2000+

I guess I knew it would happen, but I didn't ever want to say out loud that the death toll could rise above 2000. I wonder when it will stop? I wonder at what point do we officially stop counting? I imagine there will always be some amount of American forces left in Iraq.

This morning on NPR, they interviewed a couple of mothers who lost their children in the war, and it was really hard to listen to. I thought I was desensitized to most of it, but for some reason the stories I heard this morning got to me.

...sad day
-nina

Gallery is full!

As many of you know, it was my intent to photograph each sweater submission and post pictures on this site in the gallery section.

Well, the gallery has reached max. capacity. Also, I need to focus on preparing the sweaters for their debut, so I, unfortunately, will no longer be able to photo every single sweater.

I feel bad about this because I want each individual sweater to have the opportunity to be individually recognized, but at this point in the project it just is not possible.

I will continue to credit and thank each volunteer for their submission on the Runway page, so check there to make sure that your sweaters were received.

I'm traveling a lot less the next couple of months, so I will have more opportunities to update the website.

Thanks for understanding
-nina

Vogue Article is great!

Thank you thank you thank you to Michelle Wiener for writing such a wonderful article about Red Sweaters in the Holiday'05 edition of Vogue Knitting. This issue is really beautiful, so if you don't already have a subscription to this magazine, run to your local book store (places like Barnes'n'Noble will have it) and pick up a copy. There are a lot of great ideas in this edition - and the article about Red Sweaters (on page 44) is a great read.

I welcome all of you who are joining the project after reading this article! We need your help, as we still have over 600 sweaters to knit.

Thanks Michelle!!
-nina

Final Stretch!

We are 11.5 weeks away from deadline - I want to install the Red Sweaters on New Years Eve. We only need about 650 more sweaters, so I am hoping to rally our supporters to knit just a few more sweaters this month so we will be ready for Dec 31!

If you have some sweaters that are complete but just need their side seams sewn - send them! I'll sew them.

If you have some sweaters that are only half complete - finish them! Then send them!

I know right now that there are a lot of other very worth while charities that can use your time and support knitting useful goods like blankets and hats and scarves. I am hoping that you will have 45 minutes to make just one more sweater - maybe in between your other charity projects?

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita really took the spotlight off the war in Iraq (which, yes, is still going!). There have been fewer news stories about Iraq in the headlines. So I think this installation will be available to the public just in time to remind them that - yes - even though you are not hearing about it daily, there is still a war going on, and - yes - we still have people dying. And - yes - the war is still affecting you in some way, and you need to think about that and how the war is impacting your life.

Thanks for your continued support
-nina