A few of us, along with our ever-energetic leader Ann, spent a recent afternoon in the AFSC basement, where we were greeted by our favorite sight:

Piles and piles of envelopes and boxes, all full to the brim with gorgeous, colorful and warm hats, socks and mittens. Our mission that day was to open each package and to sort items by category, which left us plenty of time to admire the quality and creativity of so many knitters and crocheters.

Marina (left) and Sue got a first-hand look at the latest package from a4A cheerleader, Renée. It was great to see all these socks and mittens in person after admiring them on Ravelry, where Renée (revknits) co-moderates the "Fans of afghans for Afghans" group.

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These fair-isle mittens are the work of another long-time supporter, Gail. Not only are they beautiful, but the color-stranding makes them exceptionally warm. What a truly special gift to pass on to an Afghan child or teenager. No wonder we all came out from the afternoon's shift motivated to cast on for even more small handknits for this campaign. Please join us if you haven't already, and continue to send mittens, hats and socks to the AFSC -- these small handknits are going to make a world of difference to so many.