The Westshore gets a knit night!

Image via WikipediaWe finally managed it! After teaching beginner and sock knitting classes through Westshore Parks & Recreation, there is a demand for a social knit night out here in the Westshore of Victoria. One of my beginner class knitters is an artist with the Coast Collective in Metchosin, and has asked on our behalf if we could use the classroom on Thursday evenings.

So, starting February 3rd, 2011, Thursday evenings 7:00pm ~8:30pm, we'll be knitting at the Coast Collective 3221 Heatherbell Rd - http://www.coastcollective.ca/contacts.html

Hope to see you there!

Hand-made Holidays

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeIn past years, I've done alot of knitting for family gifts, and so saying we're going to do the "Hand-Made Holiday" challenge may not seem like a challenge, but it will be. Our son is just over 5 this year, and asks alot of questions about Santa and his workshop. I think it would be great this year if all the gifts under the tree were hand-made, so he can appreciate the uniqueness of everything AND consider "Santa's elves made this". There's not much time before he'll lose that magic of believing...although if he's anything like his mother (me), he'll believe no matter what :)

So our challenge - is convincing the rest of the family to NOT buy commercial toys, clothing - and instead purchase hand-made. I don't expect the rest of the family to make gifts, but there are certainly plenty of artisans, crafters, holiday craft fairs to purchase unique, one-of-a-kind hand-made items to keep this holiday season traditional and homey.

I'm excited...

A Hug Means so Much

I'm currently knitting some purple hats for Period of Purple Crying. It's a project to raise awareness that no baby should ever be shaken.

So, today, while I'm knitting my son looks at the hats and is quite intrigued. I tell him they are hats for new babies born in the hospital. At first he's worried I'm going to the hospital and I let him know that we (a group of my beginner's knitters and I) are dropping them off at a yarn store and they will take them to the hospital.

"So they are gifts to the new babies so they all get a hat when they are born?"

"Yes, just like you got one when you were born"

He then hugs me and thanks me for knitting hats for the babies.

I can't stop smiling :)