The Royal Port Alfred Golf Club room was decorated with a huge, colourful collection of knitted and crocheted beanies, booties, jerseys, bed socks, fingerless mittens, gloves, baby toys, jerseys and blankets from the Kowie Wool Warriors charity drive recently.
This follows after the knitting group set out a call to individuals who can knit, crochet or sew to join them in a challenge to make 1,000 warm items for those in need in September last year. The Kowie Wool Warriors is a volunteer organisation of knitters and crocheters in Port Alfred who take on projects for vulnerable communities, mostly in the Eastern Cape.
The call attracted 36 members to get on board and about 10 more outsiders contributing to the initiative as well. The group surpassed their target and made 1209 items. Not all of the knitting members were able to be in Port Alfred for the display and handover and they had serious fomo (fear of missing out). One of the knitting ladies is based in Cape Town, another in Johannesburg and one man residing in Pretoria.
Project coordinator, Wilma Jurgensen said the knitters of 36 members meet on WhatsApp to update each other on their progress and motivate one another as well. “We pushed each other. We would put photographs of what we’ve knitted on the group, we would ask for advice – ‘How do you do this?’ – and somebody would send that pattern,” she said.
The knitted items will be donated to various charity organisations in the area who will then in turn distribute them to those in need. The organisations include Kenton Rotary’s Fish n Chip baby project, an old age home in Nemato, Huis Diaz in ALexandria, Loaves & Fishes, Child Welfare and various churches.
Although the knitters have had a couple of people who’ve been very generous donors in supplying wool periodically, Jurgensen said members have also been buying wool out of their own pockets to drive the initiative. “They’ve all got into the spirit of giving to charity and they’ve been buying their own wool and that’s the essence of charity,” she said.
An anonymous Port Alfred wool donor has been dropping black bags full of wool to keep the knitting challenge going and fabric8 online store from Cape Town has also been sending boxes of wool The store owner further donated nearly 100 items that she knitted herself for the charity initiative.
