Happy Holidays!

First let me apologize profusely to Lorraine, Collyn, Karen and Silvia:  Ladies I am so sorry - life got away from me and its taken me this long to get your stuff on the blog!  This does get me caught up with the backlog which is a great way to start the holidays.

News - hmmm - well I got an email from Dr. Elizabeth:  the items that we sent up to the Women's shelter were very well utilized and we are scheming about getting another box up next month.  We're also still working with another collective of doctors who are actually unbelievable:  they take a very large box up with them each time one of them visits Nunnavutt, and the items get distributed far and wide, by a local nurse.  Its been frankly, amazing, just working with this lovely group of physicians.

Okay, pix pix pix:

This one comes from Lorraine Thompson in Port Hope Ontario.  The sweaters are beautiful, but check out the woven scarf and knitted hat from Lorraine below.  My cameral doesn't do these items justice.  They are so soft and beautiful.  The weaving is really something.

Socks socks socks from Collyn Baldwin in Corbett Oregon.  Collyn saw us in Vogue Magazine and decided she wanted to be part of the Warm Hands army.  Collyn, welcome!

Karen Zorn has been a contributor for a long time now - she's from Bredenbury SK and is also a lovely chatter on the blog.  Karen, thank you so much for your contribution, your donation and your kind words.  You have made a huge difference!

More from Karen - cozy neckwarmer which my daughter tried on and some socks to keep it company in the photo.

Okay this is kind of spectacular, so I took a closeup below.  In Stockstadt Germany, there's a Ravelry crochet group called haekeln.  They got together and made the blanket (folded in half, above) crochetted from sock yarn.  Silvia D'Onofrio, Katja, Silke and Katrin, I'm kind of crazy about you.  I think this will go to the women's shelter since the blanket is a good size.  Danke!

And finally some booties which were left anonymously at my door.  Not sure who donated, but I love them.

Oh What a Night

Last Thursday was packing night.  I thought to myself "well I only have 3 packages to open and photograph for the blog, and then we can start packing".  I was so very wrong.  Suzanne, Amy, Jeanine and Carlene arrives, hauling a massive amount of NEW stuff.  So we talk, admire, eat, talk, take pictures, pack, eat some more, pack some more, and some how, some way it all gets done.  Here are some pictures of the items we opened, as well as the packing itself:

Bonnie Belanger ('Panther' on rav) of Ottawa, you've been with us for a long long time, I think.  Thank you for the lovely socks as well as the blanket below.  I really liked the flower crochetted square.

Now this one is interesting:  Wei-Ching Poon sent us a pair of mittens all the way from Singapore.  We actually attached your postcard to the item, Wei-Ching, because someone up North is going to get a real kick out of the distance that these mittens travelled.  They are beautiful!

So Brenda Slaughter of Atlanta Georgia set up a group called AT&T Fibre to the world Yarn Club, Atlanta Chapter.  Her gang put together a bunch of slippers for us this year.  Thanks very much AT&T.

And here is Marie-Claude (Claudette) of Ottawa.  Claudette I don't know how you do it.  I've shipped a bunch of your blankets up with the doctors already.  THese are wonderful - thank you for being so prolific.  We distributed your stuff among several boxes.

Hats by Marie-Claude

Neckwarmers by Marie-Claude

Scarves by Marie-Claude

Socks by Marie-Claude...

...And finally mittens, by, guess who?
Okay you're correct: its Marie-Claude.

Jacquie (JCL on Ravelry) sent us these great socks.  Jacquie thank you: I have a soft spot for the socks because not all kids have boots and each kid needs multiple pairs of socks.

This mittens are also from JCL

This photograph does not do the sweater justice.  Thanks Jacquie!

The ladies of packing night posing with some of Jeanine's gorgeous and soft warm blankets.  Apparently the purple yarn has a story to it - mixed with the cream coloured yarn, it looked amazing.

See???  Purple and cream is my new favorite colour combo

Carlene holding one of Jeanine's blankets.

Amy holding one of Jeanine's woven blankets - soooo soft.  But Amy does not look happy...

OK now she's happy.

Jeanine made a bunch of lovely thick lopi vests for children.

...along with this sweater....

And the Jeanine mountain of socks is right here.

Janet (Bus13knitter) of New Brunswick, has been with us since almost the beginning and is also a huge contributor  to the ravelry discussion group.  Janet these mittens will make some little ones very warm and happy.

More from Janet - my favorite here was the pair of purple socks.  Hmm, I may be in a bit of a purple state of mind.

Okay there was no name with these ones, but I have a note that says "Army Girl" - what does that mean????

Rav name REJ of Ottawa - the mittens are very much appreciated but I have to tell you that we each took a turn modelling the shawl.  Maybe that's why it takes awhile to pack, but its fun fun fun.

suzanneknitter on Rav (Suzanne) has become a dear friend - girl I really look forward to us getting together  to pack, and catch up.  You make me laugh each time.  I took a closeup of the socks below so that you could see every stitch.  They are very intricate.

