Day 17

Today has been absolutely crazy! Today, I met with Anne Swayze to work out a method for boarding students to sign out of their dorms and come to my overnight event. Turns out, Swayze needs a list of those who are definitely and possibly coming. So of course, I made a Facebook event and sent out a mass email. As of right now, I have 30 people who are definitely coming (including myself, but not faculty) and 14 people who are still on the fence. I couldn't be happier with this! But, I want more! I want people to learn a new skill, be around people they aren't usually around, have a good time, and help a great cause! Tomorrow is major crunch time. I need to pull everything together. I need to make an announcement and get everyone interested in coming on my final list to Swayze. I need to gather up all of my supplies and get volunteers to help set up. I need to make TONS of food and knit. I'm going to need some caffeine tomorrow!

13 WOOOOO!

10 PEOPLE COMING!

Facebook Group

Just created one for my Knit-A-Thon event! So far 4 people are coming! YAY!

Day 16

Today was full of running around! I started off my day by going into Proctor and setting up a display case with all of the hats I have so far. I think it came out really great and if you are around Proctor head into Maxwell Savage and head up to the rotunda and you will see my lovely display case to your right! From there I headed over to AEMS to sell some more t-shirts. As of right now, I only have a medium and an extra large left. If you want one let me know! I might be ordering more! From there I headed to Goldencrest for my second visit with the older ladies and I had an awesome time! I picked up a few more hats and talked with some very nice ladies for about 2 hours! I love the ladies over there and I hope that I can visit with them beyond senior project and into the summer!

Upon my return home, my mom and I spent about an hour designing tags to attach to all the hats so that the people receiving them know where they came from and the story behind them. They came out great! Plus, it's great for people who just can't get the hang out knitting. They can help by pinning the tags on the hats.

I also did a lot of planning today. I nailed down a chaperone for the entire night which is a huge weight off my shoulders. My WONDERFUL advisory, Jen Fleming, will be staying with us all night! I can't wait! I already have so much interest in the Knit-A-Thon, I just need to get everything under control and announce it in assembly. I can't wait!

Day 15

Today was a great day for knitting. People are starting to get upset that it just keeps raining, but I must say, it is great knitting weather. I almost completed another hat today and FINALLY found hats I had made months ago for my "Knit-A-Thon," so I added those to my "Box-O-Hats." There was a bit of a communication issue with Patrice, the woman with the key for the display case I will be displaying my hats in, so I couldn't set up the exhibit on Saturday like I had wanted. My plan is to set it up tomorrow and hopefully that will happen. Also, I found out that Edna will be able to come to the morning after the "Knit-A-Thon" to make waffles for all of the hungry knitters! I cannot wait! Everyone loves Edna so she is actually really helping my cause. Now I can say, "Who wants Edna waffles?" and follow it up with, "Then come to my 'Knit-A-Thon' on Friday!"

I also reached out to the Andover community today by making a connection to members of the Andover Service Club. Many of them are knitters so hopefully I can get a few hats or some supplies from them. I am still so surprised by how willing people are to help me. I'm obviously grateful that they are helping me, but it is still surprising just the same.

Week 2

As the second week comes to an end, I am a mix of emotions. I am proud of the work I have done, but I am also very nervous about the work I still have to do. I’ve started to make the connections I need with the companies and people to make the “Knit-A-Thon” go smoothly. I am also proud of the work I have done making the hats and engaging others in the whole knitting process. Though I am proud of the work I’ve done, I am starting to get a little anxious.

Yes, I have over 30 beautiful and finely made hats,  but that number is far from 100. And though I am starting to make the right connections to the right people, I am still worried about everything that still needs to be planned, coordinated, and executed. The best thing I can do now is take everything one step at a time and stay VERY organized. I’ve been to plenty of “organized” events, and nothing is worse than a lack of organization. If I’m not careful, simple details can slip through the cracks and that is not okay. I need to make sure that the food, entertainment, timing, venue, chaperones, decorations, supplies, and the participants are all accounted for; and that is a lot to juggle. I need more sponsors for food, more sponsors for knitting supplies, more knitters willing to knit before the event, I need more interest in the event itself, I need chaperones, and not to mention, I NEED HATS! 

