First Ones In!

The first two donations for the January 2010 Botswana Project collection have arrived! Check out the two hats and two scarves that I received from niftyknitter:



And Eliza brought three baby blankets with her when she came for Thanksgiving!



Thank you to niftyknitter and Eliza for such lovely gifts!

Botswana and Beyond!!!

Some of your gifts to the Botswana Project, delivered last spring.

You have all been so generous and loving in making gifts for children that we have more than our volunteers from Penn can carry to Botswana. The good news is that Botswana is not the only place that Penn sends doctors and nurses.

I am thrilled to announce an EXPANSION of The Botswana Project to Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. This hospital is the only hospital serving the Kibera slum in Nairobi. There are approximately one million people living in Kibera, and less than 500 healthcare workers at Mbagathi. Thousands of children are HIV positive, and thousands more have lost a family member to AIDS. Mbagathi has a large pediatric clinic with a number of children's programs, and some of your future donations will be carried to Mbagathi by doctors from Penn's Global Health Equities Residence track. This video will give you an idea of what conditions are like in Kibera, and the amazing work done at Mbagathi Hospital. NB: the video was made by the group Physicians for Human Rights, not by Penn.



We need hand made hats, sweaters, blankets and toys for children of all ages. Sturdy wool, cotton and acrylic fibers are all welcome. The deadline for this collection round is December 31st. Your donations will be carried to Botswana and Mbagathi Hospital by volunteers from Penn. Please email Knittah with questions, or for the address to send your gifts. Thank you thank you thank you for showing these children that you care.

September Botswana Project

Once again, knitters and crocheters have buried my house in an avalanche of beautiful hand made gifts for children in Botswana! In just three months since our last collection, I received almost 45 POUNDS of lovely things from 19 people in 3 countries. Here's what you sent:

2 ponchos
7 pairs socks or booties
8 blankets
18 scarves
21 sweaters or vests
31 toys/dolls/playing cards
49 hats

I thought you might like to see a few pictures of the items. Your generosity is such that I can't keep up in photographing it all! But believe me, each item is equally beautiful.



I am packaging all your gifts for volunteers to deliver. I'll have another update very soon, and two lucky donors have prizes in their future too!

June 2009 Delivery

I took all your beautiful gifts to my doctor yesterday, and laid out a few for him to see. The rest were in a huge box! Our final tally was:

6 blankets
9 sweaters
3 shawls
15 scarves
8 hats
8 pairs mittens
5 hat sets (with either matching scarf or socks)
1 hand made toy

He was thrilled, and we talked about some ideas for the future as well. He happily posed for a picture, but I caught him while blinking. Sorry Dr. G! I didn't notice until this morning!



Thank you to each of you who donated for this round. Information on the next round will be posted this week!

Big Fat Generosity

You've overwhelmed me with your generosity once again! Today was the deadline for the latest Botswana Project collection, and I've got to cram a lot of gifts into this one post!

Sweaters, by Vicki, Anne Marie, Lara, and Bev:



Here's a better look at the ones at the bottom of the pile (Lara's and Anne Marie's):



Thank you for all the gorgeous gifts. I'll be taking them to my doctor on Monday, and I'll have an update for you next week!

Lisa sent shawls and blankets:



Hats by Maria, Corinna, Yasemin, and Carol:



Hat/scarf sets by Maria and Corinna:



Baby hat and bootie sets by Corinna, and a toy from Bev:



Mittens! Courtesy of Bev and her Monday night knitting group:



A whole mess of scarves from Anne Marie, Maria, Laina, Clarissa



More scarves from Clarissa, Maria and Anne Marie:

Eliza and Me

The June 19th deadline for our next Botswana collection is fast-approaching. Too fast. Where did May go? Anyway, I made this blue pullover:



And Eliza made two baby blankets like this one:



AND she made another baby blanket:



AND she made three scarves:



Rock on, Eliza! Just a reminder that gifts for the Botswana project are due to me on June 19th. We've been asked especially for sweaters and scarves. Email me if you need more info.

Three by Three

Another day, another package!! This time, the goodies came from Blizzy.


Three scarves . . .


Three hats . . .


Three fish toys, and a bag!

Thank you for these beautiful gifts, Blizzy! And remember everyone, there will be at least three prizes for contributors (selected at random). The deadline is March 13th!

Long Way 'Round (with prizes!)

cross-posted to my blog and the Swatchy blog


By now, you know all about the Botswana Project and that our next collection deadline is March 13th. My doctor personally carries all donated items to Botswana for distribution to children in need. So many generous knitters and crocheters have contributed items, including friend magnusmog.

How much do I love getting packages addressed this way!


Magnusmog lives in Scotland (lucky!), so her hand-knits are taking the long way round to Botswana via my house in the United States. She sent me two scarves and 6 hats for the kids!



It seems to me that since all of you have been so generous in your support of this project, I would return the favor. Everyone who sends me items for these children will be entered to win a prize from my own stash! I won't tell you exactly what yarn (because I haven't quite decided yet), but I will give at least three - count 'em, three! - yarny prizes to three of you (selected with a random generator thingy by Mr. Tumblyday).

What do you need to do to enter? Send me one or more hand-knit or hand-crocheted warm item, sized for children. You can email me for an address. The deadline is March 13th, and the prizes will be announced on March 16th.

