It’s finally getting cooler in our area and we’re all itching to get our needles busy with warm items for others. There’s nothing as good for the heart as giving something to someone else in need that provides both comfort and warmth.

We’ll continue meeting each Sunday afternoon at Hastings Cafe in Norman from 1:30 to 4:00 PM and knit and chat, make warm items for others, and celebrate as we send each parcel off to its destination.

Thanks to each of you for participating and caring for others less fortunate than ourselves.

Your Friend,

Shelly

P.S. I’ve recently completed a child’s size 12 cardigan from Lamb’s Pride Bulky yarn. All I have left to do is add the zipper.

Here’s a copy of a notice from Elizabeth of the CIC Yahoo list for what our knitting efforts will benefit for May and June:

Hi, everyone - quick notes now, details later.
When Kathy delivered the incredible bounty from our Big Kids challenge, the
office was so overwhelmed by your generosity that they begged for mercy!!
So, to give them time to catch their breath, we’re doing this year’s gift to another organization now.

For May and June, we’ll be knitting for the kids (all ages, up to 18) on the
Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. We chose this organization
because, even though there is a Yahoo group and many dedicated knitters
working for these kids, the need is always there. Plus, I know what you make
will get to the right place, and you can check out the web site and the
Yahoo group for lots of information.

As with many of the reservations in the United States, the level of poverty
is almost unbelievable. They desperately need everything from layette items
on up. I’d like to encourage people to make a special effort to knit hats
and mittens or gloves (and yes, scarves too) for the 10- to 18-year-old age
group. Winter in South Dakota is brutal; the gift of a hat and gloves may
make the difference between staying in school and just giving up. For
mittens especially, I choose wool (because it’s warmer), but I don’t believe
the reservation places any restrictions on fiber content - face it, any
mitten is warmer than no mitten!

Here’s the address for the Yahoo group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NativeAmericanSupport/?yguid=136010076

Here’s the address for the sister web site, Helping Hands for Cheyenne
River:

http://helpinghearts0.tripod.com/

I’ll get you addresses for mailing within the week.

One last thing - the reservation has many other needs. I urge everyone to
put one extra thing in the box when you mail your package - a book (used
books in good condition are fine), a box of Band-Aids, a toothbrush and
toothpaste, etc. You can find complete lists on the two web sites I just
mentioned.

Elizabeth in PA

P.S. If, by chance, you already knit for a different reservation, feel free
to continue sending things there and count those items toward our challenge
goal (the number will be announced by the end of this week).

Please take a few minutes to look at the website links above. We will have great fun knitting for this reservation’s needs and be providing warmth for those in a very cold area in our country.

Shelly

while I’m on vacation I’ve started a scarf for the red scarf project for orphans going to college. I needed a small thing to hold in my hands and I’m to a point where I feel comfortable that the project will continue on and be something of value to the recipient. I’m using Angeli’s donated red woolease and making a blanketweave stitch on the diagonal. It’s a bit like making a narrow clapotis without any laddering-I’ve made the beginning triangle and am on the long rectangle path.

Fun!

I’m busy knitting more CIC socks for the big kid’s challenge. I’ll be mailing another box of CIC hand knitted items this Saturday, so if you have any items to add, just let me know. : )

And, if you haven’t yet joined us for knitting on Sunday afternoons from 1:30 - 4 PM at the Hastings Hard Back Cafe, this is what you are missing:

Our focus is charity knitting on Sunday afternoons, but any and all knitting is Welcome. Hastings has been great to us and we always have a good and productive knitting time. I hope to see you there soon!

Shelly

These are the items now in the mail to CIC.

All the items in the large box winging its way to CIC headquarters are pictured. I am overwhelmingly impressed and blessed by the items that each of you have knit for the kids of CIC. In the Eastern European countries that CIC serves, a knitted item represents a mother’s love. What on earth could be better for these kids than the gift of warmth and caring?

Thank you, everyone!

The only item not pictured is a hat that Rosemary made that will be going to Mittens for Akkol. : )

I look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday from 1:30 - 4:00 PM at Hastings in Norman!

Shelly

To all who couldn’t make it to the meeting: We’re sorry we missed you!

Here’s the sweater I finished and turned in yesterday :)

Please see the new page added to our blog listing several charities. While CIC will always be our primary charity that we support, our knitters may support any other knitting charities that they choose, as well.

We have been donated yarn that is less than 50% wool which may be used for other charities. We’ve placed a list of other charities on our *Charities* page HERE. We’ve also listed the website link of each of the charities and their fiber requirements and instructions on how to search for other charities that need knitted items.

Shelly

finally finished my vest, I hope in time for the package Shelly is mailing this weekend.

We met yesterday at Hastings for some CareWool and knitting fun! We had a good turnout for our meeting and the location was great. The visiting and knitting was excellent quality time with friends with a common hobby and purpose.

We had several people stop by and talk with us, ask about our group, and look over our items in our box to be sent soon to CIC. We also signed up a new group member while there!

Here are some pictures to enjoy:

Notice our box of knitted items in the photo above. : )

And….

I’ve been thrilled at everyone’s common interest in charity knitting! The more meetings and get-together times that everyone decides to have for charity and knitting, the better!

See you next Sunday at Hastings!

Shelly

For those that weren’t there, I wanted to say that we had an excellent first “official” meeting today at Hastings in Norman, Oklahoma.

I only took one photo but I know I wasn’t the only one with a camera. ;)

The cafe (Hardback) in Hastings has proven to be a lovely place to knit, complete with a hearth. It seems that they like us, as they went out of their way to gather tables for the group. We’ll be meeting there from now on, Sundays at 1:30. I hope to see everyone there next week, and many more!