Generally includes items made to raise money for charitable causes or items donated directly to such causes

A little bit of magic

10 Fri Apr 2015

Posted by soknitsome in Charity, Projects

Tags

AIWCC, American International Women's Club of Cologne, charts, Kieran Foley, knitting, lace, lace patterns, laceweight, Manos del Uruguay, shawls, stole, wrap, yarn

This is MagicWaves by Kieran Foley. He describes it as “A large innovative lace pattern inspired by the rippling surface of the sea”.

blue lace wrap with sea in background

I used Manos del Uruguay Lace yarn. This is a luxurious blend of alpaca, silk and cashmere and it was lovely to knit with. There’s a neat connection between this yarn and its production and the purpose of this project. Manos del Uruguay is a non-profit organisation that brings economic and social opportunities to rural women and this shawl is destined to help more women when it is raffled by the American International Women’s Club of Cologne (AIWCC) to raise funds for local women’s projects.

Depending on the light, you see the waves in the pattern

blue lace wrap with sea in background

or focus more on the blue tones.

blue lace wrap on garden seat blue lace wrap with Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge

Of course, an accessory like this should be worn, too!

blue lace wrap loose over shoulders

Fingers crossed this shawl will live up to its name and work a little magic!

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Twice in one week!

07 Thu Aug 2014

Posted by soknitsome in Charity, Community

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#Pages4Progress, AIWCC, books, FAWCO, literacy, Millenium Development Goals, reading, United Nations

I have been knitting. Honestly, I have!

But unusually for me I’m posting a no-knitting post for the second time in a week. I could wait. But the clock is ticking and this is something I feel strongly about: literacy.

I’m involved with a local project under the auspices of the FAWCO* Education Task Force. One of FAWCO’s main aims is to improve the lives of women and children. While browsing the internet, looking for fund-raising ideas with books, I came across World Education’s #Pages4Progress. #Pages4Progress is World Education’s campaign to raise funds to increase literacy and help meet one of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals: #2 – Achieve Universal Primary Education. The goal is to log 2,000,015 pages by September 8th. The original goal of 20,015 pages logged were sponsored at a dollar a page!

Girl reading

This project appealed to me immediately. It’s so easy to ‘do your bit’. I knew I’d be able to encourage other members of the AIWCC (American International Women’s Club of Cologne), one of the organisations under FAWCO, to log their reading progress.

So now I’m being cheeky and asking all you crafters who like to read, to log the pages you read with #Pages4Progress. It’s a simple action that can make such a difference! Thank you!

*Founded in 1931, FAWCO (the Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas) is an international network of independent volunteer clubs and associations. There are 64 member clubs in 33 countries worldwide, with a total membership of almost 12,000. FAWCO serves as a resource and channel of information among its members, promotes the rights of U.S. citizens overseas; is active as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with special consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council; and contributes to the global community through its Task Forces and The FAWCO Foundation, which provides development grants and education awards. FAWCO and The FAWCO Foundation also collaborate on emergency funding for disaster relief. (Information taken from the FAWCO website)