The Warm Woolley Challenge

 

 

 

 

The Children's Line 

 

      A couple of years ago, I made and donated 20 pairs of children’s mittens to a daycare in the South End of Saint John.  Diane Melanson, a non-knitting neighbour here in Fredericton, heard about my mitten project and wanted to participate in some way.  She offered to donate yarn to my Mitten Project, and this summer 20 skeins of beautiful Briggs and Little yarn were delivered to my door to be made into mittens for cold little hands.  That’s a lot of mittens! 

 

Future Mittens

 

      I have been working away at the stash and I have quite a few pairs completed.   And they all have names. 

 

Kids' Mitts 2014

 

 

      I am running out of my inherited Turnip Tags which I have been using as labels. 

 

Inheritance

      So my Little Brother Noel and I have made some new labels.  Hand-painted, don’t you know. 

Stormy Weather and Lime Time

Lime Rickey; Caution; Raspberry Sherbet; Smoke Rings

 

 

      I would happily share the yarn and the joy of knitting if you would like to get involved in my Mitten Project.  Just let me know, and I will deliver the yarn within a reasonable distance and pick up the finished product for distribution.  You can name them and photograph them if you like, or you could leave that to my naming/photography department. 

 

Baby Paws

 

Baby Pinksters

 

Loose Ends
 

 

      I posted this “challenge” on FaceBook, hoping to snag some knitters who would be willing to join me in knitting for charity.  Of my 404 Facebook friends, I got two and a half bites.  Thank you Susan L. and Marie S.!!  My cousin Susan W. also offered to knit but Halifax was beyond my delivery radius.  Tom, my Advisor-in-General and knitting intern, suggested I need to glam up my appeal. 

 

Advisor-in General and Knitting Intern

 

      He thought I could make it more like the wildly successful Ice Bucket Challenge.

 

 

Ice Bucket

 

      Thus the Warm Woolly Challenge.  Doesn't that does sound more appealing than ice?   I know, the Ice Bucket Challenge takes about 6 minutes to complete---preparing, executing, filming, uploading.  

 

Ice Bucket Challenge

 

      And it takes me about 6 hours to complete a pair of mittens.  BUT, that is six hours of pleasure, of therapy, of creativity, of tactile delight.  Six hours in front of Law and Order, Criminal Minds, Heartland, The Vicar of Dibley, Last Tango in Halifax,  Inspector Lewis, Miss Marple.  Miss Marple even knits and drinks tea from fine china so you would not be alone.  And although it is a worthy cause, what pleasure is there in dumping a bucket of ice over your body? 

 

Miss Marple

 

     And how many hours of warmth and coziness will a child get out of the mittens you may have named after 5 Piggies???

(from left to right)This Little Piggy Went to Market; This Little Piggy Stayed Home; This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef; This Little Piggy Had None; and This Little Piggy went Whee, Whee, Whee, All the Way Home

 

      I realize not all of my FaceBook friends know how to knit mittens, in fact, many do not know how to knit.  So it all comes down to education!  I have a few years of experience in that field, so this week I am starting knitting lessons with 2 of my former high school students who are keen to learn to knit.  And I am keen to spread the joy.  You know that famous quotation about teaching a man to fish? 

 

 

      Give a man a pair of mittens and his hands are warm for the winter.  Teach a man to knit, and his hands are warm for a lifetime.

 

Cary Grant Learning to Knit

 

       One day soon my knitting students, Brittney and Haley,  will be making mittens for cold little hands.

 

Mittens for Cold Little Hands

 

 

     Get mitten-inspired Ravelry Mitten Patterns .   Looking forward to hearing from you!

.....Until next time.....