First Knitter Natter of the year filled with smiles and mountains of knitted garments.

Our first Knitter Natter of the year was a success with close to 100 guests filling Ko Awatea with bags filled with knitted garments that they had been creating over the past few months.

Guests were encouraged to display their beautiful knitted items on tables, an opportunity to admire each other's hard work. The table resembled a rainbow, filled with a variety of different coloured garments ranging from booties, hats and vests.

Much like the tables, our event was jam-packed, with guests who made the event one of a kind. Our Kaumātua, Te Teira Rawiri, encouraged everyone to sing along to some Māori songs as a welcoming. Followed by Rachel from Te Whare Rapu Ora doing a wonderful job blessing the food.

Singer/songwriter Bianca Houia, a Rheumatic Fever survivor from South Auckland, beautifully performed the Middlemore Foundation Waiata she kindly wrote for the team. As a child, Bianca spent 5 months in Middlemore Hospital fighting the disease. Our knitters were inspired by Bianca as the knitting goes into packs to prevent babies and children in Counties Manukau falling ill with diseases like Rheumatic Fever.

Two of Middlemore Hospital’s midwives gave our knitters a better understanding of where their knitting goes and what knitting they currently have a high demand for. With our wool ladies, Aileen and Marion, answering questions our knitters had.

We would like to thank our two lovely volunteers Catherine and Susan who helped us with the organisation of the event on the day. They both did a wonderful job and mentioned they thoroughly enjoyed the event themselves.

We can not thank our knitters enough for all time, hard work and love that goes into their knitted garments. It is greatly appreciated by Middlemore Foundation staff, Counties Manukau Health staff, and mothers of the newborn babies receiving knitted packs. The generosity of our knitters goes a long way and we look forward to hosting another Knitter Natter later in the year.