I am still totally confident in my abilities and I am very excited about my cause, I guess I’m just a little stressed. I know that everything will be okay, I just need to reach out to the right people if I need help. I should be hearing back from Hannaford’s soon about a possible donation, and if I just keep chipping away at my “To Do” list then hopefully I can get a little peace of mind and get everything completed in time. I’m really excited about my project so I want everything to be perfect! (Or as close to perfect as I can get!)

Day 12

Today was very productive. Not only did I get to show off my lovely banner in assembly, I also got to promote my "Knit-A-Thon." I think the assembly went quite well to be honest. After that, I headed up to New London. It is essential that I get sponsors for my "Knit-A-Thon," especially when it comes to food donations. Today, I stopped by at Hannafords and Dunkin Donuts. I filled out a form at Hannafords and hopefully I will hear back from the woman in charge (Selena, I do believe) on Monday as to whether or not they can donate lunch meat platters or at least give us a discount. At Dunking Donuts, I received some sad, but not totally horrible news. The bad news was that the Dunkin Donuts has already used up of their money to make donations for the quarter. The good news is that they would be more than happy to have me call the day before and order all of the things I will need so that they will be ready at 6 A.M. Saturday morning and they will be discounted!

It is so nice how people are willing to help a complete stranger once they hear the cause.

The rest of my day was filled with more and more knitting! Hopefully I'll be setting up another time to go to Goldencrest this upcoming week. That is my goal! I miss the ladies from the knitting circle! I simply have to go back!

Day 11

Today was another busy day! Kelsey (my sister's friend) is a knitting machine! She made 2 hats today and is currently working on another! She is only here for a few more days so I am definitely going to have to take advantage of her fast hands. My friend, Norah, is staying with me for the night, so I'm taking advantage of her as well. We have been knitting for about 4 hours straight!

Norah brought a completed hat with her, Kelsey finished two hats, and my sister and I each finished one tonight, adding 6 more hats to my total! 

I also had knitting club today, spending and hour and a half knitting, eating puppy chow (the peanut butter and chocolate coated Chex cereal snack, not actual dog food)  and selling more shirts! I sold two more tonight! 

We are all pretty exhausted, but tomorrow I'll be heading into campus to make an assembly announcement about my actual "Knit-A-Thon" event. Printers Square put their printers into high gear and finished my banner early, so I'll show that off in assembly tomorrow! I'll make sure to post a picture of it as well so you can see all of the design work that was done on it.

Day 10

Today was a pretty low-key day. Lots of knitting. Corinne, Kelsey, and I kept knitting all day.

Unfortunately, we hit the first snag. There was a problem with the banner. It was more of a design issue that a printing issue so it was easily fixed. The banner just had to be reworked a little bit and hopefully everything will go through smoothly from here. If all goes well I could be able to pick up the banner by the end of the week!

I'm also working on going over to Goldencrest for another afternoon some time soon. It is hard to get a slot of time with the ladies because they're events are planned by the month so it is hard to squeeze in. Hopefully I can! The ladies told Caroline and I that we simply HAVE to come back for another afternoon!

Day 9

Today was another fun day. I managed to acquire 2 more wonderful knitters to help my cause. My older sister, Corinne, has known how to knit for a while now, but I just today managed to get her knitting again and she is currently working on a lovely green and white hat. Also, my sister's friend, Kelsey, is staying with us for a few days, and it recently came to my attention that she is also a knitter, but had never knit a hat before. I quickly taught her how to knit on circular needles and she is almost finished her first hat already! She is an absolute speed demon! Not to mention, I finished a hat today as well!

This is one way people can get involved in my cause. If you know how to knit, then feel free to knit any kind of hat you like. I have a "pattern" that I use that I would be more than happy to pass along to you, but if you have a favorite pattern then use that. If you don't know how to knit, you have a few options. You can find someone you know who knits, or you could even look it up on Youtube! It seems silly, but honestly, the internet is a wonderful source and it only takes about 10 minutes to really learn how to knit.

People can also help by making donations of supplies. I am mainly in need of size 9 circular knitting needles used for making hats. (These circular needles have a very small cord connecting the two needles, if you are confused just ask a sales associate at the store you're at. They'll be able to help you.) I also would LOVE some super soft medium weight yarn. Any colors will do!

Buying a "knit happens" shirt is another way to help my cause. I still have lots of smalls and extra larges left so let me know if you'd like one!

ALSO, while I was writing this, Kelsey finished knitting her first hat AND has started another one! Yay!

Day 8

Today was a great day! I got this wonderful note from my friend, Norah, along with a HUGE bag of yarn and a hat that she had made for me. She is such a sweetheart! I love seeing the people who come out and make donations. I get donations of yarn, needles, and hats from the most unlikely people. It means a lot to see everyone coming together to support my cause.

Today was also a great day because I started another nightly knitting club. From now on (well for this week and next week) there will be knitting club monday nights from 7-8 in the athletic training room. I made an assembly announcement today promoting the new night and my t-shirts. I'm really hoping to sell more shirts so I can order more! Please, please, please let me know if you'd like one! Think about them as gifts for friends and relatives! 

The rest of my day was spent knitting with my new yarn (Thanks, Norah!), and I almost completed another hat. I am trying to think of a way to display the hats I have already made or collected. Any ideas? I know how I will be displaying them at my actual "Knit-A-Thon" event, but I'd like for people to be able to see my progress. If you have any thoughts, let me know! I'd love to hear any and all opinions!

Week 1

This first week has flown by, but despite its speed, this week has yielded great success for my senior project. Looking back at the beginning of the week, I see where I started. No hats. No t-shirts sold. Not really much of anything. Just some ideas of where I wanted to end up. But now, I have almost 30 hats, I’ve sold so many shirts with people wanting more and more and more, and I can tell I’m on my way to where I want to be by the end of my project.

Of everything I did this week, visiting with the older ladies at Golden Crest was by far the most rewarding. When I spoke to the women, they told me that they had always knit. But they knit because it was the thing to do. They told me that they were surprised I even knew how, that I had the patience to learn and teach it, and they were even more surprised that I was aiming at making such a large donation to the Norris Cotton Center. It was so comforting knowing that people who I didn’t even know were proud of me and willing to support me.

Though there are some that might see this project as just sitting around and knitting hats, I’d like to change that mentality. To me, these three weeks are all about community service. These three weeks are about reaching out to a group of people who need help more than can be explained, but are the last people who will ask for it. I am so excited to continue on with my project. I’m just going to keep knitting and getting other people excited about my cause and hopefully we can all pull together and do something really great for some really strong people.

Day 5

Today was another knitting day. Lots and lots of knitting! It was also a, "sell a whole bunch of t-shirts day!" I'm so happy that people are enjoying the humor in my, "knit happens" shirts. They are selling like hotcakes! I am quickly selling out of mediums and larges, but there are plenty of smalls and extra larges left over. If I am able to sell a good portion of the shirts I have now, I will most likely be ordering more, so do not be upset if I don't currently have your size now, I might have it later! If you're interested in getting a shirt, let me know and I will do my best to accommodate your request!

Day 3 and 4

Wednesday was not a very eventful day. It was productive, yes, but in the sense where I knit all day. I could go into great detail, but I don’t want to put my followers to sleep. Wednesday was a knitting and prep day. I gathered up all of my supplies in anticipation for today.

Today was a great day! My project sponsor, Lisa Uhrin, is a nurse at a local assisted living community, Golden Crest. Today, my fellow knitting friend, Caroline, and I traveled over to Golden Crest to spend 2 hours or so knitting and taking with the lovely older ladies. I cannot deny, I wasn’t sure how much fun I was going to have. I was thinking, “Oh, great. None of them are going to have supplies, none of them are going to know how to knit and man is the learning curve steep, and if they can it is going to be a very long process.” After 5 minutes with the 12 ladies that came to join us throughout our 2 hours, all of my preconceived notions were gone. Yes, there were a few beginners, but almost everyone knew how to knit. Those who didn’t know how and didn’t want to learn simply watched, ask questions, and rolled the skeins of yarn into balls. I brought with me easily 30 skeins of yarn. I went home with all of my yarn rolled nicely into balls.

