Warm Knits Strike Again
Over the past two weeks 52 pairs of hand-knit socks and 98 hand-made hats have made their way onto the streets of Vancouver. Our goal of getting a warm handmade item to each new housing space opened by the City over the past two years has come two steps closer, while the City continues to open new temporary modular housing spaces around Vancouver. These come from generous donations of yarn, knit & crochet time and expertise, and pure kindness. Thank you.
Here’s our current tally:
- 98 handmade hats for each resident of the New Beginnings units (2020)
- 58 pairs of hand-knit socks for the residents of Naomi Place (2020)
- 52 handmade hats for each resident of the tə cecəw (The Beach) TMH in Little Mountain (2019)
- 52 handmade hats to the Hummingbird Place Temporary Modular Housing in the Olympic Village area of Vancouver (2019)
- 39 hand-knit cowls and shawls to the Aneki House womens-only modular housing unit (2018)
- 39 pairs of hand-knit socks for the Chartrand Place Modular Housing residents (2018)
- 52 pairs of hand-knit socks for the 52 new residents of the Kaslo Modular Housing when those units opened (2018)
- In addition to a number of hand-knit donations to the Downtown Eastside Womens’ Centre and other recipients
And its that time of year again, for Baaad Anna’s annual open call in December for donations of warm things to be distributed to those in need in Vancouver’s downtown east side. We ask for any good condition pre-loved or purpose-made warm winter items that are not in use in your household such as hats, mitts, scarves or sweaters/hoodies. Or if you choose to knit something for this year’s Warm Things Drive, we ask that you add to our current modular house collection of either handmade hats or socks. We even have circular-sock machine sock tubes that just need heels and toes added on if you are limited for time but want to participate!
This year we are again joining forces with the amazing students of David Thompson Secondary School’s Hunger Bites project who have taken up knitting needles to work on a warm things donation drive of their own to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. We will team up with the Hunger Bites team to make our collective donation this year; and these amazing youth have been gifted yarn donations from many of you who have upcycled your unloved yarns with us over the past few months!

We have also been quietly aiming towards another goal of 52 pairs of socks to donate to the Margaret Mitchell Place Modular Housing units whose namesake was a pioneer in community development, a tireless advocate for housing, and a fearless activist in support of women and people living in poverty. Mitchell was instrumental in bringing violence against women and domestic abuse into the political spotlight, and these housing support units mirror her spirit by providing a bed, room, and a community for up to 52 residents. We have already collected about 15 pairs of socks of the 52 needed and would love to invite anyone who want to knit a full pair, or even just a partial sock tube from our Circular Sock Machine hands-on demo to join in our challenge!

Donations of warm things will be collected from now until January 1st and can be dropped at the store anytime during our regular business hours! For more information contact Baaad Anna’s 604-255-2577 or baaadannas@gmail.com or come chat with us in store!