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Knitters meet in West Cape May to work on items to be donated to people in Ukraine, part of an effort dubbed “Knitting for Peace.”
With winter coming, the knitters believed making hats, scarves and other garments would help the displaced children affected by the Russian invasion.
The efforts of a project to knit hats, scarves, mittens and blankets for Ukraine are displayed in the front garden of a West Cape May art studio.
Bobbie Kollin and Cindy Farrokh work on items to be donated to people in Ukraine, part of an effort organized with the Seaville Quaker Meeting and the Sisters of St. Joseph.
WEST CAPE MAY — In the dappled shade of a Perry Street garden in August, winter seems very far away.
Still, a small group of women gathered Monday to prepare scarves, hats and sweaters for people they never met, almost 5,000 miles away, to help civilians impacted by the war in Ukraine as it moves toward its first full winter.
The project was inspired by a visit from Sister Celeste Mokrzycki of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Philadelphia to the Quaker meeting in the Seaville section of Upper Township in June, when she spoke of her work with the refugees at the Polish border.
Mokrzycki is fluent in Polish, and this spring volunteered to work at the border with Ukraine.
“You know, 80% of the refugees are children, red-eyed from lack of sleep on a train that departed Ukraine just last night,” she told those gathered at the Quaker meeting house earlier this summer. “I think we recognize something of ourselves.”
Sometimes prayer is not enough, the sister said. People are moved to act.
A surge in fighting on Ukraine's southern front is fueling speculation that the long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive to try to turn the tide of the war is underway. Ukraine claims it destroyed bridges and ammunition depots and pounded command posts in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, while Russia says it repelled the attack and inflicted heavy casualties. Ukrainian authorities are keeping the world guessing about their intentions, and cautioning against excessive optimism in a conflict that has seen changing fortunes before. The Ukrainian southern command’s spokeswoman said its forces are preventing the Russians from bringing in reserves, in part by destroying supply lines across the Dnieper River and striking command posts.
Anne Hainsworth said she and others at the event wanted to do what they could to help but were unsure how. One way they discussed was knitting. They could provide something to keep people warm and let them know they were not forgotten.
“I asked Sister Celeste if we knitted all these things, could you get them to Ukraine for us?” said Liz Shay, who like Hainsworth is a member of the Quaker meeting.
That was the start of Knitting for Peace. For the past several weeks, groups of knitters have gathered at the Quaker meeting house on Wednesdays and in the front garden of the Arts and Soul Studio in West Cape May on Mondays.
All of the knitters are women, or at least those who gather to knit are. Shay said one surprise in the project has been the number of people who drop off bags of handmade items for the effort. Those have all been anonymous, she said.
“They’re just these beautiful, beautiful things,” she said. “It’s like magic.”
On Monday, eight women attended.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Germany is well-prepared to tackle a possible energy shortage due to Russia’s squeeze on European gas supplies. Fears are growing about the rising energy prices that will hit consumers across the continent this winter. Scholz says gas storage facilities are already fuller than they were at this time last year. Germany expected to pass more measures soon to help consumers cope with steeply rising energy prices. Russia’s state-controlled energy giant Gazprom further reduced gas deliveries to the France on Tuesday, raising fears that Moscow might cut off gas completely as political leverage over the war in Ukraine. Baltic Sea nations announced a seven-fold increase in wind power production by 2030.
Among them was Cindy Farrokh, a year-round resident of Austin, Texas, who regularly visits the Cape May area. She said it’s a three-day drive.
She said she regularly attends events at the studio at 409 Perry St., which features artists and musicians each week. That’s when she spoke with Shay.
“Liz was here and said, ‘I’m organizing this,’ and I said, ‘I knit, and I’d be glad to help,’” Farrokh said. She was joined by her friend Bobbie Kollin, a local resident.
