Thanks Erica

This a picture of the lovely and talented Erica Bregman. She started a project, through Jewish Family Services to collect warm coats and boots for the Innu and Metis in Northern Labrador. Read about it here.

So we called Erica and said, "hey, can we slip some boxes into your shipment? "Sure!" she said, and our stuff made it! 40 pounds of your hand-knit mittens, hats, blankets and sweaters will be distributed through the Labrador Friendship Centre to Innu and Metis in need. It is already on trucks and on its way. Thanks, guys. What a great Christmas present!

Other news: since we were able to get a shipment off so quickly, we are postponing our next shipping deadline to January 31st. Happy knitting!

Damn that flu

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to post a note and let you know that I talked to the community this morning. The boxes have been opened and partially distributed. One of the ladies tells me that one woman came in with 6 of her 14 (!!?!) children and they fitted her kiddies up well for the cooold winter.

Right now, they are distributing items as kids come into the public health clinic, however they have been a bit delayed because they’ve been hit by H1N1 and are undertaking a mass immunization over the next couple of weeks. I’ll let you know when I hear more.

In the meantime, we’re talking to an Inuit community organization here in town. They are very interested in having us ship some stuff to their northern kids, however we’re trying to figure out how the shipping might work. They’re going to see if they can work out the shipping themselves and get back to us. Cross your fingers…

Hope you're all still healthy!

Back to Montreal

Yet another picture. We still look like we're wearing comfortable shoes, sigh. I swear we've got stilletto's on - you just can't see them. Okay, this is us tonight in box-packing mode. Its all hands on deck for this one. The blankets you see on the left and the bottom are beautiful crochet by Carlene of Carp (carleneruns) - Carlene, we so loved your crochet stuff - soft like anything. Can you post on the hat pattern?

And we keep on packin'. I packed everything, then Amy opened the boxes and repacked, and was able to squish in even more stuff. We squished and we squeeeeeezed, and we taped then taped again to make sure that we could get as much as we could in. See the boots on the bottom? There are 30 pairs stuffed with socks and mittens and hats, and wrapped inside blankets and sweaters and vests...

The last box that came in the mail this week was from - believe it or not - Happy Valley Labrador! Kelly, aka hoodlumknits, put together some sweet little things. We love Kelly because she's always posting and giving us the skinny on the weather and conditions in Labrador. Thanks, hoodlum for being our connection in the 'hood.

And big boxes in Amy's van. Now that we're on our way, I can let you in on our little soap opera. Two weeks ago, I called Morris, our star at Air Labrador. The conversation went like this:

Anita: "Morris, we're ready to ship to Labrador. Same deal as always?"

Morris: "Sure. Where are you going to ship from?"

Anita: "Montreal, same as usual".

Morris: "That's great, and we'll take the stuff from Goose Bay on, but how is it getting to Goose Bay?"

Anita: "Morris, my geography is bad. When I say Labrador, I mean Goose Bay."

Morris: "Yeah, I know. How is the stuff getting to Goose Bay?".

Anita: "Who's on first?".

Bottom line: Air Labrador no longer ships from Quebec to Labrador. The good news is that Ed Fude of Provincial Airlines has stepped in on this shipment. Guess how much stuff they are shipping.

An unbelieveable 200 pounds. That's how much those four boxes weigh.

So tomorrow afternoon, we drive Ottawa-Montreal, drop off the shipment, and drive back - home by dinner, I hope.

As for the December shipment - we've got lots of coals in the fire - we're just working on the best approach to get the stuff to the northern communities. Do you want to hear the dramatic play by play, or just the outcome once its all resolved?

Guys, from our hearts to yours - thank you so so much for taking the time out of your lives to put together all of the beautiful things that are going to the Innu kids - you're warming them, and letting know that they matter. What a gift.

Patricia of Toronto

Here are some great socks that Patricia sent in. I did a close-up of my favorite pair. Patricia, we are packing like crazy and will get these in the boxes.

Thanks!

Anita

Boots and Canadian Knitters

Before we get down to business, I wanted to show you this beautiful blanket that Lynn Walma of Scarborough sent in. Lynn, its as soft as it is beautiful.

My boy took this quick snap of a pile-up of the new boots we got to go along with the gorgeous knitties that you made.

Okay, Shirl the purl (Shirley Thomson of London) was one of our first Ravelry supporters - she's the one who taught me how to use it - okay Shirley, do I blame you for my Ravelcrack addiction? She made a bunch of fleece baby blankets, with a little crochet around them - I took a closeup of the baseball one because its so cute. Check out the rest of her stuff below:

Cute blankie, huh?

