Local ladies knitting up a storm

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This article was published 31/10/2016 (3439 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A group of local women has been busy knitting together its resources to help several organizations.

The group of around 20 women, dubbed the Dawson Trail Knitters, is comprised of residents at the Dawson Trail Apartments, located at 55 Leveque St., in Windsor Park. The group generally meets every Wednesday afternoon throughout the year.

“It’s a great bunch of ladies and I love getting them together and displaying their talents,” said Jean Paraschuk, the group’s main organizer. “They can hardly wait to get together and show each other what they’ve made every Wednesday. The core of the group has been together for the last six years and lots of the ladies have been with the group since day one. Sadly, we’ve lost a few along the way, but we’ve also gained a few.”

As of Oct. 26, the group had knitted around 300 items to be donated to various local organizations. And on Oct. 27, members of the group began delivering the items to the grateful recipients, which include Centre Flavie-Laurent, Park Manor Nursing Home, River East Nursing Home and Siloam Mission. Representatives from the Christmas Cheer Board also picked up donations that same day. The knitted items included toques, scarfs, mitts and lap covers — to name a few.

Paraschuk, who also lives in the complex, said the knitting activity yields benefits for both the participants and the wider community.

“The ladies love doing it. It also means they don’t have to sit in their apartments all the time and they get to have tea and coffee and socialize together,” she said.

“As far as the community is concerned, there are so many people with young families coming into the country that don’t always have the things they need, especially in our current economy. We want to make sure every child has something, whether it’s a toque or a pair of mitts.”

The group doesn’t use machines and knits everything by hand and certain members have “different specialties depending on their talents” which helps when planning who is going to knit what.

As well, lots of the women buy their own wool (the Christmas Cheer Board also donates wool) to use, so if there was a larger supply of wool, they could increase their productivity even more, Paraschuk said.

Any donations of wool would be gratefully accepted. Anyone wishing to donate wool to the group can call Paraschuk at 204-222-1861.

simon.fuller@canstarnews.com

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