The residents weren’t the only people interested. Throughout our visit, staff members stopped in to say “Hi,” and hear about my project. One of the nurses gave me 8 hats to add to my total, and I received another hat from a resident who couldn’t make it down to our knitting circle, bringing my total to a whooping 17 hats over a 4 day period. I’m getting there!

The entire process was incredibly rewarding. Not only did I add hats to my total, but I also brought other people into my cause. None of the ladies finished hats during our visit (but that was not at all expected) but they all took the supplies back to their room and told me that they would give the hats to Lisa once they were done. Plus, I met some lovely ladies who were just a hoot to spend time with! They may be older, but they can churn out some pretty good jokes! Caroline and I had such a great time, we want to make it a weekly trip, and not just for the rest of my senior project, but for the rest of the summer. How can you not go back when you have a room full of ladies telling you that you just HAVE to come back and visit them? 

After that knitting club, I went back to the Proctor campus to host my weekly knitting club there. It’s held from 7-8/8:30 and I just great. Some of the most unlikely people come to knit. You’d be amazed how many boys varsity athletes know how to knit. They WILL deny it, but I promise you, they can knit. I spent the night knitting and helping others and selling T-Shirts that we had made up. The shirts simply say, “knit happens” on the front, with “varsity knitting” on the back. People love the humor, so they are selling quite quickly! If you’re interested, let me know! I have small, medium, large, and extra large sizes, they are $15 a piece, and the proceeds go to help pay for supplies for the actual “Knit-A-Thon.”

Today was such a great day! Pictures to come!

Day 2

Today, with the help of my mom, I designed an 8 foot long banner that I will be using to promote my event. The banner will be printed and donated by a Printers Square in Manchester, NH. Printers Square is a great printing company. They print everything from newsletters to banners like the one I will be having made. Advertisements are key when it comes to promoting my "Knit-A-Thon," so this donation from Printers Square is monumental. I cannot thank them enough!

I also met with Gail Fitzpatrick today. She is one of the teachers in charge of the Knitting Club at the local Elementary/Middle school in Andover. I met with her to discuss my project and see if I could generate interest amongst the younger knitters. Unfortunately, the actual Knitting Club meetings are over for the year, but Mrs. Fitz is confident that she can encourage some students to help me knit hats during their free time, and even offered up her knitting skills to my cause.

Once all of the designing was done for my banner was completely and my meeting with Mrs. Fitz was over, I started knitting more. I finished a hat and started another today. I'm slowly chipping away at my goal and hopefully with the help from some students at AEMS, I know I can get there!

The first hat has been completed! Only 99 more to go!

Day 1

Today is a big day! My first day of senior project. In order for my project to move smoothly, most of the things I do during the first 2 weeks will be planning and organizing. I need to know the who, what, when, and where of my Knit-A-Thon event. Today I took a huge step in the right direction by squaring away which hospital will be receiving the hats that are being made over the next 3 weeks. Lucky for me, my first choice hospital, the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Hospital, will be the recipient of the lovely hats. Just by selecting a hospital to donate the hats to does so much for my project. Not only does it take a huge weight off my shoulders in terms of planning, it also allows me to tell people with certainty who will be receiving the hats. People will have some kind of connection to the hospital, whether they were treated there, their friends or family were treated there, or they just appreciate the great things the hospital does. Hopefully people will be touched by my project in some way and want to help.

As for the rest of my day, it was filled with taking inventory on my knitting supplies, and obviously some knitting. I needed to start chipping away at that 100 hats goal! I am almost finished my first "senior project hat!" I pre-made hats (if you will) so that I have a little bit of a base to build off of, but this hat will be the start of my actual project. I'm hoping to finish it tonight, and if I do, I will certainly post a picture!