Sunday, October 20, 2013

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.