Knit-a-thon 2009

Hokay! Got the skinny on the knit-a-thon pledges and a few other details regarding the knit-a-thon itself:

Knitters can, if they wish, collect pledges from sponsors. "Pledges" meaning a flat $5 or $10 or $however many the sponsor wishes to donate rather than those really awkward 2-cents-per-stitch-knit kinda deals. Any amount is very much appreciated; anyone donating $10 or more will receive a receipt for tax porpoises if they include their name and address on the pledge form. The pledge forms are here - if you're planning to knit and don't mind asking some folks to sponsor you, please download and print yourself a copy and then bring it and your pledges collected on the day.

Monies raised will go toward the Children's Literacy Programs at all branches of the CBRL, including the Summer Reading program, the Storytime program, the After School Library Fun program, and an online Teen Reading program. I gather that the $1200 raised last year was a huge boon to these programs which, although highly valued, are but one piece of the library pie and so can always use some extra support from the community.

If you are not keen to collect pledges, don't let that stop you from participating! We need all the knitters and crocheters we can get to turn the heaps of yarn donated into hats, mitts, scarves and other goodies. As I mentioned before, all knitted and crocheted items donated will be passed on to the Clothe-A-Family charity to be distributed across the island. The yarn has already started coming in to the library branches and if last year's donations are anything to go by it'll take the work of many, many hands to make light work of the knitting to be done!

There will be tea and cider and cookies and lunch and possibly even cake. There will be free patterns for hats, scarves and socks. There will also be a side room where expert knitters can take newbies under wing for some private instruction if they're feeling shy or in need of some seriously quiet concentration. We're also hoping to have a tv set up in there with instructional videos such as Knitting from Start to Finish*ing playing from time to time.

And finally, should Mother Nature throw us another storm of the sort we're getting today, the snow dates for both Sydney and Baddeck is the following Saturday, February 29. If the weather looks dodgy, check the library website, the KnitFit blog or here at HFD for the status on a possible date change.