011.Knitting with a Cause: Lantern Moon Needles

http://www.lanternmoon.com/aboutus.asp

http://www.knittersreview.com/article_tool.asp?article=/review/product/050728_a.asp

I've seen these puppies all over the place - they are expensive as hell, but are of very nice quality and look (obviously).

I read the comments section on this website and stumbled across one about some lady wanting to give up her dog b/c it ate her needle and another saying "great cause." So i did some snopping and found the "about us" website.

so then i thought "how much of this shit actually goes to them?" so i called and spoke to a representative - i dont' have her name, but she was very nice and personable.

Anyway... she basically said...
1. they work with a lady in vietnam who works with the workers
2. the owners used to live in Vietnam
3. a good part of their proceeds goes to help the workers
3a. there are middle men, but the lady mentioned in #1 has a lot of integrity and the owners obviously trust her
3b. they are not for profit so 94% of their profit doesn't go to the workers like in other groups such as "dr.s without borders"
4. (and this was important to me) the workers didn't want to feel like a charity case... aka "help the helpess vietnamese" type of thing, so lantern moon doesn't go around bannering "we help the vietnamese basket weavers!" type of thing

so will i buy
yes, but i recommend going to the store first as the feel of the needles vary with the wood

will i cry when i buy
hell yeah, it's $16-35 for two sticks of polished wood! but, it goes to a good cause!

*e