Knit or Crochet Joey Pouches for WIRES Wildlife Rescue.

Community Wide Events
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[Start of original post.]

Anyone living in Australia knows about the relentless and destructive bush fires raging across the country right now. That has also left a lot of wild life without their habitat or mothers or both. Some Joeys are so very young and need a pouch to grow in.

If you are interested in knitting or crocheting some pouches to donate to WIRES please get involved. Their requirements are very simple.

  • Pure wool 8ply (DK)
  • Garter stitch only
  • 20cm x 25cm when seamed.
If you can sew you could add the lining but if not ( like me) you can send to a lady in Perth who is organizing this and she will add the lining. Some people are making the linings if they don't knit or crochet.

if you are interested please leave a message here or email me at yarnsbythebay@gmail.com

thanks for taking the time to read this.

[End of original post.]

@LizB I hope you don’t mind my re-posting this here, but I spotted your original post by accident when I was browsing, I thought it was a great idea for helping the joeys, but it might be helpful to put it in a general forum so more people can see it. (I was not sure if it was Knitting, Sewing, Events, or what, so if you think I should re-post somewhere else, or if you want to, that is fine by me.)

I also wanted to ask some questions, but I am not in the group so I couldn’t post there. What are the requirements for the linings? Wool, cotton, something else? Should they be sewn into place or left loose? I am guessing the seams should be between the lining and the pouch, so the inside is smooth and the whole thing is like a lined bag with an open top – does that sound right?

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@WeeBizzom and @LizB I created a charitable causes section and moved your item here :slight_smile:

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Thanks, @Char I wasn’t sure where to post it.

I went online and found the charity @LizB mentioned, Wires Wildlife Rescue, www.wires.org.au, and looked at their information pages on the pouches, https://www.wires.org.au/wildlife-info/wildlife-factsheets/making-possum-pouches and https://www.wires.org.au/wildlife-info/wildlife-factsheets/making-macropod-pouches. They say they need all sorts of different sizes of pouches, but basically two knitted rectangles of wool sewn together (or one folded in half). The linings should be woven cotton in the same size, sewn together to make a bag but not sewn into place in the pouch.

They also have a donations page, https://www.wires.org.au/donate/online if anyone prefers to send money. The amounts are in Australian Dollars, which are worth about 70 cents US, or 53 pence UK, or 62 cents EU, so you may want to add a bit to allow for this, e.g. $US100 = $AU142 (figures from the Financial Times currency converter page, https://markets.ft.com/data/currencies)

I am always a bit wary of sending money when I have never heard of the recipient, but I had a look at the Australian Government’s website, Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission page, https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/45de140aa9dc902c5d2f03d163387ac2, Wires are registered with them as a charity and theyseem to be legitimate.

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@WeeBizzom and @Char thank you both so much for your interest and help and for moving the post. I put it in the Aussie forum as I thought there may be makers there that could contribute. Those poor little creatures need all the help we can give them as the fires are worse than ever. It just breaks my heart.

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I am knitting up the rectangle pouches and as i don’t sew i mail them to a friend of mine in Perth and she adds the linings into the pouch and donates in bulk to her local WIRES Rescue center. i too don’t trust donating money to causes as i am a bit wary of where that money goes but knitting or crocheting the pouches I know I am providing help at ground level. If anyone would like to make the pouches I can provide a mailing address so they go directly to Perth. Postage is a killer which is why I only posted in the Aussie Group but any contributions would be of such help .WIRES do good work and will come and collect wildlife if it wanders into the wrong area or a victim of road accidents etc…Thank you again for your interest it means a lot to me.

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I just read an article that Australian wildlife organizations are asking crafters to stop sending donations. They are being overwhelmed by donations that they can’t use.

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Good to know there was an overwhelming response! :slight_smile: Better than no response at all for sure.