WWKIP day 2017

One month back on this day, I was running around , trying to be a good organizer..the occasion

3rd Edition of Kuwait WWKIP day

Worldwide Knit-in-Public Day (WWKIP Day) was started in 2005 by Danielle Landes as a way to bring knitters out of isolation.  What started out as a very small movement (with only 25 local events taking place that year) has grown substantially with Knit-in-Public (KIP) events now taking place all around the world.

The KIP Day slogan of “better living through stitching together” reinforces the well-documented benefits of crafting, such as alleviating stress, anxiety and depression. It is really about showing the general public that crafting can be a community activity in a very distinct way.

Each KIP event is solely organized by volunteers. I found out about this event in 2015 shortly after I joined my current craft group Kuwait Crafters . Though I didn't that time, I thought of celebrating the day to get a chance to meet new crafters. It was the first time Kuwait was registered for the event. You can read about it here. A small write up on 2016's event can be found here.

This year I wanted to have a bigger event with some fun activities. We have had new members joining the group which means more people know about a crafting group in the country where usually the information isn't available.

Preparations started well ahead in time with looking out for venues, sponsors , number of attendees. We came up with idea of giving door prizes to everybody who attends the event. Registration and publicity were the main tasks to ensure we reach out the intended audience.

This is how the invitation looked like

What came as a surprise was how the small hand crafting businesses stepped up to the occasion when big LYS refused to offer any assistance. Door prizes were made by the members of my craft group. Last two years I made small souvenirs/badges to mark the occasion, this year I thought of going big and got the badges printed . The badges were liked by all and worn during the event.

Doilies made by Z for door prizes

Door prizes for all

Contents of the door prize bag

We used social media like Instagram, Facebook and event websites to spread the word.

I still can't believe that we had turnout of 40 crafters from Kuwait, almost 70% were/are not the existing members of my group. The event was so much fun , with lucky draws for which the prizes were sponsored by Needles & Yarn, Whiskers & Yarn , Zephyr and Made by Mrs Q.,yarn swap and a freebie table at the venue.

Picture credit Nida Khan

It was a wonderful to see how crafters of different nationalities, race , religion came together to celebrate the love of craft. I feel so proud to say that this year we outdid the attendance by 5 times of last year. This success wouldn't have been possible without all the hard work put in by fellow crafters.

The cherry on the cake has been the coverage we got in the media this year, two national newspaper in English , two in Arabic published article about the event .For more pictures , check out the link below for work done by official photographer of the event,a fellow crafter :

            https://salsphotographie.com/2017/06/12/wwkip-kuwait-2017/

I'm adding a link to the articles published in local papers if anyone is interested

http://www.arabtimesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/2017/jun/21/24.pdf

http://news.kuwaittimes.net/pdf/2017/jun/14/p30.pdf