Crafting for Chapters "Love of Reading" program.

One of the great things about having a blog is that it can get the word out about some pretty wonderful work, events and people in the community. Here are a couple of things that might be of interest to you.


Chapters in Kingston is planning some fun things for their 10th anniversary celebration, including - as mentioned in the previous post - welcoming Stephanie Pearl-McPhee on June 4th at 6pm (yes, it is at the Chapters Store in the West end of Princess St. ) To go along with Stephanie's presentation, on the crafting theme, they are also planning a Craft Sale, which will last all day on June 4th. The proceeds from the sale are to benefit Chapters/Indigo's "Love of Reading Program" (link at http://www.loveofreading.org/ to find out more about this great effort.)



I told the organizers that I would post a request here to appeal to all of our amazing crafters in K-town who may be willing to donate some craft items to this worthy cause. They are looking for any type of handmade craft that can be sold on that day. Do you have some mittens that are hanging around waiting for next year's Mitten Tree? Have you got time to whip up a pair of slippers or a hat before June 4th? What about a stash of fashion scarves that you've made because you can't resist the yarn but have run out of recipients for them? Check out our free patterns at http://www.wtkpatterns.blogspot.com/ for some ideas for quick projects.

All donations can be dropped from Monday to Friday at the Chapters Store, with a note clearly addressed to "Pam - craft donation", or you can bring it to the WOOL-TYME Kingston store on Gardiners Rd anytime before June 3rd and Pam will pick it up there.

The other news that I wanted to share with you is from the Get Well Gang in Gananoque, with whom we've been affiliated since they began making and distributing knitted and crocheted hats for chemo patients. Gretchen Huntley, the main force behind the whole operation, was in a couple of weeks ago and was telling us that they have now passed the 9 000 hats mark in just a few years. That obviously shows an amazing amount of dedication on the part of many people.

Link at http://getwellgang.ca/ourstory.asp to find out more.

You may remember that we had a visit at the WOOL-TYME Kingston store from some of the members of the Montreal Knitting Guild a few weeks ago. I received a lovely thank you card from them that showed the afghan to the right. It was called Claire's Memory Afghan and was made as a charity project by the guild in memory of Claire Bennett who died of breast cancer in 2003.

The afghan cosisted of 347 different sized rectangles, all knitted with vegetable dyed Australian merino wool. It took 5,200 meters of yarn and 342,000 stitches to complete.

The afghan also required over 250 hours of finishing and assembly, not counting the 6 months that it took to pick up and knit the border stitches. The final step was the Indian silk backing that was applied.

Now that is a mega-project. Although they sent me a great informational description of the afghan, I never heard what they did with it. I can only hope that it has found a home among deserving admirers.