Stitch Club of Grande Prairie seeking yarn donations following successful 2019-20 clothing run

The Stitch Club has been in operation since 2001 and its membership has expanded over the years. It started initially as just a few people knitting. It is now up to 30 members.

Sawchuk says that with the increase in members over the last number of years, they have been able to make more items for the community.

In 2019 the group made 4,170 items, in 2018 they made 3,300 items and 2017 saw the group make 2,500 items.

Ages of the members of the Stitch Club varies from between 30-95.

When it comes to deciding what to knit, Sawchuk says the club will go to the various groups and charities within the Peace Region and ask each organization what it is they are looking for.

“Last year, we were contacted by the cancer clinic and were asked to make those blankets for when they’re sitting getting their chemo treatments because apparently its really cold when it goes into your arm.”

“They have to sit there from anywhere from an hour to six hours, so they wanted 65 of those blankets to fit them from the chest down to their feet, so we concentrated on that this year. If they tell us what they want, that is what we make.”

The Stitch Club has donated to the following organizations in the past:

Baby’s Best Start
Beaverlodge Family Services
Cancer Hat Tree
Coats for Kids
Elder Care, Friendship Centre
GP Palliative Care Society
Heritage Lodge, Hythe Food Bank
Jail
Neo-Natal unit
Northreach Society
Oasis Mat Program
Odyssey House
Pregnant Care
Pregnant Teens
Red Cross
Ronald McDonald House
Rotary House
Sagitawa Boys and Girls Camp
Salvation Army
Spruce Grove Fire Department
St. Joseph’s Walk-in Ministry
Teen Shelter
White Rose Program-hospital
Wild Rose Lodge
Willow Place

Each item that is knitted takes a different amount of time.

According to Sawchuk, knitting a blanket can take up to 30 hours, while smaller items like scarves and mittens take around a couple of hours.

The group also has a very organized operation on how 8,000 balls of yarn are stored and distributed.

“The supplies are kept at two of the lady’s houses because then if one isn’t around they can call the other one for supplies. A bunch of our ladies are in lodges and they have no room to store anything.”

“When we were getting together, we would just disperse the yarn to them on a weekly basis, but now we can’t. So, they phone me and say, ‘I need six balls of white’ and I just run it over to them. When they’ve made something and want to get out of their room so they can make something else, I go run and pick it up. I store the yarn as well as the finished items in my house.”

Most of the yarn used by the group is collected from either donations or purchased for cheap at garage sales. However, with a growing demand for their items, the group needs Grande Prairie’s help.

It is asking anyone with yarn to please donate it to them, as they will put it to good use.

The group doesn’t have a Facebook page to donate, however, Sawchuk insists that you contact her and some of the other members to reach out about donating yarn.

If you do not have any yarn to donate, Sawchuk recommends that you donate something like a Michaels gift card, so you know that the money is being used to purchase yarn.

You can contact Anne Sawchuk at 780-513-0601 if you’re interested in donating yarn to the group.

by Shane Clausing

Stitch Club of Grande Prairie seeking yarn donations following successful 2019-20 clothing run

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