Here are the new rates: A letter goes up to $.42, a postcard $.27, large envelope (2 oz) $1, letters to other countries $.94.

If you have Forever stamps you bought for $.41, they still will be good for letter postage. I'm guessing that after May 12, Forever stamps will cost $.42.

The USPS will announce new prices for shipping services — Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Select, and International Mail — in March.

Make one of your holiday gifts for a teen in need of mentoring this year! Can we collect 24 RAD BAD BEANIES--or more--by New Year's Eve? Luscious lids can be knit, crocheted, or sewn with fleece. Stitch in some love, for community building.

• This is only two beanies in celebration for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Dec. 25-Jan.6), or one beanie for every December day until Christmas Eve.
• This is only three beanies for each day in celebration of Hanukkah (Dec. 4, 2007).
• This is about four beanies for each day in celebration of Kwanzaa (Dec. 26-Jan.1).
• This is only one beanie for every five beads and prayers of the japa mala.

The fifth and sixth days of Kwanzaa represent the principals of Nia (purpose) and Kuumba (creativity), respectively. Nia is a promise to "make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness." We can learn a lot from Kwanzaa. Reach out to build community among urban youth by supporting their outdoor trips so they can build on their own strength. Kuumba is a promise to "always do as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it." Your craft can do this, both in your community and in the worldwide community that Knitzilla! hopes to bring together!

If your community giving doesn't reach as far as Big City Mountaineers' teens this time, that's okay. Find a way to support community close to you, and pass on your immeasurable gifts. This is what Knitzilla! is all about.

I'll be shipping the Rad Bad Beanies shortly after January 1, hopefully with the help of a few Beanie Bucks to get the caps to Colorado after we tally them up and make pictures.

Peace to you throughout the winter holidays.

Carol -- Honolulu
Terri -- New York
Candi -- Los Angeles
Ann -- Ohio

We've collected and sent 108 beanies this year -- and sent 180 hats total to urban teens hiking with Big City Mountaineers! Keep on knitting--these students need your love and care!

Knitzilla! has donated at least 154 hats so far -- but the BCM
program mentors 250 teens annually! Keep those luscious lids coming
and support urban youth!

Bug

We're still collecting luscious lids for kids—BCM mentors 250 students each year, and we've sent only 112 hats (and one pair of mittens) so far!

See you on Sept. 10th in Los Angeles for our regular Knitzilla! knit nite!

This box contains 28 hats for Rad Teens! This is a total of 150 hats (plus a pair of mittens) to support urban teens!

donations by--
Laurie Specter from LA: 18 Hats
Mary S. from Lincoln NE: 8 Hats!
AJ from LA: 1 Hat!
Terri Sasanow from NY: 1 Hat!

Many thanks for your RAD creativity!

Knit on!

This shipment includes totally RAD stocking caps, a Peruvian Corner
Boings hat, fleece fun hats, crocheted beanies, and more!

Crafters include: Terri Feinstein Sasanow of NY, Janet Walton of
Louisville KY, KnitGuyLA, Mary S. from Lincoln NE, Marcia McDonald
and AJ Rose from Los Angeles, and Ann from Ohio!

I'd like to thank our contributors for their beautiful work, and for
shipping their beanies in zipper bags to protect them during storage
and travel! Also a beanie buck per hat is what is making shipping
possible! You are making a difference!

A few of the items we received recently seemed a bit small for teen
hikers. These items were sent to a 501(c)3 children's shelter on the
Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation in South Dakota to support youth there.

Thank you for your contributions and your Rad Bad sense of craft!

Thanks for a great second birthday party and another great year! Knitzilla! is growing! We are a group of 234 members in Los Angeles and Worldwide, who care about community and craft!

This year Knitzilla's crafty donors have supported those in need worldwide! Including:

•Teen hikers on outdoor mentoring adventures withBig City Mountaineers, with 72 Rad Bad Beanies and a pair of mittens!
•Hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors, with 43 blankets, 31 hats, and 33 scarves!
•Afghans for Afghans!
•Pine Ridge Indian Reservation!
•Knit for the Cure!
•Dulaan project!
•Stitches from the Heart!
•Tsunami Volunteer in Khao Lak, Thailand!
•Fairfax High School Knitting Club! (yarn donation)
•Edendale Library Teen Knitting Club! (yarn donation)
•Palisades High School Knitting 101 class and club! (yarn donation)
•And many other projects that you have been too humble to mention!

Every thing you do for others means a lot—you can see how a little bit here and there helps a whole LOT of people in a personal way! Thank you so much for every stitch!

