Final ball count: 2,383!
The Knit Ball Pit accomplished its first mission at Vogue Knitting LIVE in NYC last weekend: serving soft, squishy, massage-y experiences to all who ventured to enter it! We had many takers of all ages—check out all the #knitballpit posts for more photos and videos of this interactive exhibit.
Anna with Tanya Weaver of AFCA
After a thorough cleaning, the balls will go on to their next adventure with the American Foundation for Children with AIDS (AFCA). Tanya Weaver, founder of AFCA, visited the ball pit herself and shared more about the amazing work her organization is doing in Congo, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. AFCA will use the balls as packing materials when they send medical supplies to their partner hospitals (we love this!), and the balls will be distributed to kids receiving treatment for HIV and to AIDS orphans throughout this year and beyond.
To those of you who sent in balls from all over the world, thank you for making this project such a success! If you didn’t have a chance to participate and would still like to contribute, you can donate funds directly to AFCA, or you can organize another group knitting project directly through them. (See contact info on their website.)
Tiny Ladianne, Gayle, Louis, Cecilia, and Kristy
Further big thanks go to Ladianne Henderson of Cheers To Ewe!, who connected us with AFCA and helped make this project possible. And thank you to Kristy Glass, Gaye Glasspie (@ggmadeit), Cecilia Nelson-Hurt (@creativececi), Louis Boria (@brooklynboyknits), and to everyone else who helped spread the word and organized knit-togethers. And thank you to Vogue Knitting LIVE!
This project was a success beyond my wildest expectations—it’s truly magical what knitters and crocheters can do when we put our needles to work together. I would love to do another group project again in the future, whether with a charity connection or just for fun and happiness-spreading, but first I want to take some time to celebrate this one and recover. Because of all the energy and organization (very worthwile!) that this project took, I’m probably going to hold off on doing a photo and video contest this year, but will probably bring it back in 2020. In the meantime, I’ve got lots of other fun stuff planned for the rest of 2019, so please stay tuned!