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These Kits are Made for Walkin’

Hello all!

Well, 2020 has certainly started off with a bang!

Let me fill you in on the back story! Knit Fit LLC was selected as one of twenty small businesses throughout the US and Canada to participate in the Vogue Knitting Live 2020 BIPOC (Black, Indigenous People of Color) Launchpad program. The Launchpad program is Vogue’s initiative to encourage and support diversity in the fiber arts. Diane Avery of Lady Dye Yarns in Boston graciously headed up the program and served as mentor to the participants.

And so, thanks to the VKL Launchpad program, Knit Fit LLC was officially launched on Martin Luther King weekend at Vogue Knitting Live 2020 at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan!

Of course, New York City as the giant “melting pot” was the perfect setting to experience diversity as well as commonality. The unique mix of knitters attending the Vogue Knitting >events was impressive, and yet they all spoke the universal language of knitting - k4, *(p2, yo, k2tog) rep from *.

Fashioned in hand kits of every variety - shawls, scarfs, cowls, ponchos, dresses, skirts, and even pants(!), the VKL attendees were eager to share their projects and to receive well earned compliments! We were seduced by all the beautiful colors and enticing textures on display in countless knitted samples hanging in the indie dyers booths that surrounded us.

And so, Knit Fit found a beautiful and inspiring location to set up shop. We so enjoyed getting to know our customers, and offering encouragement as we all strive for a healthy balance of knitting and walking. Incidentally, many knitters had just attended one of Carson Demers’ lectures at Vogue Knitting Live on the importance of walking and movement to maintain a healthy and injury free knitting lifestyle. They were thrilled to purchase a Knit Fit kit that will help them get off on the right foot! We were delighted to see more knitters joining our Knit Fit community and “taking their yarn for a walk”. Please be sure to check out Carson’s book, “Knitting Comfortably The Ergonomics of Knitting”. I keep a copy of his book on my nightstand!

I was also delighted to meet Linda Kawecki from Brave Knitting. She was gracious enough to Knit Fit in her new podcast series. We are enthusiastically presented in Episode 9 of Brave Knitting Podcast!

And of course, a shout out to our VKL neighbors- Susan Dickerson of Flying Needles Yarn Shop and Robin’s Promise Hand Dyed yarns and Shannon Welsh of Queen City Knitter. Susan and her assistant Joan, helped us with our booth setup and kept us very entertained with lively conversation all weekend. By the way, birds and nature are the inspiration for Susan’s colorways which dovetails so well with Knit Fit’s mission to be out-and-about with our knitting. Shannon Welsh, our other helpful booth neighbor whose emphasis is on recycling, is a delightful fiber entrepreneur from Manchester, New Hampshire. While selling her unique tassel earrings, Shannon offered us much needed lighting for our booth . You can find Shannon’s earring at her Etsy shop, Queen City Knitter.

And so, both Susan and Shannon follow in the footsteps of our knitting ancestors whose helpfulness and generosity is legendary. We knitters are by nature, makers and givers. From knitters providing hats and mittens for soldiers during World War One and World War Two to present day prayer shawls and chemo caps and save the penguin campaigns, knitters worldwide have been using their craft to provide warmth and comfort to others for generations. Our local Knit Fit group here on Mount Desert Island is very committed to charity knitting as well and recently provided hats, scarfs and mittens for a refugee group from the Congo who have resettled here in Maine.

As I look down the road, I am so thankful for the opportunities that have come my way. Knit Fit, with its commitment to knitters, as well as its focus on wellness, represents the perfect cross section of purpose and passion for me.

Please join me in a toast to our Knit Fit community to a happy and healthy 2020!

Best,
Michelle

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” - William Artier Ward