The Importance of Giving
I was taking my usual morning romp through Blog-Land when I stumbled across an amazing group of knitters!!!! Knit Unto Others is working hard to keep the fire under our feet burning and getting us to knit for our local (and not so local) charities. I think that if you can knit, you've been given a great gift and that you need to share it, even if it is 'just' a pair of mittens here & there.
I was taking my usual morning romp through Blog-Land when I stumbled across an amazing group of knitters!!!! Knit Unto Others is working hard to keep the fire under our feet burning and getting us to knit for our local (and not so local) charities. I think that if you can knit, you've been given a great gift and that you need to share it, even if it is 'just' a pair of mittens here & there.
This KAL is designed to encourage people to knit for others, to keep people warm and to nourish our own souls in this time of over-consumption and rushing-around-edness.
So far, I have 16 pairs of mittens (and 2 hats) knitted and ready to warm some kids' hands (and hopefully, their hearts). My Lanark Kids knitting was put by the wayside as I muddled through some work stuff and other volunteer concerns on the go - I'm back and ready to KNIT!!!
One of my favorite performers, Fred Eaglesmith introduced a charity where people could donate bike reflectors for the migrant workers in Southern Ontario, who often ride their bikes in the dark. Too many people were getting injured because on-coming traffic couldn't see them and Fred decided that he had to do something. Instead of asking for money, he asked that people buy & donate these reflectors so that they could be distributed to whomever needed them. In a recent concert he said, 'how great is that? Charity without money' (ok, well you can donate money too - but that was not what this was about). It just a kind gesture from one human to another. When Fred said that, I had just begun my knitting project and was wondering what I had gotten into - would anybody help? would my paltry effort even make a difference? After hearing that though, I realized that whatever effort we put into making the communities stronger, warmer, more love-filled, it all mattered
So far, I have 16 pairs of mittens (and 2 hats) knitted and ready to warm some kids' hands (and hopefully, their hearts). My Lanark Kids knitting was put by the wayside as I muddled through some work stuff and other volunteer concerns on the go - I'm back and ready to KNIT!!!
One of my favorite performers, Fred Eaglesmith introduced a charity where people could donate bike reflectors for the migrant workers in Southern Ontario, who often ride their bikes in the dark. Too many people were getting injured because on-coming traffic couldn't see them and Fred decided that he had to do something. Instead of asking for money, he asked that people buy & donate these reflectors so that they could be distributed to whomever needed them. In a recent concert he said, 'how great is that? Charity without money' (ok, well you can donate money too - but that was not what this was about). It just a kind gesture from one human to another. When Fred said that, I had just begun my knitting project and was wondering what I had gotten into - would anybody help? would my paltry effort even make a difference? After hearing that though, I realized that whatever effort we put into making the communities stronger, warmer, more love-filled, it all mattered
We may not know each other but we are all interconnected. We all matter. Keep giving - whether knitting, bike reflectors or food to a local food bank - it all adds up and it's all appreciated.
If you have knitted us some mittens, please mail them to us as soon as possible - it's getting nippy up here and I'm sure that there are some very, very cold hands walking to school in the mornings. Please send them to: T. Egan, PO Box 36, Almonte, ON, Canada, K0A1a0 (thank you!!!!)Cheers, Knit unto Others - you truly rock!!!!
