Clark County's First Annual Knit-In!

Caring Caps Logo
Design By: Hannah Leedy

On October 20^th, 2012, Clark County’s first annual Knit-In took place at the Clark County Public, or CCPL – and you missed out if you weren’t there. It was located in library’s small conference room, and was scheduled to be from 10 AM to 2 PM. People as young as six months old, to those far beyond showed up with eager hands and hearts. Some came to engage in a favorite hobby, and some to learn a new one. Regardless of their experiences and skill-levels with knitting and crocheting, everybody there wanted to knit or crochet so they could use their skill to help others. Lasting an hour past its predicted run-time, the Knit-In continued as we all got lost in the food, clicking hooks and needles, and connecting words being shared. We laughed, munched muffins, cookies, and brownies, and excitedly progressed on our projects. Many people stopped by and contributed to the event, each in their own fashion. One woman told us that she didn’t want to learn loom-knitting – she wanted “to be one of those grandmas sittin’ on the front porch, clickin’ away with her needles and yellin’ at the kids to STOP!” She couldn’t stay for lessons that day, but gave us her contact information, and left with a desire to learn something new. A donation for supplies was made, and one of the CCPL staff popped in on us to see what was really going on. Within a few minutes, she was laughing and smiling with the rest of us.

Yet, far more powerful than hours of knitting and crocheting were the words exchanged; stories of past struggles, tales of blissful friendships, and, most of all, varied accounts that motivated these people to help others swirled about the room. These people are the proof that when one person sees or hears about another person who is struggling, they do not wish to sit idly by; they want to help.

Caring Caps is still continuing its original mission, and, for those who want to help, there are still plenty of opportunities. You can contact me to schedule a knitting or crocheting class, donate to the project, either monetarily, or by purchasing supplies for someone who cannot afford them by their own means; create and donate a handmade-gift independently; request a list of needed items for the Clark County Homeless Coalition and Clark County Community Services; or donate food, clothing, toys, or other needed items. Most of all, though, we must each take it upon ourselves to absorb the realities of those in our community who are entrenched in need and struggle, and to, then, find our own ways to improve their situations.   

How Do You Measure Love?

It's an age-old question that has been asked in many different forms. RENT, the Broadway musical went as far as writing a song to ask and answer it. I'm going to borrow a page from their book: How do you measure love?
In Caring Caps' case, love is beginning to find measure throughout the community. Two knitting groups are actively making projects, and are exponentially increasing their donations in number. A week ago, fifteen projects had been completed from all of the groups and participants; as of yesterday  - exactly one week later - twenty-four projects have been finished! A third group has signed up for knitting lessons, and I will be teaching them in November. Yarn donations are being provided and volunteers are springing up and committing themselves to helping with next Saturday's knit-in. A talented friend of mine is even designing a logo for Caring Caps. People of all walks of life are finding a connection to this project, and discovering a way that they can be a part of it.
The question now becomes, not, "How do you measure love," but "How will you give love?" 

Recent years have brought varied struggles to all of us, as humans and as American citizens, but they have been especially hostile to those without adequate resources. The winter holidays can leave them feeling forgotten if we do nothing to alter their circumstances. There are boundless opportunities to improve others’ quality of life. My contribution is starting, Caring Caps, an on-going program that warms the holidays by producing handcrafted items that will be distributed through Operation Happiness.

To generate excitement about Caring Caps, the Clark County library has been gracious enough to act as host to the first annual Clark County Knit-In.. There will be food and refreshments, knitters and crocheters scattered about the library, instructions for yarn-crafted projects, and informative pieces about local service organizations.

Tell everyone you know about the Knit-In - and show up!

Progress!!

I have a friend for whom words and oxygen are in constant competition. On a daily basis, I'm always trying to drag her out of the lunch room so that we won't be late for French. I reiterate to her, "Forward motion is a wonderful thing."

I'm truly excited to say that while my friend is still working on the idea of "forward motion," Caring Caps seems to have captured it in the blink of an eye! People are finding various ways to participate in it: A local group of yarn-crafters have committed themselves to either knitting or crocheting for two hours every Friday. On September 28th, we had the first finished project of the group, and it was magical. As this was the woman's first project, there were mistakes that she had made. Although no one else would know about them, she had deemed those tiny displays of non-uniformity as just enough cause to keep her first project for herself. Yet, as my mom and packed up our supplies to go home, I noticed the woman's child-like glee as she tried on her steel blue cowl. I didn't stop to praise the incredibly fast forward "motion that" she had made for the umpteenth time; I let her bask in the moment that was warm like summer sunshine that drips and permeates slowly into your skin, and quietly slipped out behind my mother.

Countless others are weaving themselves into the fabric of Caring Caps, and each person is bringing something dazzlingly unable to be duplicated. Parents of my friends have offered to help cover costs of yarn and needles, and members of the Brooks Place Knitters have agreed to help add to the number of donations. Loads of help in the schematics of Caring Caps is coming in, too. Several staff at the Clark County Public Library are helping me with advertising ideas, blocking off time to use a room, and fixing technical errors and problems. The team is growing, but it's missing someone: You.

Current Donations

                                 This is a picture of the donations that have been made so far!

Beginnings

An overwhelming mass of people live without the slightest consideration of the effects their life will leave, or without allowing those thoughts to change their actions. I am fifteen years old, and can't say I've done anything that has been world-shattering or mind-blowing. Some may say that kind of existence is normal. Settling for normality has never been like me, though, and that's one thing that is not going to change.
These are the kinds of thoughts and ponderings that have lead me to begin Caring Caps, my Girl Scout Gold Award Project. Caring Caps is an acronym for Citizens Answer Real Issues Giving Care And Personal Security. I have designed this project to address homelessness and poverty in my community, as well as to educate the public about these issues. Through Caring Caps, people are to knit and crochet items for donation to Operation Happiness, a winter holiday service program. People in need will be appreciative of store-bought gifts, which may be necessary to their survival; they will be shocked and captivated by the gesture of handmade gifts filled with time, love, and compassion. Winter holidays can be especially tough for those who are impoverished or homeless. While the season can be filled with giving, it can also be an inundation of commercialism, and being forgotten, as those who have helped them return to their families, consumed by the hustle and bustle of holiday traditions - and the chaotic, whirlwind that is life. Thus, such a seemingly insignificant action, like giving a handmade item, can instill in someone that there are people who care about them, and are working to make their lives better. For these reasons, I am teaching knitting and crocheting classes at the Clark County library in Winchester, Kentucky. It is my hope that participants in the classes and in the overall project will explore the art of  knitting and crocheting to share with others.  More importantly, I hope that with information about the plight of the homeless and impoverished around us, that each person will have a mindset of resurgent change, aid, and action. This is project that is just taking flight -it's in its baby stage, if you will. In order for it to be successful, it needs people. So get involved, and tell everyone you know about it! If you do, the extension of its benefits could be endless.
I may not change the world in such a world-renowned fashion that my name echoes the history books - or blog pages - for eons to come, but if I can change the life of just one person for the better, then I cannot find a reason to be unsatisfied; if every person looks deep enough within themselves, I believe they will find the same thing to be true, too.

Blog-In-Progress

This blog is under construction! Stay tuned! :)