So when we pack, first we sort by category.  This is the sock pile.  You can see the boxes opened and ready to go in the back.

These are the mittens.

And here are the hats.  We actually had to get more tables up from the basement to get everything stacked.

In the end, I would guesstimate that we packed about 300 pounds for the following groups:

1. We're going to send up to a daycare in Rankin Inlet (katajuak) - they also run the safe house, so we will also be furnishing them with some adult clothing.

2. We're going to send up to the Children's First Society in Inuvik - this is our first time with them.

3. We're going to ship to Gjoa Haven - I have a soft spot for Hannah (our community lead there) - she sends us lovely bits of news from the community which we post here and on Ravelry.

4. We are going to be shipping boxes with physicians who travel each month to Nunnavut.  The doctors take a box with them, which goes to the clinic, where a lovely nurse who has lived in the community for several years finds each piece an appreciative home - either via the nursery, or paediatrics unit, elder care or home care programs.  This means that we'll be shipping more frequently so if you've got stuff and want it to go up sooner than our deadlines, please feel free to get it to us, and we'll include it in a doctor's box.

We were also lucky enough to be able to ship boots up this year through your generous contributions.  Its been a banner year for Warm Hands - new communities, new contributors, the book project - its all good, 'cause you're all so good.  

Ahhhh September

Ahhhhh September - my favourite month of the year:  those last kisses of summer (mwah!) are so appreciated, plus its an excuse to pull out the fabulous woolies.  And by woolies, I mean your beautiful things.  So here is a chronicle of what came in over the last couple of weeks.

Just to let you know, we've had 3 big boxes going up with the physicians travelling North.  Next week, I'm putting together yet another box to go up with a great ENT named Ryan: its a bag of your infant sized stuff + blankets for the nursery.

Thank you, and roll tape....

First, its Marnie MacGregor Mooy of Aurora Ontario.  Thanks Marnie!

Can you tell that I was starting to practice with the camera again?  Sheri Roy of Liverpool, NS, I titled this one "lost of socks, then hats.

Bonnie Belanger of Ottawa, ON, the purple blanket is super-cosy.  Can you see the tiny tuque peaking out in front of the sun?

Vixen Von Tiki of Prince Albert, SK, I have to say that you are our first every contributor of knitted bibs (folks can you spot them?  There are 3 in this picture).  I'm sure they will be well loved and appreciated.

Lettuce Knits had a Stitch-a-Thon in their store for us this year.  Adrianna Cho of Etobicoke Ontario, Sylvie Gagne (store owner) and Brenna MacDonald, please extend my thank you to all of your knitters for the items above and below.  The green blanket is going to Nunnavut via an ENT physician next weekend.

Ok this picture is upside down but you get the idea.  M Roccotane of St Creek, ON, my favorite items are the grey and white socks.  The size is perfect for a teenager and they are so cozy.

Deb Jensen (lutemama on rav) of Brier, WA sent us 16 hats of various sizes, each one unique.  Thank you!

And to accompany those hats are about 5000 socks from Kathleen Walling (Kathleen01) of Bedford, NS.  Kathleen, I think that these will go to Gjoa Haven where they seem to very much appreciate the warm socks we send up.

Janet of Oakville Ontario (Hobbygirl on Rav) knit us these six hats, which she mentioned that she tried on herself for size.  Ok, I tried them on too.

And here are 2 blankets from the Indian community here in Ottawa.  A group of older women get together and stitch up squares.

Susan Kiely-Smith (SWISH on Ravelry) of Wpg MB sent us a bunch of stuff.  Susan, I only took the penguin and the 2 hats below out of the packages because they were so perfectly organized.  The penguin is ridiculously adorable and sat on my deck just out of reach of my monster beagle who eyed it hungrily.

2 Swish Hats

I love my friend Margaret Lavictoire.  She is smart and kind and a knitter.  Margaret has taken the lead in sending books up to Moose Factory.  She is incredible - talking to our local libraries, girl guide troops, whoever she can find about getting the right books to the right kids.   This year she sent up 10 boxes for a summer reading camp program.   M, your baby booties are also in a box to go to Nunnavut.

Socks, hats and mittens.  Suzanne, do you know who these came from?  Can you give me a hint?

Two gorgeous crochetted blankets  and a neckwarmer from Plentimaw Fish of Waterloo Ontario.

Plentimaw Fish, more hats from you which will go onto some sweet northern heads!

Margaret Bradford of Ottawa, ON knitted these hats.  Look at them closely: each one has a little doodad appliqué
or doodad crochet on it.  Margaret, I am also procuring a pair of boots with your contribution - thank you!

And this sweet stripey blanket is also going into the clinic box this weekend.