KasSnippets will replace the KasNEWS which was introduced earlier this year, and, will be a condensed edition of news and information updates, which we hope will prove helpful for members who are unable to visit the Forum regularly, but would like to be kept in the loop!
The Moderator Team will gather information to share each month.
The recent Square Circle Video ezine has generated a considerable amount of excitement and goodwill. Lead by the USA Group, there is a fund- raising move towards purchasing a KasWagon (temporary name I assure you) so that Ronda is able to transport the blankets and reach further distances. However, currently Sandy is on well deserved two-week break and decisions arising from the many questions raised will have to be put on hold until her return. The Moderator Team will do their best to answer some questions, but we will not be able to take decisions on such a vital issue. However, it is wonderful to be able report the level of commitment, passion and care that members have shown in response to the video!
SHIPPING LARGE CONSIGNMENTS TO SOUTH AFRICA
Our first application for an Import Licence has been rejected due to a technical fault, however, we are re-submitting the application. Until we have all the paperwork and instructions regarding the process in place, it is essential that Ronda is contacted first to ensure correct procedure is followed. A wonderful consignment of 450 jumpers recently arrived, but the Bills of Lading etc had been marked 'high value', therefore KAS was presented with a Customs Invoice for £300 ($450) before the goods would be released. Potentially, we might have had to abandon the cargo, but fortunately, a UK member came to the rescue as the KAS South African Bank was virtually empty and awaiting fresh funds!
FREE SHIPPING OFFER FOR SQUARES FROM FLORIDA (USA)
The USA Group has received an amazing offer from The Humble Stitch Project for squares to be posted free if received by December 19th. See Helen's discussion post for all the details.
KAS WISH LIST
Please see Sandy's discussion post regarding Teeny weeny hats and other items in August as we really do not wish to see members wasting their valuable skills and hard earned postal cash. Ronda has sent a photo of a couple of beautifully prepared hats, but they are unlikely to fit even a premature African baby.
Zanny's Sweater news - Carol (UK) is preparing a new pattern as Ronda has requested that this lovely sweater is made for 4 years+. As soon as the pattern is available it will be uploaded on the Website, Forum and a link to it from Facebook.
TALLIES or ITEM COUNT
Squares - Knit-a-Squillion started July 2011 ends December 2012 has reached 213,731.
Hats started January 2012 ends December 2012 total 10,143
Vests & Tops started January 2012 ends December 2012 3,946
Click here for the Current Tally List
DISTRIBUTIONS & BLANKETS
Lorinda Jordaan and her team have stitched together 46 blankets and photographed them, prior to distribution Bushbuckridge which is extremely poor and in which there are large squatter settlements near Sabie River in Mpumalanga Province close the Kruger National Park, about 3.5 hours from Johannesburg. To see if you can spot any of your wonderful squares please go to the Blanket Album and have a good browse.
JBay Recycling Project (Jeffreys Bay - South Africa) received 100 blankets and 250 hats. The Rotary club of Jeffreys Bay and Spirals Studio have started a project over one year ago where children are encouraged to collect, sort and deliver “recyclable junk” to a central point and exchange it for tokens. They can then use the tokens to “shop” in an associated shop for toiletries, food, clothing, school supplies and books.
Not only were that blankets and hats snapped with within a couple of hours, but as a result the members of the Rotary Club have started their own Stitch Witch Group to provide even more blankets!
MONTHLY CHALLENGES
The October Challenge - All about Christmas has been extremely popular with over 5500 views. See also the Flickr Gallery of photos. The November Challenge will be starting in a few days, and will be "In Celebration of the Plain Jane Square".
RED & WHITE HAT CHALLENGE
In June Ronda set us a Wish List Challenge of 600 red & white hats for Kareemah who helped us to get the Jigsaw Clothes Consignment through Customs without any charges! We have already reached hat number 356!
SPREAD-THE-WORD
Jamie's blog - Real Men Knit starts with : Put together twelve pairs of knitting needles, multi-coloured balls of yarn, mugs of hot tea and coffee – and what do you get? A brilliant charity initiative. Known around the world as ‘knit-a-square’ the simple, yet highly impactful project, was started back in 2008.
Posted through Shanghai BEAN Project.
Short Video of our Bagel Breakfast fundraiser at Clear Lake United Methodist Church - Houston (USA) They held a breakfast of baked goods and bagels for donations for postage to send our knitted items to KAS.
New member Eileen Fletcher (UK) created Wokingham Wool Aid a blog to raise awareness of the work of KasCare in the Wokingham district of Surrey in the UK.
Open Day, North Yorkshire (UK) - Knitting for Africa Heidi Brady & Simon Kerswell took part in an Open Day in conjunction with "Carers Resources' on 18th October.
GROUPS
Three new groups have formed recently :
Dutch Knitters unite! - created by Kelly Stooker (The Netherlands)
Knittlestoned - created by Jypsi Mabbott (Australia)
Stitches Witches - created by Gitta Seyfert (South Africa)
SCHOOLS
Forman School Knitting Club Melissa Boyer - CT, USA is an adult sponsor for the Forman School Knitting Club. In this club we are teaching the students how to knit and or crochet.
The number of "Likes" is rapidly heading for 5,000 and currently stands at 4,631! We also copy the messages etc received on Facebook to the Forum if anyone is not a member of FB.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Mary posted this idea on the UK Group page : I recently had a birthday and invited a bunch of friends to dinner and requested wool for KAS knitting instead of presents. It was a very successful wheeze and now have enough wool to keep me going for a month or two!
FINALLY
Our very own Pam Johnson (UK) took part in an amateur theatre production of Calendar Girls and, of course, Pam was chosen to be the knitter and wrapped herself in a blanket made of squares! The production raised £1,345 for Leukaemia Research, and, the blanket is now on its way to South Africa.
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