The Call To Action

Good morning, everyone.  I'm so, so proud.  So proud.

Knitters are the best ever at giving.  They just are.  So when the Connecticut school shooting happened, I got an email from examiner.com expressing their sympathies, and stating that if we write a story about the tragic shooting, tag it with "Connecticut School Shooting" so it gets promoted.  My second thought (after the pool of first thoughts that EVERYONE had, including "Who?", "Why?", "How could this happen?" and the like) was "Is there anything that I can do to help?

So here I am, this little petty reporter who writes about knitting, and this major tragedy happens, and I joke all the time about how my dozens of readers would be pleased about this or that.  What kind of difference can I make, really?  So below is the story I came up with...I called my friend Elizabeth and asked if she would be willing to help.  It was a no-brainer...she promotes charity knitting more than most of the stores in the area:

http://www.examiner.com/article/free-knitting-patterns-for-items-to-donate-to-victims-families-newtown?cid=db_articles

Next thing I know, Amy Singer from knitty.com retweeted it.  Then Knitting Fever, which is the company that distributes great brands like Louisa Harding and Noro, did the same thing.  Then I looked on the examiner.com home page, and there my story was.  Since 9pm on Friday night, over 3,000 people have read about the three yarn stores collecting items for donation, including Knot Just Knits in Oak Park.

Here's the REALLY fun part:  I put Knot Just Knits' phone number in the article, and then I didn't think of the consequences.  My email address is in there as well, and thankfully most charitable knitters seem to be emailers.  I received an email from a woman in Richmond, Virginia who runs a knitting group, and she wants to get the local media and all of the yarn stores in her area involved in donating.  I asked if I could write a story about what she's doing, so hopefully she will call me next week.  I also heard from a woman in California who asked what items are most needed, and if crocheted items were okay as well.  I told her the whole point was to donate items to make kids feel safer and to comfort the families and friends of the victims, so really, anything was good to donate.  We were concentrating on little pocket- and backpack-worthy toys, however.

So there you have it.  I am so proud of the knitting community, stepping it up as they (well, WE) always do in a time of need.  My voice isn't very big, but I am very proud to be one of several voices in this industry that tries to make a difference because even though we can't bring the victims back, we can bring comfort to the living by shipping our handmade wares to a town whose grieving doesn't end when the news picks up a new story.

In other news, I'm going to spend today thinking up a name for my new LLC.  It's just going to be a real estate investment company, so it's not like people will need to search for it on the internet and track me down, but I think that "Amy Kaspar LLC" is just plain stupid if I have the chance to name it anything I want. Here are some thoughts...feel free to chime in with suggestions:

Chicago Condos and Bungalows
Fiberhouse Investments
Kasparhouse Investments
Keith's Bitch LLC (although I already told Keith that he's really MY bitch if I call him at one in the morning to tell him Laporte's heat is out, and HE is the one who gets out of bed to go there)
Northwest Dwellings

Thank you all so much for your support in ALL of my endeavors, but mostly the knitting one.  The pocked-sized bunny takes about ten minutes to knit, and another ten to attach the ears, eyes, and tail.  Totally worth making a bunch of them!  Be well and keep everyone grieving in your thoughts as you go about your beautiful day.