Dyed-in-the-wool Christmas elves

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This article was published 26/11/2022 (1101 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A close-knit group of Winnipeggers are once again putting their hands to good use for the Christmas Cheer Board.

Despite having to purchase their own supplies this year, these good-hearted needle-workers refuse to let the project unravel.

Roxie Eyer and Maureen Spier have been part of the knitting circle for years. They make blankets, hats, mitts and scarves for children from families who are struggling to make ends meet.

The Cheer Board accepts donations of handmade creations for kids ages one to eight. The items are included in hampers destined for families with youngsters.

Eyer, who is retired from Manitoba Health, has been knitting since she was quite young. Her parents, Olga and Alfred, volunteered for the Cheer Board and it was only natural she’d follow the pattern.

“I’m always knitting. I never just sit and stare at the TV. And family can only have so many handmade things. You run out of people to make for. So, the Cheer Board was the perfect fit for me,” says Eyer. “I could knit all year long for them, just keep filing up bags and boxes, and then take it every fall for their hampers.”

She’s been making hats and mitts for more than a decade. This year, she donated about 10 dozen pairs of mitts, baby blankets and about 15 tuques.

They come in different sizes and an array of colours.

“I’ll do pattern variations, colour variations. I don’t like to make anything plain,” says Eyer. “I always knit things that I’d be proud giving as a gift to somebody.”

Traditionally, the Cheer Board provides volunteer knitters with wool, however, inflation costs prevented the not-for-profit organization from being able to do that. Instead, the money is being used to fortify the contents of food hampers.

The change hasn’t really reduced the number of volunteer knitters.

Eyer is one of about 100 individuals who take part in this labour of love, while about five church groups produce knitted items as well.

The knitters are showing their true colours — demonstrating how everyday, caring people use their talent to help the lives of people in our community. It’s, indeed, a feel-good yarn as the holiday season approaches.

Eyer maintains she gets just as much back as she gives.

“I really like doing it. It makes me feel good that I’m doing something purposeful,” she says. “When I was working downtown, I often thought maybe at some time I’d see someone wearing something I’d recognize as mine but of course I never did. These things get spread around everywhere.”

Maureen Spier also spends her leisure time knitting items for the Cheer Board, a passion she shared with her late sister, Lynda Daun.

“We got into hats, mitts and stuff, and we send some to our Charleswood United Church, which makes up hampers there, and then some to the Christmas Cheer Board. She has passed away, but I continue to do it, and this year I managed to do 110 hats,” said Spier. “Some are character hats. There’s owls and penguins and snowmen, and then some are just ordinary.

“Kids go through the hats and lose the hats, so I don’t think it hurts that we’ve got 100 a year going into the system.”

Spier has always made do with her own wool, so the change hasn’t affected production.

“I buy my own, I do my own thing and that’s my contribution to the Cheer Board.”

Spier can knit a standard winter hat in about two hours.

“I do it all summer, all winter… just putter away at it,” she says.

When the hampers are opened, hopefully the children — many of whom are new Canadians — are pleased with their new winter wear, Spier says.

“When I was a kid, often we would get a new hat or mitts or a sweater from my mom, and I was always excited to get it,” she says. “I still think hand-made items are wonderful.”

The annual Free Press Miracle on Mountain campaign, which supports the efforts of the Cheer Board, is in full swing, and financial donations are being accepted.

There’s little time to waste. Hamper deliveries start on Dec. 7.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca