions on how to solve it. I really assumed that with all of the support Knits For Needs has that we would receive monetary donations to help with shipping and other costs, such as the PO Box payment that is now due. My plan was to set up an account strictly for KFN and use the collected funds to help with these costs, but we have not received even one monetary donation! Do you know any friends or family members who might want to donate to a wonderful knitting charity?

I do not have Knits For Needs registered as a charity legally as of yet. I was planning to see where it went and how big it grew before I went ahead and did that, and I most certainly will as soon as I'm sure it is big enough and here to stay. In order for it to sustain itself, we will need monetary donations to help with cost. Now, because it is not officially a charity in the eyes of the government, I cannot offer a receipt for deduction purposes, but I can offer the wonderful feeling you will receive when you donate to a beautiful cause, such as a charity that donates our knit/crocheted items to cancer patients, the homeless, preemies, veterans, and other loved members of society. I can also assure you that all monies would be used for the charity and nothing else, but unfortunately I only have my "word" to give you :) And, of course, you can see all the good that we're doing by reading our blog.

I mean, I'm talking about donations of only $5 here, nothing big. Do you know anyone that could help? I'd really LOVE to see Knits For Needs grow huge and help tons of people across the country and I'm sure you all would too. Does anyone have any ideas to drum up some funds? Any ideas on how to get a sponsor? Oh, I forgot to mention also, I monetized this blog, which means there are ads on it now and we generate money per clicks on those ads, so click away :) All of this money will, of course, go to KFN.

Thanks for listening to my "schpiel" (how do you spell that?), I was really hoping NOT to make it. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all supporters and contributors to Knits For Needs! All of the donations we have received just warm my heart so much. Keep up the knitting and crocheting, and keep sending in whatever you'd like to donate to KFN whenever you can.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

120 Hats!

I am so proud to announce that The Crochet Guild of America has donated 120 hats to Knits For Needs! The Crochet Guild of America is a not-for-profit educational organization dedicated to preserving and advancing the art of crochet. Within it's membership is a group of professional crocheters who work in many aspects of the crochet industry. Among the professional members are designers, teachers, editors, manufacturers, publishers, and contract crocheters. One of our lovely supporters, named Jocelyn, told the group about Knits For Needs and they decided to donate their hats that they made at their Professional Development Day in Buffalo to our organization. All of the yarn for the hats was donated by Lion Brand Yarn, who also sponsored the event!

When I received the boxes of hats I was so excited that I couldn't wait to count them and also add them to what we have already collected. So as I sat amongst a huge pile of items, I learned that we have collected 207 items!! Now, we have already donated 117 items this year, so add these two figures together and we have a whopping total of 324 items (already donated or will be donated by end of year)!! So what does that leave us? 76? 76 more items need to be received for us to reach our lofty goal of 400 items donated in 2009. I think we're going to do it!



Friday, August 7, 2009

Fiber Arts Friday

Please visit and read Fiber Arts Friday on Alpacafarmgirl's blog... Merf's Turf and Knits For Needs are listed there today! http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

39 Prayer Squares


Today I'm sending out 39 prayer squares to the group Knit Wits, who attaches a charm and a prayer to each square and sends them to cancer patients, who hold their square while praying. I personally love this idea so much for several reasons. Although they are small, the message is powerful: we care about you. Imagine going through such a stressful and frightening time as chemo treatment and imagine how wonderful you'd feel if given an item that a perfect stranger took the time to create for just for you. The yarn is not important. The stitch is not important. The LOVE is the key, and the fact that you're taking the time to knit/crochet these squares, even just one, means that you do have the love for that stranger who needs some support in this very critical time in their life. I also love these squares because they are so easy and quick to work up, and they put to use those yarn scraps that you were wondering what to do with.
Thank you so much to all who have contributed to this project!! And, don't worry if you have not gotten your squares in yet.... just knit/crochet in your own time and send in when you can... no hurry. This is an ongoing project.
**Update.. I just went to send the squares and I received 10 more from Michele!!! Thank you so much! So the total that I sent in today was 49, not 39.**

Monday, June 29, 2009

Collection for Charity Still Growing

MANY thanks to Jacqueline and Terri, who sent in a combined donation of 33 knit and crocheted items!!

Ok folks, I just counted our items and so far we have donated/collected 153 items so far this year!! Our goal is to get to 400 by the end of the year. Keep knitting and crocheting and sending in your things, and keep up with us on the blog or other venues so you know where these items are headed to when we start deliveries again in September. On to 400!!

If you are knitting or crocheting prayer squares, I'd like to send in a shipment to them soon, so send those in asap! I'd like to send in our first donation of prayer squares in a couple weeks, maybe 3.

Thank you all supporters, followers, and contributors!!! Without you, Knits For Needs would just be me, and I can't knit that fast :)

Saturday, June 27, 2009

KFN Featured in Fiber Arts Friday!

Knits For Needs is featured this week in Fiber Arts Friday! I'm so excited. For every person who links their blog to the site Katy is donating a dollar to KFN! And for every 5 people, she's donating one of her handmade alpaca yarn skeins (she's a real, genuine alpaca farmer :)). Here is the really important part: Only 3 more people need to link their blog and we'll get one more skein!! Go to: http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/2009/06/fiber-arts-friday-16/ to learn more and to read our article all about our beloved group, Knits For Needs!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Birdies and Bears for Charity




Here are some pics of some things I've been knitting up for Knits For Needs. I plan to do many, many more... the birds in particular are really fun! I'll send you the pattern if you are interested in it. Both the birds and the bears are knit flat with 2 needles, which is all I can really do right now since I have not yet learned how to knit in the round.



Thursday, June 11, 2009

Prayer Squares


Have scraps of yarn you can knit or crochet into 4 inch x 4 inch squares? We'll take your squares and provide them as "Prayer Squares" to chemo patients. They hold the prayer squares in their hands while praying. This is a great idea.. they are simple and quick to knit/crochet up! Let's start collecting these and I'll send them to an organization called Knit Wits who then attaches a charm and a prayer to each square before sending them to cancer centers. My daughter and I have already started knitting some. Send them on in!! (more info on this is on our Ravelry group discussion board)