This year, as an added twist on the event, fans are invited to participate in an attempt to set the Guinness World Record for the most number of people crocheting simultaneously.

I googled the Guinness Book of World Records to find out what the current record is, and discovered this record has never been set.  So this will be a very first.  I did find a number of interesting records, though, that should give us some yardstick to measure this momentous event.

I found the largest number of people simultaneously Riverdancing is currently 1032 people.  I certainly hope they were dancing in a very well reinforced building.  And, although, quite a feat . . . (pun intended), this has nothing to do with the needlearts.

At a London Marathon in 2008, a record was set by Susie Hewer for knitting the longest scarf while running a marathon . . . a remarkable 1 m 62 cm (which is well over 3 feet long, I believe).  This same woman also holds the record for the longest crocheted chain at 77.4 meters long.  (You can do the math here.)  But this was only one woman.

The closest record I found was set in 2009 for the most men and women simultaneously knitting in Sydney, Australia.  256 people knitted for 15 minutes to raise money for breast cancer research.

Certainly, our Stitch N’ Pitch supporters can outdo a mere 256!  TNNA’s even giving away a free ball of yarn and crochet hook to people who want to participate (and will teach anyone who doesn’t know how to crochet).

At the upcoming Stitch N’ Pitch event, money will be raised for the Needle Arts Mentoring Program, as well as Needle & ThREAD: Stitching for Literacy, both programs supported by The National NeedleArts Association.  These programs focus on healthy habits for children.

So, if you’re going to be in NYC, you really need to get to Citi Field and help set this new record.  How often do you get to be part of a real “first” . . and have some fun with fiber at the same time.

Go to www.stitchnpitch.com for more information.

It’s no surprise TNNA members have always exemplified this focus on the health and well being of others.  TNNA Cares, the humanitarian outreach arm of our association, continues to help promote and publicize these efforts.

As the world turns their eyes and their hearts towards the Haitian people, our members are there as well, each in their own way.
  Here are just a few that have come to my attention:

Knitting Fever Inc (KFI), a TNNA wholesale member, is offering to match dollar for dollar all contributions made to one of three Haiti relief funds (American Red Cross,
 Doctors Without Borders
, Direct Relief International), up to fifty thousand dollars received.  In order to be counted in this generous matching offer, checks need to be made out to one of the three charities and sent to KFI, 315 Bayview Ave., Amityville NY 11701.

Y2Knit in Funkstown MD, a retail yarn shop, also sent me an email about selected patterns for sale with donations going to either Doctors without Border or Save the Children.

Another email I received touched even closer to home.  Susan and Abby Karten of Voila!, a well known TNNA Needlepoint finishing company, sent out an email letting everyone know their Haitian partners, who are part of their stitching operations, are thankfully safe.  Obviously, there may be some delays in the days to come, but everyone’s patience and support is appreciated.  They urged everyone, as well, to donate to the charity of their choice to help in this time of need.

We’d like to suggest the following . . . just to make sure your good will gets to the right place.

• Consider 
making monetary donations – even though you’d love to send a hand knitted or stitched item, most of the relief organizations don’t have the facilities or staff to deal with this type of material.
• Donate money directly to an existing relief organization.
• Don’t limit the use to rescue efforts only.  Rebuilding will also require funds.

I’m sure there are many other TNNA members who are doing their own thing to help the people of Haiti.  Please let us know who you are and what you’re doing so we can help spread the word.

If you have an idea for a program or project the association might want to launch, and you’d like to help us get the job done, let us know.  TNNA is here to help make our members’ ideas and passions come to life.

It’s a great example of how learning to knit goes far beyond the actual manual technique . . . This group has done chemo caps and scarves for Gilda’s Place and scarves for the Special Olympics in the past.  The Magic Square project talked about in the article is their latest endeavor, and they’ve got much of their school involved, not just the regulars in their program.

In case you didn’t know, the Needle Arts Mentoring Program is a project of the Helping Hands Foundation, an organization managed by The National NeedleArts Association.  This far reaching and active program teaches stitching to thousands of K – 12 grade students every year by providing start up materials and resources.

You can find more information at http://www.needleartsmentoring.org