For the second year, RePlay Arts in White River Junction is joining with the Upper Valley’s yarn and thread communities to make hats to distribute to folks in need at the Upper Valley Haven.
These are your basic need-to-knows:
• Grab your wash-and-dryable hat-making supplies or find some new ones to love at rePlay Arts at 87 Maple Street in White River Junction (behind Craft Studies).
• Have fun making gorgeous head-coverings for folks who can really use them.
• Starting November 3, drop off your creations at rePlay Arts on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Fridays from 11 to 6 or Saturdays from 11 to 5.
• Make plans to join in community hat-making at rePlay Arts on Sunday, November 8 from 11 to 3 if you can.
Here’s the story behind this great community project:
Years ago, when I was a reporter for our local newspaper, I was assigned to write a story about the Upper Valley Haven. This local shelter, education center, and community food shelf had recently moved to a new location so my job was to celebrate their new digs.
Toward the end of my interview with a staff member, I asked what they could use that never got donated. Her reply was immediate: “Hats.”
It seems that kids in school were not allowed to go out at recess in winter if they did not have hats to wear. Believe me, in Vermont, that makes sense.
Now I knit and crochet so I started making and donating hats to the Haven every year. Then last year when the SNAP benefits that help feed children and their families were cut, I looked for a way to expand my little hat project because the need was even greater. And I found it in a joyful collaboration with the two women who own and operate another great nonprofit in our valley, Melanie and Jamie of rePlay Arts.
The idea behind this magical place is simple: They accept donations of gently used art and craft supplies, manufacturing leftovers, and other no longer needed materials that can be reused for artmaking. These donations are redistributed to the community through arts experiences, education programs, and sales of low- or no-cost art supplies in the rePlay shop in White River Junction, Vermont.
In addition to such things as beads, fancy paper, glitter, markers, and watercolor paints, there’s a steady stream of yarn, fleece, needles, hooks, patterns, and sewing supplies coming in the rePlay Arts doors. So together, we connected this colorful treasure trove with local knitters, crocheters, and sewers who made and donated 152 warm hats for folks in need through the Haven last winter.
So of course we are doing it again this year.
Starting on Tuesday, November 3, 2026 and continuing through April 1, 2027, bring your handmade fleece and yarn creations to rePlay Arts during their NEW open hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 to 6 and on Saturday from 11 to 5.
There’s LOTS of very cool yarn and fleece in the store for you to use in your projects. Or you are entirely welcome to use your own stash.
Just bear in mind, no matter what you use, the hats need to be wash-and-dryable.
You can knit, crochet or sew anywhere your heart desires, including at rePlay Arts on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2026 FROM 11 a.m to 3 p.m. when we will create hats in community for the Haven. Our very first STITCH-IN!!.
We have a great display of yarn, fleece, hat kits, and sample patterns right as you come in the rePlay Arts store. And there’s more in the yarn cave!
Donated hats will all get a turn to be displayed in the funky telephone booth right as you walk in the rePlay doors. (Yeah, kind of Tardis-style.)
So—to wrap it all up:
• Grab your wash-and-dryable hat-making supplies or find some new ones to love at rePlay Arts at 87 Maple Street in White River Junction (behind Craft Studies).
• Have fun making gorgeous head-coverings for folks who can really use them.
• Starting November 3 through April 1, 2027, drop off your creations at rePlay on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Fridays from 11 to 6 or Saturdays from 11 to 5.
• Make plans to join in community hat-making at rePlay Arts on Sunday, November 8 from 11 to 3 if you can. More details to come.
Thank you!!!
