I have sad news to share. I am on the Board of Capital Crocheter and Knitters, Inc., and this decision was a difficult but necessary one. This is by no means the end of the Washington DC Knit Out & Crochet. Watch this space for news about next year's event.
------------------------------------------------------
This past fall we celebrated five years of Knit-Out & Crochet events on the National Mall. The Washington, D.C., Knit-Out & Crochet event began in the fall of 2001, and it has become a tradition. Through the years since that first D.C. Knit Out & Crochet in 2001, the event has been successfully planned and executed by Capital Crocheters and Knitters, Inc. (CCK) a small, non-profit group whose mission is to promote the education and art of knitting and crocheting and to enhance the communities that embody these crafts. CCK is staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers. The D.C. Knit-Out & Crochet was envisioned to be a free event where anyone could come and learn to knit or learn to crochet, see the fashion shows, charities, and the exhibitors, meet up with friends and sit on the lawn in the shadow of the Washington Monument and knit or crochet in the autumn sunshine. Their vision was to take a craft that was traditionally practiced at home in solitude to the streets where everyone could enjoy and appreciate the craft together in public.
As you might imagine, putting on an event of this scale year after year, raising the money to pay all of the expenses and somehow just barely breaking even, recruiting volunteers, organizing the exhibitors, the fashion show and the education program, is a tremendous amount of work. CCK has looked on it as a labor of love.
Each year the attendance at the D.C. Knit-Out & Crochet has grown exponentially from the first year’s attendance of approximately 1,000 attendees, to last year’s incredible 8,000 attendees, including the more than 1,300 people who learned to knit or crochet. The D.C. Knit-Out & Crochet has now grown beyond the point where this small group of volunteers can pull it off and present the same high quality event that our participants have come to expect.
Now we regret that after five years of arduous effort we have come to the heart-breaking decision to cancel the D.C. Knit-Out & Crochet for 2006. CCK’s plan is to take these next few months to regroup, raise more money and expand and strengthen our leadership team. We also plan to look to the yarn industry and other donors for increased financial and logistical support. We are taking a critical look at the event as it has been in years past, and see how we can transform and possibly re-invent it so that it can be a rewarding and enriching experience for everyone who participates.
We would be remiss if we did not take a moment and send a special thank you to all of our volunteers who each year step forward and offer to teach knitting and crochet, and to help make the D.C. Knit-Out & Crochet possible.
While this is disappointing news, we want to leave you with a positive message. The D.C. Knit-Out & Crochet will be back, and it will be better than ever. We know that there are other passionate, dedicated knitting and crochet enthusiasts out there, whose ideas and energy could help us as we move forward. If you are interested in joining with us to do the important work of shaping the new D.C. Knit-Out & Crochet event, please feel free to contact us and offer your services, or give a generous donation to ensure the continuation of this Washington, D.C. tradition.
To all of our supporters, volunteers and friends, thanks again. You will be hearing from us again with exciting news about the new D.C. Knit-Out & Crochet. Watch for us at
www.knit-out.org.
Capital Crocheters & Knitters, Inc. has moved!
Please update your records.
P.O. Box 41019
Bethesda, MD 20824
301-767-1660
www.knit-out.org
