Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Project Nepal

I know I have been absent from blog-land lately, and I am not even certain if Ann, Mo, and I have any readers out there anymore. But I am returning with a request for help, and a call to action.

Knitters are generous people, I know. We knit chemo caps for people with cancer, blankets for animal shelters, and prayer shawls for the grieving. We knit for soldiers and veterans, foster children and homeless children. Our sturdy, warm handknits get shipped to all corners of the world where people are cold: Afghanistan, Mongolia, Botswana.

from the ROKPA website

While I hate to take away from any of these other worthy recipients of our generosity, it has been brought to my attention, knitters, that people are also cold in Nepal. I recently received an e-mail from a friend who is involved with an organization called ROKPA which provides services to the homeless and impoverished in Nepal. He shared with me that "many of the homeless people (or even about half) are children who live on the streets or in shanties. During the winter months they are subject to very cold weather and are happy to have something to put on their heads, hands, feet, necks, bodies. The kids need everything from socks (they walk around in flip flops) to wooly hats."

Did you catch that? Homeless kids in Nepal wear flip flops in the winter.

Knitters, I am asking you to contribute something warm and wooly to kids in Nepal this winter. Here are the guidelines if you want to participate:

1. Warm, insulating natural fibers only. Knit for durability, warmth, and of course, beauty.
2. Knit items for kids between the ages of 4-10, whatever size that means to you.
3. The deadline is January 25th.
4. Contact me at lizjosh1ATverizonDOTnet for mailing information.

I am serving as the collection point for this project, and would love to stuff Chris's luggage with socks, hats, scarves, sweaters, shawls, and mittens for the people of Nepal. I know your needles are busy, but if you could spare some time, some stash, and some love for this project, I would so appreciate it. Also, feel free to link on your blog or your favorite corner of Ravelry to help get the word out. I'll be posting here a little more frequently with ideas and patterns, and hopefully, to share photos of whatever knits I receive.

23 comments:

Lori said...

From a lurking subscriber - I'm in! I made this post sending people to you and your project. My current blog is new, I only have 15 subscribers, but every sock helps.

Elinor said...

I'm in! I'll get your contact info when I have something finished! Great idea, Liz!

spiderwomanknits said...

you know i'm in :)

Kirsten said...

I'm in. A hat or two by late January is totatly doable.

nicolina said...

what an amazing idea! nepal is #1 on my list of countries to visit. this is the least we could do for others

savannahchik said...

i'm in too.

i almost didn't ask but, there isn't an issue with things not being superwash, right? i have several hanks of manos that have been sitting in the stash and i think they would make beautiful mittens/scarves/cowls.

Unknown said...

I can whip up some items for you.

Ann said...

I'll have some nice toasty socks and probably some hats! I'm going to try to get the kids to help too. Great idea, Liz!!

Bonnie said...

I will help. You can count on a few things from me.

Christie said...

Absolutely! Would love to knit something!

Bridget said...

Thanks for this post! I had a college friend who spent a year in Nepal, and remember him talking about the brutally cold winters.

Now to do a stash review ...

anne marie in philly said...

you just KNOW your knitting group will pitch in, right? ;-)

Diana L. Sullivan, CPA said...

I'm in! Hate the thought of those little cold ears. I put up a YouTube video this morning showing how to knit a warm child's hat from small amounts of wool sock yarn. If anybody wants to learn machine knitting, I've got a ton of links to videos at my blog diananatters.blogspot.com.

I also put up links to your site so knitters can send you the warm hats.

Got a few knitted, got some sewing to do, and totally enjoying seeing these bits of sock yarn turn into someting good.

tiennie said...

Oh Liz! Now I have to knit something for them! I have a drawerful of knit socks I don't wear. Would they be OK to send too?

Anonymous said...

Looks like you're going to be amazed at how this one post has moved all over the country. I'm in.

marzipanknits said...

I've been making things too---hat and mitten sets. Maybe will move on to some sweaters.
Mar

nova said...

And I was wondering what I would work on after Christmas. Count me in as well.

Shelly said...

I think I can come up with a hat or 2. Thanks for giving us away to help!

Karin said...

I will definitely participate. I am glad I found you, thanks to Bonnie Sennot.
karinmaagtanchakATnycap.rr.com

bathmate said...

So nice your posting.
Everything looks good in your posting.
That will be necessary for all. Thanks for your posting.
Bathmate

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