June 2024 Newsletter

In This Issue...

Note from the ED
Community Member of the Month
Series: Consistency is Key
Most Needed Items

DRUM ROLL PLEASE.......

INTRODUCING THE NEW CREATE-A-THON LOGO!!!!

I want to start this month's newsletter off by announcing the dates of the 2024 Create-A-Thon! This year, our BIGGEST fundraising event will be held August 5-25 and will have more FREE community events than ever before. These will include a Peace Pal workshop, Ravelry 101, a kickoff event, and much more! You can register for those virtual events NOW by going HERE.

As you can see from the image above, we have rebranded the logo for the Create-A-Thon. Here at K4P HQ we always refer to the event as CAT. Then, in a meeting, a lightbulb went off...CAT! Cats and yarn! So, this year we will have an updated logo that stays in the beautiful Art Nouveau style and will be on new merchandise.

Our goal for the 2024 CAT is $6,000, so now is the time to start rallying your Pods, prepping your yarn stash, and clearing your schedule. We need to raise funds to continue our mission AND refill our storage unit for the cold weather.

Over the past 2 years of the CAT, you have helped us provide for the vulnerable of our community and you have always helped us surpass the fundraising goal. Can we do it again? I absolutely think so! Stay tuned for more about the Create-A-Thon in July and on our social pages!

In an effort to show how incredibly important our work is and why fundraising is essential, I am including a letter we received from a Chaplain who recently took a delivery to Nepal. We are all changing lives with each stitch.

To the kind folks at Knitting for Peace,

I want to express my gratitude for your kindness in making and sharing knitted offerings with the world. My colleague Elizabeth, who is a chaplain at Denver Health, reached out to me to see if I would take a bag of knitted scarves, hats and dolls to Nepal to give away while I was on Pilgrimage to some holy sites. One of the home-base places I stayed was a town called Pharping in Dakshinkali province. Right next to the the center where I was staying called Shijay Dargye Ling, there is an orphanage. The children there received the hats and dolls, while a group of young Nepali girls received the scarves. They were delighted, and thankful. You made their day. I regret not having pictures taken, I am not the best at that. What I can relay is that they all had huge smiles on their faces as they received them.

My thanks for all of those people who contribute to your cause, I hope they all get to know the joy you bring others through this work.

Community Partner of the Month: Emilie Odeile and Ken Chapin

Emilie Odeile and Ken Chapin are truly unique individuals who have made a big impact in the small Colorado town of Trinidad, as well as in numerous surrounding communities. Emilie is a professional knitter who once had a studio in Hollywood and used to work with the film industry. While looking for giant knitting needles, she stumbled across Ken’s Etsy store. Ken had started making knitting needles from sizes 19-100 as a design challenge. He was able to provide Emilie with the appropriate size and that was the beginning of a long-term creative partnership!

Connecting with knitting groups was an important part of their “Frog” art installation, dedicated to what knitters will recognize as the frogging that takes place for all knitters and crocheters. That is when they connected with Knitting4Peace and learned of K4P’s mission. Emilie and Ken quickly realized that K4P might help to meet critical needs for warm knitted items in southern Colorado communities and they soon became K4P Delivery Agents. The couple regularly delivers knitted items to the local nursing home for veterans, to shelters for individuals affected by domestic violence, and they work with HULA, a local group serving families with infants and young children. Each fall they hold an annual “Knitwear giveaway” event in Trinidad and are able to share hats, scarves, mittens, shawls, and blankets. In addition to providing much needed warmth, Ken and Emilie believe that people have a special relationship to fiber that is different from other mediums. They see knitwear as art and, as part of everyone’s life, it provides a tactile familiarity that is so comforting and important.

In 2023, Emilie realized a long-held dream by creating a very special, fully knitted, larger than life art installation of the familiar children’s book Goodnight Moon.

Learn more about their Goodnight Moon exhibit by going HERE.

This well-received exhibit in Trinidad’s Space to Create brought in over 750 young children on field trips from across rural Colorado. An important part of the trip was the Peace Pals they were able to share, which brought “indescribable joy” to children who have so very little. They now see these same young children proudly carrying their new Pals around town. A special memory was a grandfather with dementia who also found a special Pal. Emilie and Ken say the Peace Pals have served as a bridge to so many and describe them as “little bundles of magic.” To see the knitted installation up close and hear Goodnight Moon read by 6-year-old Jett, go to https://youtu.be/8MSNUH2PPB8?si=FkmBbdSETyf4icfG

The couple believes that without Knitting4Peace, many southern Colorado families would simply not have access to warm hats, mittens, scarves, shawls, and lap blankets to get them through the cold Colorado winters. As a knitter herself, Emilie says she is particularly appreciative of the “insane amount of work, time, money, and energy” donated by K4P makers and is grateful they can help get items into the hands of those most in need. For more information on Ken and Emilie’s work, check out this special Apple podcast interview by visiting the link below!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/play-episode/id1488280246?i=1000610821088 ).

We receive many requests for infant items and are grateful to you for helping to meet this need.

Please do NOT send in any preemie items as we are unable to distribute the smallest sizes.

Infant hats must have a circumference of 13” or larger. Hats up to 18” circumference are worn by children younger than age 3. We love seeing all the fun colors you use!

Booties may be made out of any soft and washable yarn and should be 3” or longer from heel to toe. Please use a piece of yarn to tie pairs together. Do not use safety pins as these must be removed.

Infant blankets must be at least 26” by 26”. Please do not send any blankets that are smaller than 26” on the shortest side. Avoid making blankets that are lacey or have holes as tiny fingers, toes, or IV tubes may get caught in them.

Animal hair can be a health risk, especially for infants and young children so please make sure there are no hairs on any item you send us.

Infant hats, blankets, & booties

Thanks to your generosity and quick response, we were once again able to fully meet the requests for small (26” minimum) infant blankets we received in early June!

The requests for infant hats, blankets, and booties are constant so we always welcome these items and can definitely use more. Just a reminder that even though we focus on specific items each month, we do welcome any of the handmade items that meet requests by our Community Partners as listed on the K4P website HERE. Thank you!

Please note:

Our donation intake is run solely by volunteers. Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to immediately acknowledge each package as it arrives. Remember, you can always track your package with your carrier.

Remember, mailing costs qualify as tax-deductible nonprofit donations. Keep your receipts!

Due to a lack of storage, K4P cannot accept yarn donations unless they are new and still in the original wrapper.

Thank you for understanding.

Mail or bring items to: 2600 N. Leyden St., Denver, CO 80207

Drop-Off hours: Monday through Thursday, 9am-12pm

The church is no longer staffed by an assistant so please be sure to go during the timeframe mentioned above.

Ring the doorbell and you will be let into the church to drop off your items.

EACH mailed box or dropped-off bag must include a note with the DATE, NAME, MAILING ADDRESS, E-MAIL, AND PEACE POD.

Who’s interested in getting on Board?

K4P is looking for dedicated individuals to join our Board of Directors. Use your knowledge, expertise, and love of crafting to help fulfill our mission and shape the future of K4P. Our expectations are simple. K4P Board members –

Commit to a two-year term.

Attend quarterly Board meetings.

Participate in strategic planning and committee work.

Publicly support the work of K4P in the community.

For more information, please email: chair@knitting4peace.org

HAVE A QUESTION ON HOW TO MAKE SOMETHING? ASK ARNA!