The beginning of the wind down

  Good afternoon KATW readers, I hope that you've had as successful a day as we have! While the morning did not go as planned with a last minute rescheduling of the NAPHAM meeting we made up for it with a wonderfully productive meeting with the Chisomo group.
  After the late start we ventured out to Chisomo with Tasha at the wheel on another exceptionally beautiful day. I had forgotten how wonderful the weather is out here during this time of year. The warm days, rarley getting above 85 F with no humidity and a light breeze continues to be a huge relife from the typically oppressive heat and humidity of the DC summer.
 When we arrived at the Chisomo meeting house, a concrete building with a large open air porch, we were eager to see what the group had made. While members gathered we chatted with the others already present through Tasha and Amos, trouble shooting any issues they had and discussing the possiblity of selling their wares at local stores that many tourists frequent. As more members brought out their knitted items, there were two sweaters that caught my eye; one sapphire blue, the other kelly green. While Kelly thought that the blue one would look best on me it turned out that the kelly green one suited me best and the sapphire one complemented her orange.

Here we are modeling our new sweaters

And Tasha found herself a new hat!

It was wonderful seeing all of the new merchandise, buying for the American market and a few items for ourselves =) The group members, as always, showed such ingenuity for the knitting craft. I am always amazed at how they can just look at a picture or a template and not only recreate the item, but improve it by adding their own personal flair! Kelly and myself always come away from those meeitngs with our cheeks hurting because we had been smiling and laughing so much.
  KATW's hope for the next year is that the Chisomo group keep expanding by acquiring repeat customers (they have a few already), selling in the stores we suggested and expanding their partnerships with local schools who need knitted vests and sweaters for their student. After seeing what they have done today I don't have any doubt that they will be incredibly successful!