Hundreds of scarves up for grabs in Old Market Square
If you take a stroll through Old Market Square this weekend, you might notice hundreds of handmade scarves hung up all over the area.
Chase the Chill Winnipeg is a scarf bombing organized by a group of volunteers who work all year knitting free scarves for those in need. Then every year on the first Saturday of December the group hangs them up in the Exchange District for anyone to take.
“I think my final (scarf) count was 509 this year,” said Alana Spindler, coordinator for Chase the Chill Winnipeg.
Chase The Chill was started in 2010 in Pennsylvania to address the need for warm accessories for people who are vulnerable during the winter months, and in 2011 Chase the Chill Winnipeg became the second chapter in the world.
Spindler said there are few key elements to the project.
“(We want) to provide a charitable gift to anyone -- without any qualifier and without any payment,” she said.
The project is also designed to draw attention to yarn craft as an art that can be accessed by anyone, and to beautify a public space in the city that is accessed by all walks of life.
Spindler said Chase the Chill is a way crafters can serve their community while doing something they love, and they make sure no scarf goes to waste.
“There’s usually some left over, I try not to leave them beyond Monday morning. So if there’s anything left I do collect them, and historically I brought them to Main Street Project or Christmas Cheer Board,” she said.
People who want to get involved can find the group on Facebook at Chase the Chill in Winnipeg, or on Instagram at ctcwpg.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.