This article appeared in the Dec. 19, 2012 issue of the Interlake Enterprise – By Teresa Carey…
Mavis Keisman, June Price and Ella Koch
The Wool and Needles knitting group in Ashern is all done their knitting for the year. After selling their handiwork at craft sales in Ashern and Stonewall this November, the group has raised $1,006.00, the most they have ever made said long time member, June Price.
Most years the group gives about $1,000 to a local charity from the proceeds of their sales, with the exception of last year. Now, with $2,000 in the bank, the knitters will be able to donate between $1,000 and $1,500 to a local charity. Just which local charity will be this year’s recipient will not be decided until the new year though, Price said.
Some past recipients have been Ashern’s Palliative Care, the personal care home in Ashern, and the Silver Bay Bible Camp which is based out of Ashern.
“Anything we have left over, whether a hundred pairs of mittens, 10 hats and scarves, or whatever, I take to Winnipeg and donate to the Christmas Cheer Board, Koats for Kids, the Siloam Mission or Salvation Army,” Price said.
The Ashern-Moosehorn Christmas Cheer Board, local schools, and the seniors Lifeline program are some of the local charities which may also receive some of the knitted goods.
“We love doing it. One of the kids who came to the Pioneer Lodge [to read to the seniors] had a pair of the mitts on. When you see someone wearing them, you know they’re appreciated. It gives you a good feeling,” she said.
The Wool and Needles group started in 1999 with about a dozen Ashern women and still has four to six regular knitters who come together on the first Wednesday of each month. However, many more knitters in the community contribute as well, some of whom are elderly and prefer to stay closer to home.
One such knitter, an 80-year-old woman who is nearly blind, still knits scarves from home. She is just one example that comes to mind for Mavis Keisman, a long-time regular member of the Wool and Needles group who helped man the table at a craft sale in Ashern.
“She’s almost blind, but she can feel those stitches,” Keisman said.
“We did very good this year at our sales table,” said Keisman, “but I thought those leg warmers were gonna go.”
The knitters mainly use donated wool and yarn, but on occasion will purchase materials when needed. The group takes none of the sales proceeds for themselves. One hundred per cent of the money they raise is donated to charity.