First Batch

The wonderful ladies in my Knitting Group gave me the first batch of donations for this Botswana round last night:



Anne Marie made the blanket, green bag and yellow scarf. Laina made the two large hats and red scarf. Bev made the adorable little pink hat.

I've heard from a number of people, promising knits by our deadline of March 13th. Thank you thank you to each and every one of you!

ETA: Anne Marie made the blanket, green bag, yellow scarf and red hats. Gina made the red scarf. Whoopsie!!!

Botswana Time!

We've done it before, now it's time to do it again! Readers already know that my doctor, Dr. G, founded an HIV/AIDS clinic in Gaborone, Botswana. Last year, I asked him if they treated many children. He said that treatment for pregnant women who are HIV+ is widely available and effective, and so not many children are born with the virus.

Dr. G then said that there is an orphanage near the hospital, and that 85% of the children there are "AIDS orphans" having lost a caregiver to AIDS. Did they need anything, I asked. Everything, he said. This was the beginning of our Botswana project. Friends, relatives and knitters joined me in making warm things for Dr. G to bring to the children.

And let me tell you, we've impressed them! The last collection was a true tower of love - eighty-six hand knit and crocheted items, including twenty-six blankets! Dr. G told me that the children (and adults) in Botswana are amazed that someone in America would make something just for them, by hand. They treasure every item we send, and put it to good use.

Botswana is in the southern hemisphere, so the seasons there are the opposite of where I live in the north. In winter, it falls below 40 degree (F) and no one has heat. Outside Gaborone, it is can be especially cold. So will you join me in making a gift for another child?

What to make: Hats, sweaters, socks, mittens, blankets and toys in bright colors
What to use: Warm, easy care fibers - superwash wool is a plus, but I'll take anything
When is it due? Our deadline for this round is March 13th

Email me for the address to send your items or to make other arrangements.

Finally, a big shout out to my knit and crochet group! These ladies rock hard core, and are largely responsible for the avalanche of gifts last time. Mwah!!

Botswana, The Next Round of Knitting

I saw Dr. G this week, and he is recently returned from Botswana. He told me that our gifts were a tremendous hit with the volunteers and children.

There were so many beautiful things, that the staff divided them up. Larger items went to the orphanage near the hospital. As I think I mentioned before, 85% of those children are AIDS orphans (meaning their primary caregiver(s) have succumbed to AIDS), but only 15% of the children are actually HIV positive. All of the baby items went to the pediatric ICU at the hospital. Dr. G said over and over that our gifts were so deeply appreciated, and that the care you put into making them means so much to the recipients – much more than a donation check ever could.

So let’s do it again! Weather is getting warmer in Botswana right now, so I suggest we aim for sending knitted items as our spring approaches. Here’s the essential info:

What to knit: All items are needed, and I’m waiting for an update on any specific requests.

Fibers: Think WARM, so wool is better than cotton. Think DURABLE, as most items will be washed by hand in a tub, and hung to dry on a wire fence or similar.

Colors: Any and all colors, especially bright colors.

Our deadline is March 13th. Email me for information about sending in your donations.

Tower of Love

I promised a picture of all the Botswana gifts piled together, but I could barely fit it all together! So here's our final tally:


Three pairs mittens, 2 pairs socks, 1 pair slippers and 5 washcloths (last two not pictured).


Twelve scarves.


Four baby sweaters.


Hats? Oh yeah, we got hats. Twenty baby hats and eleven large hats.


An amazing twenty-six blankets. TWENTY-SIX!


This picture does not do it justice. I crammed everything together in this massive stack, all EIGHTY-FOUR gifts that you have entrusted to me. This is a big ol' pile of love, and I will be taking it to Dr. G on June 23rd. I think he'll be surprised!

I am deeply grateful to each one of you for sharing some of your precious knitting time with the children in Botswana. Each of your gifts will be cherished.

Thank you.

And Ravelers Too!

Several Ravelers have made lovely donations to the Botswana project. They don't know me, and just read about this project on one of the message threads on Ravelry. But they have been so kind, and sent lovely things.


tiniestmonkey sent these hats and socks in various sizes. I love the colors!




All of this came from greenxzebra. Slippers, hats, a scarf, washcloths and two blankets - thank you so much!


YOKathyYO stopped in for a visit bearing these pretties. Bright hat, scarf and mittens; an adorable color work sweater; and the blanket with a zigzag design mirroring the traditional motif in Botswana blankets.

Now that I've shown you everything individually, I'm going to pile everything together and take a picture of our whole batch of gifts for children in Botswana. You won't believe what all this stacks up to be!

Next Up . . .

My local Sit n' Knit adopted the Botswana project with fervor. I'll try to cram ALL their donations into one post!


Scarves from Gina and Jen.


Scarves from Maria and Shaz.


And one more from Ann Marie.


Gina assembled this blanket from squares that Michael's Craft Store was going to discard.


Ann Marie assembled this one.


Sally crocheted this big granny square, large enough for a baby blanket.


Maria knit this pretty blanket in a lovely shade of rose.


This super adorable blanket was knit by Debbie. How cute is THAT?


These blankets were donated by Shaz's neighbor. I love the Charlie Brown look of the zigzag blankets.


Sally made this cushy blanket, and these next pictures are a blanket and hat set that Sally made.


I could not resist having a bear model the hat. Did you notice the braided detail on both the blanket and hat?

Believe it or not, I've got more donations to come!