Recap: Knitting for Munich!!!
Hello Dear Knitters!
This blog post has been a long time in the writing. Frankly, you all took my breath away with the fierce power of your needles at a great time of need. I am happy to announce that within three short months you knit and I shipped over 1,000 hats/mittens/scarves/cowls and socks to warm the Syrian refugees as they entered their first winter in Germany.
As Andrea in Miesbach received all our knitted pieces it took her a bit of time to come up with a plan for distribution... but she got lucky the day her boss came into her office and saw a box of hats and asked what they were for! When she explained, he quickly sprung into action and helped her get the word out about the project.... since that day in November Knitting for Munich has gotten press in papers, TV, and radio around Germany. What a thrill to see all your work being appreciated and worn!
On a personal note, as an American, I have been underwhelmed by the response of our public to the Syrian crisis. You knitters restored hope for me, and helped remind me that the "loud" voices are not necessarily the majority. You let your needles do the talking, and I couldn't be more proud!
Rosy Bijou did an excellent job of cataloging the press Knitting for Munich received AND translating whenever possible! Thankyou for taking the time to do this Kerry... since my German skills are pretty much non-existent having a resource like you created is FANTASTIC!
If you want to maybe see one of your items being gifted I would suggest watching this RTL video or this excellent ARD show. They are both so well shot that you'll understand the story even if you don't speak a word of German : )!
The need for knitted items is far from over, and I'm happy to say that European knitters have found out about our effort and have put their needles to work. So, if you are based in Europe, head over to Andrea's group on Ravelry to find out more about donating. It isn't financially feasible to keep shipping over seas, and with our 1,000 items sent we have managed to gift every refugee in Andrea's county of Miesbach a lovingly knitted item, which was our goal!
If you are on this side of the pond and want to continue to use your needles for good I've found a few projects that are well established and could use donations:
25000 Tuques (Canada)
1000 Stitches for Syria (Canada)
Kind Canada (Canada)
Knit Your Bit (US)
Hats and More for Worn Torn Syria (US)
A ginormous, huge, completely awe-struck THANK YOU from myself and the Knitting for Munich team!
Laura, Andrea, Jennifer, Kelly and Bella
p.s. the lack of photos in the post is distressing to my image driven sensibilities, but I don't want to single out any one or two knitters by highlighting their contribution and not showing others. We did this as a team! GO TEAM!
(but if you want to see photos, just scroll through my Ravelry group, Andrea's Ravelry group, and the links on Kelly's page)
This blog post has been a long time in the writing. Frankly, you all took my breath away with the fierce power of your needles at a great time of need. I am happy to announce that within three short months you knit and I shipped over 1,000 hats/mittens/scarves/cowls and socks to warm the Syrian refugees as they entered their first winter in Germany.
As Andrea in Miesbach received all our knitted pieces it took her a bit of time to come up with a plan for distribution... but she got lucky the day her boss came into her office and saw a box of hats and asked what they were for! When she explained, he quickly sprung into action and helped her get the word out about the project.... since that day in November Knitting for Munich has gotten press in papers, TV, and radio around Germany. What a thrill to see all your work being appreciated and worn!
On a personal note, as an American, I have been underwhelmed by the response of our public to the Syrian crisis. You knitters restored hope for me, and helped remind me that the "loud" voices are not necessarily the majority. You let your needles do the talking, and I couldn't be more proud!
Rosy Bijou did an excellent job of cataloging the press Knitting for Munich received AND translating whenever possible! Thankyou for taking the time to do this Kerry... since my German skills are pretty much non-existent having a resource like you created is FANTASTIC!
If you want to maybe see one of your items being gifted I would suggest watching this RTL video or this excellent ARD show. They are both so well shot that you'll understand the story even if you don't speak a word of German : )!
The need for knitted items is far from over, and I'm happy to say that European knitters have found out about our effort and have put their needles to work. So, if you are based in Europe, head over to Andrea's group on Ravelry to find out more about donating. It isn't financially feasible to keep shipping over seas, and with our 1,000 items sent we have managed to gift every refugee in Andrea's county of Miesbach a lovingly knitted item, which was our goal!
If you are on this side of the pond and want to continue to use your needles for good I've found a few projects that are well established and could use donations:
25000 Tuques (Canada)
1000 Stitches for Syria (Canada)
Kind Canada (Canada)
Knit Your Bit (US)
Hats and More for Worn Torn Syria (US)
A ginormous, huge, completely awe-struck THANK YOU from myself and the Knitting for Munich team!
Laura, Andrea, Jennifer, Kelly and Bella
p.s. the lack of photos in the post is distressing to my image driven sensibilities, but I don't want to single out any one or two knitters by highlighting their contribution and not showing others. We did this as a team! GO TEAM!
(but if you want to see photos, just scroll through my Ravelry group, Andrea's Ravelry group, and the links on Kelly's page)
Love this post and love all the knitter's work.
ReplyDeleteHow fantastic! What a great post and what awesome knitters!
ReplyDeleteThank you all wonderful and generous knitters and Thank you Laura for making it happen together with Jennifer, Kelly and Bella!
ReplyDeleteAll knitted items were highly appreciated and are worn with pride that people overseas care!
Andrea
Oh, Laura, what a wonderful recap! It was a priveledge to be associated with this project -- I am in awe of what Andrea, Jennifer, Kelly, Bella and you accomplished in these few short months.
ReplyDelete(And thanks so much for the shout-out!)
--Kerry
Dear Laura, it's really a privilege to know you. Loved helping with two bits on this beautiful project.
ReplyDeleteGreta
Thank you for doing this, and sharing with us.
ReplyDelete