Monday, December 17, 2012

HHCC to Collect Critters and Comfort Shawls for Sandy Hook

img credit: www.123rf.com
On Friday, December 14th, twenty children ages 6 and 7, along with six adults tragically died at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.  The shock and sadness are beyond words.
 
But we don't have to say a single word; we have our hands.  Armed with crochet hooks and knitting needles, people from around the world want to let the families of Newtown know they are loved.  This is why, in conjunction with Crochet Guild of Prince William County of Virginia, The Happily Hooked on Crocheting Club, a Connecticut Chapter of the Crochet Guild of America, is stepping up to accept your hand-crafted projects, each with thousands of stitches wrapped in love.

From today until Valentine's Day 2013, you can send your beautiful hand-stitched donations to:
img credit: school.discoveryeducation.com
The Happily Hooked on Crocheting Club
c/o  Nancy
3238 Route 52
Stormville, NY  12582

Or to:
The Happily Hooked on Crocheting Club
c/o Fluffy

PO Box 934
Bridgeport, CT 06601-0934
 
We will gladly accept your hand-stitched stuffed critters and comfort shawls.  We ask that they be created using acrylic based yarns of any color.  For those wishing to use school colors, such as Red Heart's "Team Spirit" yarn in the colorway of 968 - Green/White (school mascot is the eagle) that would be wonderful too.  The school reportedly has some 450+ students.  Our goal is to collect at least 1000-1500 critters so siblings can be included. 

If you would like to include a hang tag on your gift, please consider using the tag below.  This will not only help us in tracking all the donations, but it will also help your recipient know where the love for him/her arrived from.

You can use this hang tag for your donations.
  
If you would rather make a cash donation or donate a crocheted or knitted afghan, the following organizations listed on the HuffingtonPost website would love to hear from you:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/connecticut-elementary-school-shooting-how-to-help_n_2302760.html
 
If you would like to join in on discussing critter creations there is the "600 monsters strong" group on Ravelry.  Looking for an animal pattern?  There are lots available, from patterns designed by Stacey Trock, and those featured on Red Heart's and Lion Brand's webpages, and many more on Ravelry and Etsy.
"[We are] very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts.

 [We] can only hope it helps for you to know that you’re not alone in your grief, that our world, too, has been torn apart, that all across this land of ours, we have wept with you. We’ve pulled our children tight.

And you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide.
                                                         ~President Obama, Dec. 16 prayer vigil for victims

7 comments:

Tammy said...

Does this mean you will not accept items that are not in the colors you listed?

Tammy said...

When do you need these sent by? Is there a deadline?

Unknown said...

I'm making penguins, ducks, and songbirds... all of which would look rather "not right" in green and white. Are they still OK to send or will they be turned down. I have friends sending me donations to help with yarn/shipping costs so I'm up to 45 small birds (about the size of a 12oz can of soda). Should I tell them to forget it??

Anonymous said...

Can the animal or creatures be any color?

Happily Hooked on Crocheting Club said...

Hi everyone,

The critters can be of any color as long as it is acrylic based.

We will accept donations until Valentines Day 2012 (02/14/13).


We'll update the blog post to make this clearer. :)

Anonymous said...

How large would you like the prayer shawls for the children to be--would you like some for the parents also??

Happily Hooked on Crocheting Club said...

The average 6-yr old is about 4 feet tall; comfort shawls should therefore be at least 4 feet long (when folded in half it should "hug the shoulders" with about 6"-12" extra on each side) so that it will stay on. Adult shawls are usually about 5 feet long.