Do You Knit or Crochet?

There is a collection of baby hats and socks going on... and it needs our help! They were expecting to be inundated, but so far the numbers are low. Can you quickly make a few baby hats and socks (see guidelines below)? Babies in Afghanistan need our help. Forwarded e-mail is below this photograph:

Dear Knitters and Crocheters for Afghanistan,

We're having a bit of a drought here in California ...

Our Baby Shower for Afghan Babies is on the dry side so far ...

As of last Friday, the count was about 100 wool pairs of baby socks
and 40 baby hats (in sizes newborn to 1 year). All gorgeous, top-
quality garments that any mother would be honored to receive for her
new baby.
kn
We know that more baby socks and hats are on the needles or in the
mail -- THANK YOU SO MUCH!

We're fretting, though -- this seems like a bit of a drought so far
based on our experience.

The Malalai Maternity Hospital in Kabul delivers about 85 babies each
day -- we want to send a few thousand hats and socks so that the
hospital is supplied for a full year. These garments were specifically
requested by the medical personnel as needed items.

A wool hat is one of the most cost-effective techniques for ensuring
survival at the beginning of life. Hat-makers ... this is your time!

We have not had a campaign for babies in a few years -- which excites
everyone -- but we need to reach more volunteers to increase participation. We're
not reaching enough people via our email list or website.

Can you please spread the word to your fiber friends, online and off?

Please feel free to forward this whole email message intact. Please
post the campaign link on your personal blogs and social media.

The Baby Shower campaign details, including where to send, are here --

http://www.afghansforafghans.org/currentcampaign.html

A baby hat or pair of socks can be whipped up in an evening (use up
some oddballs) -- one item can easily be placed in an envelope to our
AFSC Collection Center in San Francisco. Even just one hat or pair of
socks makes a difference -- invaluable to the new baby. We just need
to reach more knitters and crocheters.

We have a deadline in early July, but we're going to get an extension
-- we will email you as soon as we know and also update the website.
Part of the issue is that we have a hard time if we are flooded at the
last minute - we need to have enough time for the local *volunteer*
crew to open packages, inspect, and sort, and then we have to arrange
trucking to the staging area before our cartons are aggregated with a
larger load of humanitarian supplies that are inventoried and then put
in line for transit overseas. Lots of steps along the way!

Thank you for giving this some thought and for sharing this message
with interested fiber friends. It does take a village.

Much appreciation,
Ann and colleagues XOXOXOOXOX

I actually made a hat for this campaign, but there is a big mistake in it, and I'm not even sure it is big enough for a baby, so I hope to start again and make a couple more that are done correctly. Can you join me?

Note: they plan to extend the deadline, so there is still time.