By Meg Peters
Review Staff Writer
If there is one thing Joan Sheridan is good at making, it’s a set of knitted knockers.
That’s because she knits them with love.
Sheridan, owner of Heritage Spinning and Weaving in downtown Lake Orion, began the nonprofit organization Knit Michigan nine years ago to raise money, awareness, and create comfort clothing for cancer patients in Michigan.
One way to contribute to Knit Michigan’s quest to support cancer patients and their families is attending their upcoming winter event.
The 9th’Annual Knit Michigan Fiber Focused Fundraising Event is on’Saturday, February 7 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.’at the Academy of Sacred Hearts at 1250 Kensington Rd. in Bloomfield Hills.
Early bird?9 a.m.’admission is $15 and grants access to the market before the crowds, expected to brink near 650 people this year.?10 a.m.’general admission is a $10 minimum charge, however, larger donations to support five cancer organizations in Michigan are welcome.
All proceeds will be given directly to The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center, Beaumont Hospital’s Rose Cancer Center, Genesys Health System, Gilda’s Club and?’U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Over the past years, Knit Michigan, which took off in humble beginnings as an all-night knitting party hosted by Sheridan, has donated over $160,000 to cancer serving organizations, and more than $10,000 in comfort items.
That’s where those experienced knitting needles come in to play.
Knit Michigan is also a resource for friends and families to reach out to for handmade chemo caps, cuddly knit bears, breast cancer pillows, blankets and Knitted Knockers, which have been gifted as far as Baraga in the Keweenaw Peninsula.
‘We are getting the word out and that’s important because people know that we are here to help them,? Sheridan said. ‘Letting people know we are here and doing this is just as important as the money we raise because it can expand who we help.?
Sheridan and her business partner from Have You Any Wool in Berkley are hoping to raise a total of $30,000 at the’February 7’event, and $50,000 throughout 2015 through other fundraisers.
About 14 knitting stores from south east Michigan, and even some from upper state cities like Petoskey, are meeting at the Academy of Sacred Hearts bearing handmade products including finished products, yarns and knits and how-to books. Not only will people be invited to browse the market or seek out the strolling models wearing hand-made items, knitting, spinning and weaving classes will be running throughout the day, costing $35 a class. Online preregistration is required for classes at’www.knitmichigan.org.
Apart from those goodies the public will be invited to hands-on weaving demonstrations, to bid on silent auction items, to enter contests, and of course, to ask their daily knitting questions to the experts.
Sheridan, who opened Heritage Spinning and Weaving in 2000, has been knitting ever since her mother stuck a pair of knitting needles in her young hands. She is responsible not only for creating the nonprofit organization, acting as the president, but for coordinating the comfort items.
The Knitted Knockers are breast prosthesis made from soft yarn for women who have a mastectomy from breast cancer.
‘You have scares, and you have clothes that have space in them that need to be filled. These Knitted Knockers are very soft, and don’t hurt like traditional medical prosthesis do, they don’t stick to you, so it’s kind of a starter. It’s also all some people use,? Sheridan said.
The thank-you cards Sheridan and the other knitters receive keep them going without question.
‘Those things help somebody feel better, the thank you notes we get, I get tears in my eyes,? she said. ‘It’s helping me not feel so helpless, powerless. Cancer is a bully and you feel like there’s nothing you can do, especially when it’s not you, so this is a way to help and feel better about it.?
For more information about Knit Michigan 2015, including the events, schedules, a comfort item suggestion list with patterns and online registration, visitwww.knitmichigan.org.