Author: Rain Gilman

Wow, our February meeting was on fire! We had 31 knitters & crocheters spanning ages 9 to 90. We took up three long, proud tables. And yippee to all the first-time folks who showed up! Great job, creative people.  Anyone and everyone is welcome at our table. 

Still feeling shy? Then come to sit and watch. You will feel motivated to climb up that straight needle high dive ladder to get ready for a wonderful dive into the mohair, acrylic or alpaca adventure known as knitting. Come on in, the yarn is fine!

Next Knitters Meet-ups: Tuesday March 10th, Tuesday April 14th, and Tuesday May 12th. We meet EVERY 2nd Tuesday of each month from 7-9pm at Old Stove Gardens. See you here!

During February, Sustainable Ballard’s, ‘Free Letters Home’ team has been offering Lunar New Year,

cards/envelopes to folks at Ballard Food Bank. Those interested have been joyful and enthused about

the cards that depict, The Year of the Horse. The card recipients have given us many blessings in return.

Symbolic chocolate coins were included, along with wishes for Happiness and Prosperity for this

Lunar New Year, The Year of the Horse, starting February 17th, 2026.       

Dreaming about getting back out in your garden? Here’s something you can do indoors while you wait – visit the National Nordic Museum for the exhibition “New Nordic: Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place” (link: https://nordicmuseum.org/exhibitions/new-nordic-cuisine-aesthetics-and-place). One of the features is a video about the “Extreme Salad Man,” Stephen Barstow, who grows his own unique salads year-round, even in Norway. It shows some of the plants he grows and shows how useful perennial edible plants are for longer seasons and easier gardening. It’s exhibit A2, Genomic Gastronomy, on the first display.

Next month we’ll start planning this year’s Edible Garden Tour. Email Alyssa if you’d like to join the planning team to help this year’s tour come to life!

This year’s Spring Beer Hop will be Saturday April 18th in Ballard’s Brewery District. Join us for another fun Hops Hop in the Hood for Good! Tickets available HERE.

Winter is a wonderful time to dream, plan and share resources for your upcoming 2026 gardening season. Saturday January 31 you can join our friends at the Washington State Seed Library Network for a seed swap featuring seed exchange/share, workshops and tabling with Garden Hotline and Master Composters on hand. This is a great opportunity to get inspired, learn, and share your own gardening tips with others.

If you are bringing seeds to share please make sure they are labeled with crop and variety name and date. Please don’t bring seeds older than 2022 as a guideline. Cuttings and plant divisions from your garden are welcome.

Saturday Jan. 31st 2-4pm at the Phinney Neighborhood Association located 6532 Phinney Ave N.

Our friends are Tilth’s Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands will be hosting a Community Seed Swap on Sunday February 1st from 1-4pm. This is a family friendly event with all sorts of tables to share edible, medicinal or floral seeds. They will be sharing potted native plants from their community nursery and live stake cuttings from wetland plants like thimbleberry, salmonberry and nine bark. Garden Hotline will be on-site to answer questions. Also, there will be seed themed snacks like Tuscan bean soup and chia seed pudding.

This event is rain or shine with all seed tables indoors while actives will spill into the outdoors. Located at 5513 S. Coverdale St.

Our Game and Puzzle Exchange had a robust year with over 652 people participating in shared economy and rehoming quality items. Not to mention just having fun and enjoying community! Here are the projects successes by the numbers.

Total’s For 4 Game & Puzzle Exchange in 2025
Number of People: 326
Number of Games Brought: 114
Number of Puzzles Brought: 199

Breakdown:
March 9, 2025 (Ballard Library)
Number of People: 48
Number of Games Brought: 22
Number of Puzzles Brought: 63

June 7, 2025 (Ballard Library)
Number of People: 26
Number of Games Brought: 11
Number of Puzzles Brought: 15

September 27, 2025 (Sustainability Festival)
Number of People: 188
Number of Games Brought: 51
Number of Puzzles Brought: 63

December 14, 2025 (Ballard Library)
Number of People: 64
Number of Games Brought: 30
Number of Puzzles Brought: 58

The market gleaners had an abundant year! Our volunteers collected 31,151 lbs of produce from the farmers market to share with our neighbors at the Ballard Food Bank. That’s almost double what we collected last year! Together, we had 54 volunteers give 590 hours of their time to share this local produce with our community. Thank you to all who did the heavy lifting and sorting. If you would also like to join our team in 2026, feel free to email gleanballard@gmail.com.

The gleaning program, part of Sustainable Ballard, is an opportunity for volunteers to donate their time to the community by collecting donated food from vendors at the Ballard Farmers Market and bringing it to the Ballard Food Bank. Last year, we collected over 31,000 pounds of food for the Food Bank! Gleaning is a great way to connect with other volunteers, vendors, and the farmers market staff, all while helping to ensure that our neighbors have access to fresh, local produce.

Looking to give back to your community this year? The Ballard Tool Library is hosting a volunteer orientation from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, February 8. Come learn more about how our affordable rentals are helping Ballard DIY’ers complete their projects more sustainably. Volunteers are expected to complete at least one two-hour librarian shift once a month, or help our team of fixers keep our inventory working.

We’d love to see you on Wednesday, January 28th from 6:30-7:30pm at the Ballard Library (5614 22nd Ave NW) for our Annual Meeting Open House! Whether you’re a longtime member or simply curious about what we do, this is the perfect opportunity to celebrate all we accomplished in 2025 and help shape our plans for 2026.

If getting more involved is one of your New Year’s resolutions, we’ve got you covered! We’ll have fun, interactive stations where you can explore different ways to contribute to our year round projects and community events. Whether you want to lend a hand at a community gathering, get involved in service projects, or just attend, there’s something for everyone. If you’re new to the neighborhood please stop in and find out about our shared resources like the Tool Library, puzzle & game exchanges, and community connection opportunities.

We’ll also take time to thank our outgoing Board members and welcome the new faces who will help lead us into 2026. And speaking of moving forward, we’re eager to hear your ideas and suggestions for the year ahead! Got a project you’d like to actualize? Come share your ideas, collaborate and get inspired.

Expect light snacks, drinks, and a chance to engage with community. It’s a fantastic way to meet new neighbors, reconnect with old friends, and be part of the vibrant Ballard community. 

Our knitters had an incredible 2025 and they’re ready to be even more amazing in 2026. We meet every first Tuesday of the month at Old Stove Gardens in Ballard from 7-9pm. Already a seasoned knitter? Great, come have some fun with other knitters and share your skills! Never knitted or it’s been a while? No worries, this group has you covered and can even teach you the basics in just 3 minutes.

For the new year there’s a new knitting opportunity. Take the 26 in 26 challenge! You keep count of how many items you knit and donate. If your total in December 2026 ends in an increment ending in 6 (6, 16, 86)… then you will be entered to win a fabulous prize worth…$6.00!!! Ya-hoo!

We look forward to seeing you next Tuesday January 13th for the first meet up of this year! Tuesday February 10th and Tuesday March 10th are the upcoming sessions. Questions? Email Us!