Local yarn shop puts out call

Knitting needles are the weapon of choice for a group of Kent women fighting to help end breast cancer.

The local knitters, led by Kent’s Renaissance Yarns owner Nancy Skorupa, have created a “passionately pink” Aran square-knit afghan, which they’ll raffle off Oct. 18 as a fundraiser for the Seattle-based cancer foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

This will be the second-annual handmade afghan raffle at Renaissance Yarns, 207 E. Meeker St., Kent.

The fundraising project started last year, when a women in Renaissance Yarn’s social “knitting circle” group suggested they knit an afghan for charity. Skorupa picked Susan G. Komen – which is focused a breast cancer research and awareness – as the charity. She said it seemed a logical choice because most of her customers are women, and many of them have been touched either directly or indirectly by breast cancer.

“I’m amazed how many women who come in here are affected by breast cancer,” Skorupa said.

Last year’s afghan raffle raised more than $1,600 for Susan G. Komen. Skorupa said this year she hopes to raise at least $3,000. She’s counting on increased awareness of the fundraiser, combined with a longer display time for the finished afghan, to help bring in more ticket sales.

“We sold our first ticket this morning,” she said during an interview Sept. 4.

The afghan was complete except for the border by early September.

“We kicked this off in mid-July,” Skorupa said. “Twenty people started knitting (the individual squares). They had two weeks to do it, and generally everybody got theirs finished in two weeks.”

One local knitter, Lynn Jackson, completed her square with the help of her daughter, Amy Jackson, who lives in Salt Lake City. Amy heard about the project through the online knitters’ forum “Ravelry” (www.ravelry.com), according to Skorupa.

After the squares were finished, 10 other knitters took over to seam the squares together, doing most of the work at a seaming party in early August at Bittersweet Restaurant in downtown Kent. Now Skorupa and Renaissance Yarns staffer Liz Arcamo are finishing up the last of the edging.

Made up of 20 squares, each about a foot square and all pink (for breast cancer), the afghan covers the entire dining-sized table in the back of Skorupa’s yarn shop. Each square features a unique pattern out of the “Great American Aran Afghan” book: one shows a willow tree, another a raised Celtic-style design, another a whole miniature sweater. One square even incorporates the pattern of a curled ribbon — the symbol for Susan G. Komen. Altogether, the knitted throw comprises 4,400 yards of yarn.

The afghan will be on display at Renaissance Yarns up to the raffle date. Tickets are $5 apiece, and can be purchased either in person at the shop, by calling 253-852-9276 or e-mailing info@renaissanceyarns.com.

For more information about Renaissance Yarns and the afghan raffle, visit www.renaissanceyarns.com.

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Afghan raffle

What: Raffle of a “passionately pink” knitted afghan to raise funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Where: Renaissance Yarns, 207 E. Meeker St., Kent.

Tickets: $5.

Drawing: Oct. 18.

Details: Call 253-852-9276 or e-mail info@renaissanceyarns.com.