At one point, Gail Fitz, the owner of the arts studio who donated the space, handed out cups of water to the knitters. Many of the pieces were on display on tables and on hangers. The organizers say the outdoor spot by a busy sidewalk has raised their profile. There are also knitters meeting at the Quaker meeting at 3088 Shore Road every other Wednesday. Not only Quakers participate, Hainsworth said. Several summer visitors and year-round residents participate.
Some did not know how to knit, or have not knitted for years.
“The last time I knitted, I was about 8 years old and my grandmother was showing me how to knit. So that’s 60 years,” Hainsworth said. “I made a scarf, and now I’m working on a baby blanket.”
Andriy scrambled back to Ukraine at the start of Russia's war after moving to Western Europe to work as an engineer. He underwent a conversion within weeks from civilian life to a sniper being trained by Ukraine's special forces. He spoke to The Associated Press while practicing alone at an informal firing range near Kyiv. Andriy is confident of victory after the winter. He is from the war-devastated town of Bucha. He described how the Ukrainian military employs flexibility to hold back the far larger Russian army. Andriy bought his own gear and sniper rifle and was encouraged to develop a variety of skills from flying drones to dealing with medical emergencies.
The other knitters have been a big help, along with YouTube videos, Hainsworth said.
After speaking with Mokrzycki, the knitters decided the best place for the handmade items would be in the rural areas of Ukraine, where resources are limited and some seem likely to face a tough winter, possibly without heat.
“We thought a lot about making things warm enough,” Shay said. “I think we’ve done a good job with that. We’ve used real wool wherever possible.”
They also want the items to be cute, she said.
“They could use some color, some cheer,” Shay said of the people who will eventually receive the gifts.
As of Monday, 125 pieces were ready to go, including some matched hats and scarves that were bundled together and would go to the same person. The plan is to ship the items in September, so they will be available as the weather cools.
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“We do know they are going to need help with postage,” Shay said. The group plans to raise money to ship the items to Poland, and from there they will be sent to other nuns in the order inside Ukraine.
In February, Russia invaded Ukraine, creating what has been described as Europe’s largest refugee crisis since the end of World War II. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees estimates 6.86 million Ukrainians have left the country, with 6.6 million more people displaced within the country, according to an Aug. 26 update.
“Since the beginning of hostilities, nearly one-third of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes. This is one of the largest human displacement crises in the world today,” reads the report from the UN agency.
The invasion six months ago was a major escalation of a conflict that began in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and Russian-backed separatists seized part of the Donbas region in the country’s Southeast.
Since February, tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed or wounded, and while estimates of civilian casualties vary, the Ukrainian government says more than 12,000 non-combatants have died in the conflict.
Multiple reports say civilian areas have been targeted, and the war has had a major impact on the world economy and on world food supplies.
Julie Petrella O’Neill can pinpoint where 28-year-old Noelle Quirk mixed up the order of sti…
Looking at a major humanitarian crisis, the knitters were frustrated they could not repair the situation, but were not willing to do nothing.
“Really, when you think about it, what can you do? It makes us feel like we’re doing something,” Shay said.
For more details on the project, call 609-408-5864 or 609-602-9674, or find the local Knitting For Peace page on Facebook.
“We send them our love, our Light, and beautiful handmade gifts to keep them warm in the upcoming winter,” reads the “about” section for the group on Facebook. “We want them to know that they are not forgotten, and that they are important and supported by gifts of our hearts.”
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Knitters meet in West Cape May to work on items to be donated to people in Ukraine, part of an effort dubbed “Knitting for Peace.”
With winter coming, the knitters believed making hats, scarves and other garments would help the displaced children affected by the Russian invasion.
The efforts of a project to knit hats, scarves, mittens and blankets for Ukraine are displayed in the front garden of a West Cape May art studio.
Bobbie Kollin and Cindy Farrokh work on items to be donated to people in Ukraine, part of an effort organized with the Seaville Quaker Meeting and the Sisters of St. Joseph.
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