The socks above, and the tiny intarsia one are from the lovely Sheri Roy of Liverpool. Check out her blog to see more of these socks.

Below is Allison of Mount Pearl, who sent in 10 gorgeous pairs of mittens - read about her adventures in knitting here.

Above is a close-up of another one of Lynn's sweet blankets. Lynn, can you tell me how to get this pattern, because its crazy beautiful.

And here's another Lynn creation, below.

Finalement, voici les mignons mittaines et chaussures de la fabuleuse Danielle Tanguay. Merci, Danielle!

Kansas, Texas, Jeanine, Suzanne and Alexis

Heyyyy! I can see we're getting close to our first deadline, because we're getting lots of stuff. Just as an aside, we also managed to raise $1000 for new boots to go with those lovely warm knitties that you make. Each pair costs about $29.00 pre-shipping - its amazing how many people say, "yeah, I'll give you $29 for a pair of boots. So here's to you guys. Roll credits:

These come from the lovely Alexis Layton. She sent in 3 hats and 6 (!) blankets. Its hard to see here, but the blankets are kind of a half-circle design.

Suzanne Atkinson is a wonderful supporter - if you want to meet her, Wabisabi in Ottawa, is holding a charity knit-in for us and she is going to try to make it - we'd love to see you there in person. More details on the dates (some time this fall) soon.

Its the Ravelry blanket! For those of you not in the know, we have a very very very active ravelry group. You can see them here. We love our little gang, especially since we've got some easterners in there who post on the weather and what's happening in Labrador. Suzanne asked ravellers to send in squares, which she neatly assembled into a blanket. Lotsa love in those squares...

And here's some more from Suzanne. Suzanne, I do a patchwork blanket too, by knitting blocks together, but I think your assembly is alot neater than mine, by casting on the long side then garter stitching. I'm going to do that next time.

Anne Kahle, love your blankies. Very thick and warm. But girl, you're our first from Kansas and I just can't resist the Dorothy cliches. I will try to stop myself, but I can't promise anything.

Here's Jeannine Turcotte, the sheep-lady. I have always loved her stuff. J, since you asked, the sizes that you did for the hats, mitts and socks are perfect. We're targetting alot of 7 to 14 year olds this time, so these work well. Blankets, will, as usual, go to the clinic, so that works well too.

Jeannine, I love this little sweater. The details on it are amazing, and the zip front is very very cute. Innu kids are born on the biggish side, so I think it will fit a 2 year old.

Did you know that Carrollton, Texas is the home of Vanilla Ice Ice Baby? But much more importantly, its the home of the amazing Kelly Craven, who made these four blankets. Kelly, we have the same taste, because I love the gemtone colour choices.

And last but not least, its the wonderful May Chow of the 31 hats. May, you will warm many a head this winter.

Guys, we love getting your stuff, and you're all entered in the Oceanwinds draw. Whether you send in one thing or many, every little piece is much appreciated. Your hears are huge!

Anita

Janet, Kathleen and Ms. Minnesota

So we're renovating the kitchen, which means 5 guys yelling at each-other downstairs at 5am each morning, while Anita, half-naked (and not my good half), yells at the kids upstairs each morning. Let me just say, that your little parcels are keeping me from killing somebody. That's kind of nice, eh? You warm and Innu and you keep Anita from committing electrician-homicide. You guys just keep on giving...

First, we have Knitter of StPaul Minnesota. Knitter, I'm putting you in the draw - the hats are incredibly detailed and beautiful. My daughter modeled the green one for me - love it, and I'm guessing that you folks know cold, too.


The next two are from sweet Janet of Fredricton. Janet, I did a close-up of these little mittens because I loved the yarn, but I have to say, thank you for knitting into the larger sizes. Apparently, the kids will wear the socks you knit to bed to keep their tootsies warm at night, so they are much appreciated! I will put you in the raffle 14-fold.

Kathleen of Bedford, Nova Scotia knit the two sweaters below and (wait for it) 17 more items. You got your socks, your hats, your mittens...its all great. Thank you so much!

The Draw this Year - Oceanwind Knits

We're having another raffle! This year, we're raffling a kit from Oceanwind Knits. It came in the mail today and its beautiful and knittable and hand-dyed but I'm not giving away the store. So it could be this:

Or like this:

Or maybe this:

And maybe you could make this with it:



So the rules are the same this year: Knit something, send it to us along with your name or ravelcrack link, and we'll put you in the draw. Knit 2 things and you get 2 entries in the draw. We'll draw in March and one lucky winner will get it. But you're all winners - you know that.

