Knitting and Crocheting For Our Troops K40T Marathon

[birdlady1]

The Mile High City (Denver, Colorado) pledges to knit 5,280 hats for our deserving service men and women abroad. (Why 5,280 hats? Because Denver is 5,280 feet above sea level.)

 

Though we all have differing opinions about war, we’re not conflicted about our soldiers – who stand up for our country everyday. Knitting for Our Troops (K4OT) is a great way to say how much we care for our service men and women – and your donation will mean a lot to a soldier far away from home.

26.5 hours of knitting and fun to warm up our soldiers! Denver Public Library’s Fresh City Life presents a “Knitting for Our Troops” marathon that will run from 3:30 p.m. on January 23 to 6 p.m. on January 24. Yes, it’s 26.5 hours long. No, you don’t have to knit for 26.5 hours! At locations all over the city and state there will be gatherings of knitters making hats to donate to the USO. All hats made for this project will be delivered to a soldier stationed on or leaving for overseas duty. Knitting for Our Troops is a project founded in Denver to put warm helmet liners and hats on the heads of brave soldiers.

Fresh City Life is partnering with the Rocky Mountain USO (United Service Organizations) to create knitted items for care packages that will be delivered to our service men and women overseas. Our current project, adapted from a full helmet liner pattern (military regulation), is designed for use under a helmet during cold nights on duty. It’s a great cap to wear when a soldier has off-duty time as well.

It’s easy to join the project: just knit a cap or two (or three or many) and deliver them to the Fresh City Life office in the Central Library (Fresh City Life is located on Level One, west entrance) and we’ll bundle them up and deliver them to the Rocky Mountain USO, for overseas delivery.

Our Goal – Knit 5280 hats for soldiers by January 24

Your Goal – Knit as many hats as you can between now and January 24. You’ll be entered in a drawing for great prizes for every hat delivered to a marathon site on the days of the marathon.

Your Marching Orders – Pick a spot to knit from the locations below and come and hang out for the morning, the afternoon or all day! Times for each site vary. Though walk-ins are welcome, most sites have capacity limitations, so reservations are encouraged.

 

Look at this link to find your closest site: http://denverlibrary.org/programs/fresh/knitting.html. Fresh City Life and the Denver Public Library welcome participants from all over the country to participate. If a knitting group or yarn store or service/church organization would like to participate, please contact Chris Loffelmacher at cloffel@denverlibrary.org or call 720-865-1205.

 

 

What happens to the hats?

 

Each location will collect finished hats and method of delivery to the Denver Public Library will be determined. Once delivered to the Denver Public Library, the hats will be counted, photographed and delivered to the Rocky Mountain USO for distribution. Finished hats may be delivered any time starting now (and even after the marathon end time) to:

Chris Loffelmacher

C/O Fresh City Life

The Denver Public Library

10 W. 14th Ave. Pkwy.

Denver, CO 80204

 

Finished hats may also be delivered to any branch of the Denver Public Library. They will be shipped to the Central Library for delivery to the USO.

Drawing: Each hat delivered to a marathon site during the site hours will be exchanged for a drawing ticket for fabulous prizes. Winners will be contacted by phone or e-mail on Monday, January 26.

How to participate: Register online for sites and times that require registration. All events are free and open to the public, however some sites have limited seating and will impose a set number of participants. Registration for these sites will allow us to reroute people away from overbooked sites.

Materials: Knitters are responsible for purchase of their own materials. Pick up a Knitting for Our Troops pin at the Fresh City Life office (or call 720-865-1205) and you can show your pin at the following locations for discounts on materials used for the project.

Stores offering discounts for Knitting for Our Troops Knitters:

Showers of Flowers Yarn Shop

Fancy Tiger

LambShoppe

Can't knit, but you'd like to contribute?

 

Any donations will be used to purchase yarn for knitters who need assistance in purchasing materials. Checks may be made payable to DPLFF. That's the Denver Public Library Friends Foundation; they'll purchase yarn for scholarship knitters. For more info on how to donate, please e-mail cloffel@denverlibrary.org or call 720-865-1205.

[YarnThing]

Hi, I just wanted to jump on here and let everybody know that Knit Knack in Olde Town Arvada is hosting this event as well! Call and sign up to have a seat and receive a free ball of yarn to make a hat and any yarn purchased for a hat is 15% off!

 

http://knitknack.org

 

xoxoxox