STITCH ’N BITCH IN MANI 11am THURSDAYS, PATRIKO CAFE, STOUPA

April 18th 2013 - S’n B and SOS at the Parea Lunch 
Prompted by our contact with Roula from SOS Children’s Homes(Kalamata Centre), earlier in the year, the work of the SOS centres was the subject of the talk at the ’Parea Lunch for Body and Mind’.  Not only were we able to give them more children’s clothes made by our group, but also, when we heard of the need for food for the SOS Kalamata Centre, we donated 50 euros worth of food from the money raised by selling S ’n B products. Gallery   SOS Children’s Villages

February 22nd 2013 - News of Stitch ’n Bitch
We are becoming something of a cottage industry! Three blankets have been completed - one donated and 2 sold. The latest was a double one. Money from the sales is funding further yarn which is being used for making a variety of things in addition to blankets.

Some of our members really enjoy making children’s clothes, and on February 9th, Sandra and Elaine were warmly welcomed at the SOS Children’s Centre* in Kalamata when they arrived with 7 cardigans, a hooded jacket, a bolero, 6 jumpers, a waistcoat, 2 beanies and a matinee jacket with matching hat.

Small items such as children’s clothes, caps and mittens are now on sale at local bazaars (see Janet’s Aloe Vera stall). Other items are being added as people feel inspired to try something else! We have a rough guide for sustaining the scheme - ’sell 1 to fund donating 1’ . We do not charge for our time. Orders are always welcome, so long as there is no time pressure!

* SOS Children’s Centre was recently set up for children in severe social need. There are 2 volunteer teachers, 2 social workers and a psychologist working at the centre, and they have food and clothing banks there to help the most needy families.

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December 24 - NEWS OF STITCH ’N BITCH..
We have several items for sale now, at reasonable prices, which we are hoping people will buy, to help fund further charity work. eg ------------>>>

For details of items for sale see our newsletter STITCH’N BITCH Dec12
Then right click to ’view’ an enlarged version

We can also make other sizes to order, again to fund charity work.

New members welcome - Please note, you do NOT need to be able to knit or crochet. You do NOT need to be working for charity. The main aim of the group is a social gathering for people interested in craft work in general. See gallery

No SnB on Dec 27th - NEXT SnB will be on January 3rd

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A USEFUL WEBSITE http://www.ravelry.com/about "Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, weavers and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, project and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration."

December 10th: Would you like to buy a unique and colourful blanket? The first blanket produced by the Stitch ’n Bitch group, and given to blind Ioannis who lost his home, was made mainly with the wool oddments we all had lying around, but now we need to buy wool. To help fund the materials for further charitable donations of children’s clothes, blankets etc, we are planning to sell our second blanket which should be ready by Xmas. If you are interested in this blanket, which will be a single (2x 1.5m) or in ordering one in future, please contact claire4parea@gmail.com The current blanket is offered at cost, for an estimated 75€.

December 6th : The new Animal Welfare Group MIAO(Mani International Animal Organisation) will be meeting at Patriko at the same time as SnB. This is partly to encourage people to make things for MIAO which can be sold at the Gaia bazaar on December 16th, to raise money for animal welfare. Christina suggests making pet beds and perhaps they can also be custom made to order, if we know the name of the pet. Materials will be needed, so please bring along old sweaters, long-sleeve T-shirts, jackets with zips, old pillows or stuffing and anything for decoration

November 29th : The first blanket is finished and has been handed over to Christina(Gaia) for the homeless old blind man.

WOOL ORDER - SPECIAL PRICE Message from Elaine tonyandelaine@hotmail.co.uk :-
Below is the link to the web site where i ordered the wool. We have until the 4th December to order any James Brett wool at 15% discount. So if you would like any please let me know by Monday at the latest and then I will order. Hopefully a big enough order to make the postage negligable for everyone. I have another offer for 10% discount on any wool from the site to be used by 25th December so if there is any other brand of wool that anybody would like we could use that offer with another order. http://www.deramores.com/

November 15th : Our 1st blanket is well on the way to completion after just 3 weeks! Maralyn has been sewing all our squares together. Even if you do not want to join the group on Thursdays, donations of 5 x 5 inch knitted or crocheted squares would be very welcome. You might also like to be on our Stitch ’n Bitch email list. We are sending out news and information about matters that might be of interest to the group, such as group ordering, patterns etc.

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November 8th : We are speeding up the squares to make a blanket for an old man who lost everything is a recent house fire in Thalames. More photos in the Gallery

November 1st : We are official! Click on the logo to access the Stitch ’n Bitch parent site.

October 29th: We had a very positive start to the STITCH N BITCH IN MANI group. 9 of us gathered at Patriko and got the ball rolling. It was agreed that Thursday morning at 11 would be the most convenient time for a regular meeting, so.....

All welcome

People liked the idea of making blankets from knitted squares(see below), but plain squares were preferred to the suggested patterned squares, as they can be made without much attention!! However, if anyone wants to make the patterned squares, they can be included, once we have established the equivalent size.

Note : We are not restricting the group to knitting or charity work.This is just the start

A message from Claire:-

Here is an idea for the winter. I was prompted by hearing about a new ’Stitch and Bitch’ group that has started in Athens**. Stitch ’n Bitch is an informal global organisation, and I thought it would be good to have one in Mani, but with a twist. Rather than only knitting or crocheting for ourselves, how about doing some for charity as well? I was sent a picture of a blanket made from knitted squares (see below). Many of us, even if we could not attend many meetings, could join in by knitting a few squares. Last winter we were asked for blankets for the poor in Mani. This year let’s make some! OR HAVE YOU ANY OTHER IDEAS?

STITCH ’N BITCH IN MANI?

’A "Stitch ’n Bitch" is just a group of knitters and crocheters who get together on a regular basis to stitch and, well, you know. All Stitch ’n Bitch meetings are open to the public and are free of charge.’ STITCH N BITCH

People could help in two ways - providing oddments of wool, and knitting squares. We can publish a guide for the squares, so they end up the same size!

We could just make plain squares, but these simple patterns, sent to us by Anne-Marie, are a bit more interesting and use up oddments of wool even better! (click to see INSTRUCTIONS)

if you are interested in attending a regular get together or just helping with the knitting, let me know. claire4parea@gmail.com

There will be a preliminary meeting at -

Patriko Cafe in Stoupa, on Thursday 25th at 11am

Come for a coffee and a chat. We can discuss your ideas and if there is sufficient interest, we can decide on a regular day and time to "STITCH ’N BITCH". All welcome whether knitters or those who want to learn.

Click here to enlarge

**A new club has been created in the Southern suburbs involving CROCHETING, KNITTING, weaving, cross stitching and embroidery. Joining is free. We are a friendly group of needle craft fans who get together to share ideas & techniques and for a nice chat as well!!!.... every Thursday between 10 am and 12 pm. The meeting point is in front of Starbucks on Plateia Esperidon . We are part of the STICH N’ BITCH international network and are listed under stitchnbitch.org (Athens Greece).We welcome beginners too . For enquiries please email Carol B. on SandKseaside@yahoo.com . Our facebook group is : Stitch & Knit seaside