The Knit Cafe

Okay, I just wanted to write a little bit about our first LYS in Toronto - the Knit Cafe is owned by the lovely and talented Iwona - say hi when you go in. It was amazing from the very start - the first time I called, they let me blather on for 10 minutes, then said calmly "no problem" to being our first drop off point.

The store is adorable - have a cupcake during Sunday high team.

The yarn is great though: they carry fleece artist, and you know I love me some fleece artist.

Here's what the store looks like inside:

You need more reasons? How about Lorna's Lace, Peace Fleece and Cascade Yarns?

Get yourself over there - and tell them you've got warm hands!

Anita.

PS We did a presentation to the Rotary Club - looks like we might be shipping some boots to go with those hand-knit socks for Labrador, so keep 'em coming.

Take care,

ab

Wool 'N' Things is In

Just a quick note this time,

Gisele at Wool 'n' Things in Orleans (or Orléans, depending on whether you can find the "é" on your keyboard) has joined our little Warm Hands family.

You can drop off your stuff at their store on Youville drive any time. I'm going to try to get down there myself, and take some pictures of the store ASAP.

Glorious Knitting!

I mentioned how great the Ottawa Knitting Guild is on Ravelry, but I can't help saying it again. even on that cold, damp night last week, the room was buzzing with conversation and I was very kindly welcomed as a guest. The show and tell was great, too. I missed Joyce showing off my son's elephant sweater (a labour of love if there ever was one!) the previous meeting. The knitting this month was great - some gifts ready for shipping, some great shawls and more.

Nice to meet you, and thank you. First, thanks to Suzanne for her great presentation about charity knitting. I learned a lot and we appreciate your kind words. It was also a great chance for me to put faces to names. Names I have been seeing on tags tucked in with wonderful knitting. Like these:

Daphne's mittens. I am glad you are feeling better, and I know these will warm many hands. I have several balls of washable merino if you'd like them! I was impressed to learn that you just knit these, without a pattern!

These are also some very overdue photos from May's last drop off. We love your sweaters, too, and they got a bit of a goodbye pat from these models as we packed them into a box to ship off. The owl is modelling a lovely doll hat that was tucked in with these other lovely hats. The owl is not leaving the house, its owner clearly informed me. (why do some little boy voices carry so well?!!)

And last, but not least, a surprise sweater donated by Joyce. She says it is easy, but I am a bit wary of having to line anything up. A classic with ladybug buttons for a lucky child!

A few other recent donations are a few scarves, and this sweet granny square rose.

Thanks again, Ottawa! Amy

Alix, Maria, Jeanine, Daphne, Julia, May and Peggy

Hellooooooo,

Look at all the fab stuff I picked up in Ottawa and from Canada Post (May, we'll have pictures of your stuff up here shortly!).

From Alix in Toronto. Alix, you didn't give me your address, but I got your email so I'll put you in the next draw.

Okay, next from Maria Koulis, the felting queen - Queen Maria, every time I look at one of the felt hats, I try to figure out how you did it - I'm trying to make a felted painting and I can't get the colours to blend. What's the secret? My plan is to sell it for two THOUSAND dollars (said a la Dr. Evil) and buy the boots for the Innu kids. I may have to come up with a Plan B - still looking for ideas....

Jeanine Turcotte is the sheep-lady - she used to raise sheep, but now she just raises sweaters. Jeanine, I took a close up of this particular sweater, because the buttons on it are going to make some little boy very happy - planes and horses - what more could you want?

Right here is Daphne Edmunds work from the Ottawa Knitting Guild. Amy tells me she just picked up 20 more pairs of mittens from Daphne this week - thanks for being on our team, Daphne (I heart my librarian ;)

And over here, its Julia Yeung of the OKG who makes these very cute creations (I'm thinking for the 3-7 age set).

And finally, Peggy Holton of the OKG - cute stripes!

I can't go without mentioning sweet Suzanne who did a chat about us at the Guild meeting this week. Suzanne was one of the first ladies who put her hands up two years ago and said, "I'm in - Amy and Anita are having their mid-life crisis, and I will knit hats for them!". Thanks S for everything you do. To see Suzanne's princess hat pattern, link up here.

Okay, if I've missed out on anyone, its not from lack of love. Send me an email and I will see if I can dig through and find a note or a label or something with your name on it.