Concordia Magazine

Stitched With Love

Stitched With Love

By Gia Rassier

Kathryn Skogen ’13, Bemidji, Minn., knew studying in Africa would change her life. While there, she also learned a smile is the same in every language as she gave hand-knit hats to babies and toddlers in Tanzania.

“Seeing the joy on the faces of the mothers as we put the hats on their children was unforgettable,” she says.

Skogen is a member of Itch to Stitch, a student organization founded by Rachel Meier ’13, Shoreview, Minn. The group meets weekly to work on a variety of projects, ranging in difficulty. Meier came up with the idea during a Concordia phonathon shift.

“I was working one night and brought my knitting stuff with me,” Meier says. “Other people were interested in learning (how to knit) and that’s basically how it was born.”

Last year, when club member Victoria Roemhildt ’13, Cordova, Alaska, learned about students traveling to Tanzania in May, she saw an opportunity to share some of the Itch to Stitch projects with babies 8,000 miles away.

“We received a lot of donations (of yarn) and had people willing to help out by knitting hats,” Roemhildt says. “We originally thought we’d send 20 or 30 hats, but we ended up sending close to 100.”

The hats were hand delivered in May by students who volunteered in a rural Tanzanian hospital. Skogen says it couldn’t have been timed more perfectly to coincide with the African winter.

“It’s nice to know we’ve made a difference and the babies will stay warm,” she says.

Photo: Gia Rassier

  Watch a story about Itch to Stitch and the students who delivered hand-knit hats to children in Tanzania.

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