Toronto Craft Alert

This note came through from Ryan, Streetknit‘s current publicist.  Streetknit is such a great and effective local craftivist org that I wanted to share his plea for someone to take the reigns from him.  Please read on and consider his request if you are somone with mad PR skills or looking to gain more experience in this area….

Hi Streetkniters,

For the past three years I have been Streetknit’s volunteer publicist. Sadly, time and energy are pushing me to simplify my commitments. I’ll miss it. It is a great project and it needs someone else to sing its praises.

Streetknit is, in simple terms, a clearing house for winter knit goods. We have drop off points all over the city, knitters, of their own, delightful accord, knit for the shelters, drop them off at Toronto knit stores and we simply just see that they reach the shelters.

The other equally important aspect of this project is that knitters know they can do this. This is where you may come in.

It is a small project (basically founder Sadie Lewis and myself) so how you draw attention to this project is basically your baby. This is what I did. Every year around this time (late autumn) I did some sort of attention-seeking event (knit a house, a whacky press release, knit an enchanted forest). I contacted all the knitting cafes/stores in the city. Media. Knitting blogs. Within months, we’d be buried in knits to donate to shelters. I also planned events for knitters, here or there. Then I’d publicize them from here to eternity. We just kept the knit train going. Every inquiry I received, I’d follow up on. We already have a highly evolved Streetknit email send out list. But one needs to do this, year after year, or the knits do not get dropped off.

A really good thing for an installation-artist-cum-publicity-hound-cum-activist-cum-socialite-cum-knitter. I never did knit. I was like a knitting cheerleader. Really cheerleader skills will carry you a long way.  Imagining a real knitter-installation artist-activist in this role (and I know there’s a bunch of you) . . . that would be such a boon to such a worthy project.

If you are interested in becoming Streetknit’s next publicist, please contact me(ryan.kamstra@gmail.com). I’ll show you what ropes I have to show.

Really the only requirements are a certain amount of self-driven-ness and dedication.

Thanks.

Ryan Kamstra

*****ABOUT STREETKNIT
Founded in 2006 by Sadie Lewis in Toronto, Streetknit rouses the knitting communities of Toronto, hobbyists, s n’ bs, society yarn-darlings, needle-clackers of all ages to put needles together and spend some time knitting some warmth into an extra scarf, maybe some toques with affectionate or somber colours, mitts, blankets, socks, even a sweater and see it reach those without home. We hear report that the kids really like it in basic black.

These goods can be dropped off at friendly-neighbourhood StreetKnit drop-off points: local yarn-knit shops Knit-O-Matic (1378 Bathurst St), The Naked Sheep (2144 A Queen St E), Sew Be It Studio (2156 Yonge St), Eugenix (99 Burlington St), Nathalie-Roze (1015 Queen St E) and The Knit Cafe (1050 Queen W). Streetknit will be distributing to homeless outreach programs all over the city, including Windfall Clothing, St. Francis Table, Scott Mission, Parkdale Community Health Centre as well as future friends PARC and Out of the Cold.

Every year people in Toronto freeze to death because they have nowhere to come in from the cold. Since 2006, Streetknit has helped inspire and organize office clubs, yarn-shop drives, knitty parties, craft drives, knitting classes for teens and adults to donate to Streetknit to do our small part to alleviate this situation, combining fun and sociability with doing good for the community. We have also inspired similar minded groups across Canada and in the States. See our site for more details of some of these past events and drives: http://www.streetknit.ca/