ROSALIE Voyce’s Knitting for the Ukraine campaign is thriving. FILE PHOTO
‘STAY inspired and don’t lose heart.” That is what Rosalie Voyce from Piopio wants to tell her dedicated knitting volunteers. Her collection of woollen items for Ukraine is growing and she said the campaign is lively. “People meet me in the street and they say, ‘do you still want things?” The answer is yes.” Since the retired nurse started the campaign in June, donations have flowed in. She works with seven regulars and many casual donors from around the King Country – from Kāwhia and Marakopa to Te Kūiti – who have been busy creating handmade woollen items. “I’ve got about ten black rubbish bags full of knitting. I’ve got blankets and clothes. “I’ve got some adult jerseys but mostly small children and up to teenagers. I have got booties and beanies and scarves and some merino ladies’ spencers.” While living in Taupō some years earlier, Rosalie was involved with Mission Without Borders, a group that collected knitting from across New Zealand and delivered it to eastern Europe. That experience inspired her to get involved again this year. “When the Ukrainian war was going on and on I thought, ‘Oh golly gosh. I can’t do the embroidery and things I used to, but I can knit. I’ve got all this knitting here, why don’t I send it to Ukraine?’ The previous years’ donations to Mission Without Borders were sent early because of the war; Rosalie’s current collection of items will leave New Zealand in around three months with a view to getting them to Ukraine in time for the European winter of 2023; this time next year. “The war’s not going to end tomorrow, and there is all this need. I think it may well be around March, April next year. The people there will package them up and get them to Europe in time for the next [northern hemisphere] winter.” Knitters did not have to rush, Rosalie said. She would give plenty of notice to knitters about when the items will be needed. “They don’t need to panic – they don’t have to be in before Christmas or anything like that.” Rosalie will take the items to Taupō personally. Most ladies have already delivered what they’ve knitted, she said. Wool – not synthetic yarn – is still needed, and even small quantities are welcome. “It doesn’t matter what it is, three or four-ply. If I’m given three-ply, ladies like to knit babies’ clothes. Sometimes older women like to knit in double knit; it’s easier to manage for them. It doesn’t matter what I’m given in quantity. “I don’t mind half a ball of this and half a ball of that. When it’s all kitted up in stripes or patterns or something, it all makes something.” Wool donations had been generous so far. “I’ve got a lot of wool which I’ve been couriering all across the countryside to women who have contacted me. I’ve had a wonderful response. “It’s wool that has been unused, it’s not old garments or anything. Grandma died and she left a huge cupboard full she hasn’t used [for example]. I’ve had an enormous quantity of wool donated to me.” One anonymous lady left a big box of completed knitting for Rosalie which impressed her greatly. “I’d no idea who she was. The [items] were the most beautiful – a dozen wool jerseys for children aged about ten or eleven. I did track down who she was and phoned her and thanked her. “People don’t want to make a fuss … they’re very modest and discreet about their contributions.”
