By Donna Wong

What began as a skill I wanted to learn turned into a passion for all things wool. For

years, I have knitted sweaters, hats, mittens, scarves and even gnomes for my son’s

school when he was young. It was something I wanted to share with other members of

Wong’s Association.

So in 2016, we began a beginners’ knitting workshop which soon grew into weekly

meet-ups with fun and different projects. We knitted cowls. We made cable knit scarves.

We created hats, mittens and slippers. But the biggest accomplishment wasn’t just the

end knits that we made. It was turning beginners into true knitters. They learned a new

skill and completed projects with a sense of accomplishment while connecting with one

another.

The best part was creating a community of young and young-at-heart Wongs coming

together through knitting needles and yarn. While the youth learned a new skill, the

seniors, many of who are experienced knitters came out of sometimes isolation to help

me teach the workshops.

We took this further by knitting for charity. Once the knitters learned how to knit, we

utilized their skills to create baby items for St. Micheal's Hospital. The maternity ward

maintains a small Baby Tuck Shop that provides free essential maternity and baby items

to families with limited finances. Expectant moms who otherwise couldn’t afford clothing

could shop for items before and after the birth of their baby. According to Amanda

Hignell at St. Mike’s there are over 3000 births at St. Mike’s each year with 10% or over

300 moms making use of the shop.

We had formed the Wongs Knitters Group and have contributed three donations of baby

sweaters, hats, booties and blankets. With the support of Wong’s, I hope we can

continue to meet to make items for this worthy cause. And as well, have more Wongs of

all ages come out to our workshops. If you’d like to join us or find out more, please

reach out to Brian Wong or myself.