Some folks are knitting above and beyond, however. I'd like to acknowledge this years' biggest supporters of Knitzilla charity craft:
• For the Afghanalong for Katrina survivors that began in August 2005, Millie from the Bronx crocheted 5 blankets, 15 scarves (sent with purchased matching gloves) and 59 squares! Edna Hart knitters in Los Angeles contributed 10 blankets!
• For the Rad Bad Beanie project which started more or less this year, Ann from Ohio donated 13 beanies and 7 skeins of yarn! Dawn from Tennessee donated 8 beanies and 2 skeins.
• For Stitches from the Heart an ongoing project to support preemie babies nationwide, Karen in Atwater Village (L.A.) has knitted some unbelievable number of baby items. We haven't heard from her in a while, but after we gave her some donated yarn this summer, she whipped out more than 72 of them in less than 24 hours!
• Fayanne in LA is in the process of distributing hundreds of skeins of yarn to knitters who love to give back. This is a huge task and a great donation of her time and energy as she supports our worldwide community. (Please let her know if you have time to help her sort or deliver!)

We appreciate the donated yarns from The Knitters Studio, Edna Hart, and individual knitters like you!

We also very much appreciate the generosity of yarn shop owners who offer discounts to community knitters and charity knit projects!

I'd also like to thank the knitters and crocheters who helped put on a great party and raffle! Thanks to AJ for helping to set up and assisting with the Raffle! Thanks to Jamie, AJ, Alicia and everyone else for helping to pack up! Thanks to Katherine and Nichola for helping secure items for the raffle! Thanks to Brady for loaning us his sociology notes so we can remember who won the raffle! And a big thank-you to Mimi's Cafe for hosting us for this event!

We raised $147 toward our annual $270 fees for our mailbox! I'm thrilled! Many thanks to the generous donors for our 2nd Birthday Raffle! Please check them out on our Knitzilla links list and remember to shop locally!

Last, we appreciate the support of The Coffee Table restaurant in Silverlake, which lets us stay a little late, and keeps us warm and well-lit as we knit the Monday nights away!

Hope you have a warm and knitful holiday season!

Love
Bug

HowDEE!

One funny thing to tell you—with these kids, it’s in style to leave the tags on their hats when they buy them. So like a price tag, the kids are leaving the “Made By…” tags on the Beanie Project hats. It’s leading to them asking questions when they actually read the tags. (“What’s alpaca fur?” “Who is Ann from Ohio?”) so they are actually getting to understand the history and the care behind the hats on their heads.

You can print your own Rad Bad Beanie tags from either of our two websites.

How-DEE! The tags fold in half, so that they have a front and a back. Feel free to use colored paper, and don't forget to circle the fiber content on the back of the tag.

If anyone is interested in putting together a small info kit on alpacas/sheep/spinning that we can send to the teens, please let us know.

Thanks again for all of your love and care in donating hats to keep these teens' noggins warm while they are doing so much learning!

Big City Mountaineers

Thanks for your love and creativity! Let's keep it up!

They were definitely a hit—the girls especially made several comments about how “cute” the hats were. We have some fall and winter excursions planned in different areas of the country, so I’ll be sending them out to use even more in the colder weather.

Check them out at the Rad Bad Beanies photo gallery!

Every hat you send earns you free tickets for the Knitzilla raffle! Who knows, your generosity could earn you some generous knit swag!

Need a stash re-hash? Check with your LYS to see whether they would offer a discount for yarn that goes to charity projects—or would outright donate some!

Tell your friends about the Rad Bad Beanies project to support urban youth!

Hi Sedda,

Another box arrived yesterday—how GREAT to see more fun colors arrive, especially when many of our older fleece hats have mysteriously “disappeared” this summer, so these personalized handmade ones are even better. Thank you to everybody who contributed to the project—with a strangely rainy and cool Colorado high country summer, they will undoubtedly be out on the trail throughout August.

Thanks!

Erin Sovick
Volunteer Manager
Big City Mountaineers

We have sent another 18 beanies to Big City Mountaineers in Colorado for their summer mentoring programs! Many thanks to our generous knitters and crocheters:

Ann M—8 beanies! (Ohio)
AJ—4 beanies! (L.A.)
Laura S (L.A.)
Erika (L.A.)
Katherine (L.A.)
Diana (L.A.)

This brings the total number of beanies donated to 34, which means that four trips of students will have warm hats to wear! The group mentors 250 students each year, so there still is plenty of opportunity to practice your creativity on your Rad Bad self!