a french knitter, new onboard !
my name is Isabelle, I am 34, have three children. I have been knitting since I was a child.
I'm a flight attendant, for Air France (did I mention I am french ?), and during a flight from Paris to Atlanta, I met a lovely lady. She was knitting with circular needles; a pair of socks I believe. We talked and talked, and finally, she taught me how to knit with these needles. She invited me to visit her page on Ravelry. And this is were I heard about KAS !
I have been knitting ans crocheting for KAS for a year now. It is a great pleasure (and releive !) to see that my parcels, big or very small, have arrived safely.
But I must say that the cost of postal services in France is terrible, sometimes I have to wait to send my parcel, just to be able to afford it. So I had an idea; I talked about KAS to my mail man, and he offered to ask his directors if I could send a parcel or more for free ! little chance, but who knows ? So I have translated some of KAS history, informations, into French, (not sure a french mail service director knows much english ...).
If this translation could be of any help to somebody in France, let me know. Maybe it could be useful to have a leaflet translated in most language, available on the website ?
I am also trying to convince my parish to work for KAS ...
Another thing : I could have the opportunity to fly to Johannesburg, once in a while. Do you think we could arrange that somebody from KAS come to fetch a parcel ? As I have no weight limitation, I can bring a suitcase of squares, hats, jumpers and so !
Sorry for this very long text, so much to tell, and so much to ask !
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jan B on
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Hi Isabelle
Just a thought.
You mentioned that the price of postage from France is terrible, also that you are a flight attendant. Do you ever fly to the UK mainland ?
Would it be cheaper for you to send items to SA from the UK ?
Not sure how prices would compare but here are the UK Royal Mail prices for Surface Mail.
Takes a while to arrive but much cheaper than Air Mail.
You would need to check the package size limits (details on link)
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?mediaId=400393&catI... -
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Permalink Reply by Isabelle Bourguignon on
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no, I don't fly to the UK, I mainly fly further away from home ! But thanks anyway. I really think the better way would be to fly to Johannesburg, if I could find a way of delivering the squares to KAS !
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Permalink Reply by Pam Antink on
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Dear Isabelle, We very much want to broaden the website to include other languages - Dawne & I were discussing this via e-mail only a few days ago! If you have the time during your busy schedule (work & 3 children permitting!) could you check out the Kas-on-a-Page flyer on the main website - this would be the most useful info for translation. The only thing missing on the page is the mention of the metre of yarn to be left on the end of each squares.
Also it would lovely if you could check the members page on the forum from time to time, and, if you spot any of our friends in France signing up - to give them a greeting in French. There are existing members and it would be great if you could form a Group!
No need to apologise for the long text, we enjoy hearing members stories and progress. Bless the lady who introduced you to KAS! -
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OK ! I will translate the flyer into french. I also have the opportunity to translate it into spanish, german, japanese (who are great knitters !), italian ... very easy, I have loads of foreign friends, family and colleagues ...
Which is the best way to send you these translations ? -
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Permalink Reply by Sandy McDonald on
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Greetings Isabelle, what a great story! It reminds me of the children's book, Where is Wally. I am sure that we could soon write a book called 'Where is KAS?' with all the places that it has got itself too. Thank you so much for sharing how you came across KAS with us.
Last year we actually tried to get the flyer translated into French, but the person we sent it too never got it back to us. We also wanted to have it done in Spanish and Italian.
Once it was done the plan was to put it up on the website, with the right keywords translated as well, so that we could be found for people searching for knitting for charity, or how to make a difference or AIDS orphans in another language.
If you were happy to do the translation for us, could you send it direct to me and I will organise to have it put up on the site and in the resources here as well. Thank you so much for offering to do this. Before you do, I might just check that the flyer is totally up to date and send you the keywords and description required for Google to find us. Fabulous Isabella, perhaps you could contact me direct on Sandy@knit-a-square.com
Yesterday I found an organisation calling itself knit a square (as part of the google alerts I get). I wrote to them to congratulate them on doing similar work and asked whether we might join forces. Turns out they are three women in South Africa who live really closely to Erin and they had never heard of us. So now they are excited to talk to Erin about how they can help. Isn't the online world just plain amazing? -
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yes I do think that internet is a wonderfull link, and sometimes with your own neighbours !
No problem with the translations, I will wait for the new version of the flyer (does it not include the metre of yarn we must leave on a square ?). Then I 'll give it to my "team" !!! my email : bourguiboy@gmail.com
About customs in South Africa, I don't think I'll have any problem (but i'll ask before hand, of course) , usually they only search us (the crew members) for drugs an alcohol, they are not interested in wool ! And I can divide the parcel into as many little bags , so each crew member can help me carry them. It can be an opportunity to send you others items as well, such as toys ???
thanks for your reply, it's good to see that I can help. With my work, I travel in so many countries were I 'd like to help. But it's not easy to find the proper way ... -
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Permalink Reply by Dawson on
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Hey Sandy! I remember you mentioning in one disscusion or comment or something that you though with those two chinese members we had reached Asia, but it didn't end up very well. Maybe Isabelle knows some people who know Chinese, so that could be one of the languages maybe? China has over a billion people, so that language would make KAS accesible to almost a billion more people (it can't really reach the poor, isolated villages, though). Just a thought.
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it can be done, but not for a while. At Air France, we have chinese translators, but they only fly to China, and for the moment, I don't have the visa; so no chance of flying there. I have already found translators for German, Italian, French (obviously !) and Dutch. But I am still waiting for the final correction of the flyer ??
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Permalink Reply by Rachel A. on
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You should probably just email Sandy with your questions about the flyer (Sandy@knit-a-square.com); I don't know how often she looks through all of the forum messages =).
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Yeah, I'll be best just to email Sandy. She's so busy that it's probably hard for her to look through all the posts.
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done !
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