Knitting is a fun and creative craft that can be a wonderful method of self expression. It’s a practical hobby that enables a person to create a wide range of items, including clothing, accessories, toys, decorations and household items. It can also be used as a fine art medium. Some people discover that the rhythmical action of creating stitches is relaxing and can be a form of meditation.
Knitting is my favorite type of fiber art. It’s an old craft that is thought to have been started by males but is more popular with females today. The craft is increasing in popularity in some parts of the world, and both females and males are discovering – or rediscovering – its joys.
If you like to knit and want to help other people, there are many ways to combine the two activities. Knitting doesn’t have to be an expensive hobby. While yarn sold in a craft store is often expensive – especially the gorgeous, luxury yarns that are available – there may be some plainer yarns on sale when you visit the store. Cheap, reasonable quality yarn can also be found in home stores or even in dollar stores. Knitting a large item like an adult’s sweater can be expensive since it requires so much yarn, but it’s not necessary to create such big items to help charities. Small and medium-sized items can be very helpful!
Learning How to Knit
There are many great Internet resources that teach people how to knit and how to use advanced techniques. Here are some suggestions to get you started. It won’t take long before you can knit simple squares to help a charity.
How to Knit at Lion Brand (With Videos)
Knitting at About.com
Charities That Accept Knitted Items
Apart from Knit a Square, the charities described below are based in the United States. There are equivalent organizations in many other countries. There are also other charities in the United States that accept knitted donations.
The Lion Brand Yarns website has a knitting charity search page. On this page you can enter the name of a charity that interests you or the type of item that you’d like to knit, as well as your postal code or address and the distance that you’re prepared to travel to donate knitted items. A list of suitable charities is then created for you (as long as the charity has registered with the website).
If an organization doesn’t have a local office in your area and you don’t want to mail your knitted items, there are other ways to use knitting to help charities. Some charities and organizations in your area may be very happy to accept your donated knitted items on an individual basis. Another way to support a charity with knitted items is to sell the items at a craft fair and then donate the money to the charity.
Knit a Square
Knitted squares are versatile pieces of fabric that can be sewn together to make other items, such as blankets. The Knit a Square organization in South Africa accepts eight inch by eight inch knitted or crocheted squares. Volunteers sew the donated squares together to make blankets, which are given to children living in poverty or orphaned due to the death of their parents from AIDS.
The knitted squares are quick and easy to make. A simple garter stitch square is good, although you can use fancier stitches if you prefer. The knitting supports a very worthy charity. However, there is a cost involved in mailing the squares to the Knit a Square organization in South Africa, which might be a drawback. If you can afford to mail the squares, though, the cost can be thought of as part of the donation to the charity. One or more squares (depending on their thickness) will fit into a regular sized envelope if they are folded over and pressed firmly to remove air.
The Knit-a-Square website has knitting instructions for squares and for clothing items that can also be donated. The website also has an interesting section on making felted squares from old woolen garments.
Project Linus
Project Linus is named after the character in the “Peanuts” cartoons. Linus loves his security blanket! Project Linus asks people to create handmade, washable blankets, which are donated to children facing a traumatic situation such as a serious illness or injury or a frightening and upsetting event. The children are found in hospitals or shelters or through social service agencies. The blankets can be knitted, crocheted or quilted and are accepted in all sizes.
Blankets provide warmth to their recipients, but they can also provide psychological comfort, especially if a child knows that an item was hand knitted by someone who cares. Colorful and patterned blankets can also spread some cheer into a child’s life. If a knitter is unable to afford the purchase of a large amount of yarn to make a big blanket, a smaller blanket will probably be much appreciated by a young child.
The head office of Project Linus is located in Bloomington, Illinois, but there are Project Linus chapters and blanket drop-off sites in every state. The project’s website has links to helpful sites for their “blanketeers”.
Binky Patrol
Binky patrol also collects handmade blankets for needy children and has chapters in many areas. You might find that you live nearer to a Binky Patrol chapter than a Project Linus chapter, or vice versa. Blankets can be mailed to Binky Patrol if necessary.
Binky patrol accepts knitted, crocheted and sewn blankets, or blankets made from fleece. The blankets are given to children born with the HIV virus or AIDS, abused children, children with a chronic or terminal illness, children in foster care or children who have experienced a traumatic event.
Like the other knitting projects in this article, creating binky blankets can be a social activity. It can be fun for a group of people to socialize and work on blanket creation at the same time. Binky Patrol suggests that people hold “Bink-A-Thons”, events where a large number of people gather together with the goal of creating as many blankets as possible during the event. Bink-A-Thons could work well in schools, guide and scout groups, church groups and service organizations.
Stitches From The Heart
Stitches from the Heart provides handmade clothing for babies, including hats, booties, sweaters and blankets. The clothing is given to hospitals or any other facility which helps babies from the newborn stage to the toddler stages. Clothing is also provided for bereavement. The organization’s emphasis is on newborn babies. The donated items are knitted, crocheted or quilted.
Stitches From the Heart is based in San Diego, California but has chapters in other states. Donated items must be made in a smoke-free environment. The clothing items need to be stretchy so that they can be placed on baby body parts comfortably. There shouldn’t be any big gaps between the stitches that could trap baby fingers and toes.
The organization also accepts donations of knitting needles, crochet hooks, knitting looms and yarn to enable people in their seniors program to make baby clothing.
Mother Bear Project
The Mother Bear Project provides knitted and crocheted teddy bears to needy children. The children are usually in emerging nations and are affected in some way by the HIV virus and AIDS.
The bears must be made from the pattern provided by the organization, which costs five dollars (or six dollars for people outside the United States). Although the bears are all made from the same pattern they look very different due to the different yarns and colors that were used to make them. Some people add accessories like scarves or skirts to make their bear distinctive.
The Mother Bear Project is based in Minneapolis. The bears have to be packaged and mailed to the organization, unless the knitter lives near a drop-off site. These sites are listed on the project’s website. The knitter attaches a tag with their name to the bear and is also asked to include three dollars to help pay for the shipping to the bear’s final destination.
Knit the World
Knit the World is run by the World Vision organization. It collects knitted or crocheted caps, sweaters or blankets for children in poverty or in difficult situations in the United States and around the world. The website provides patterns which are free to download. The organization says that their preference is for people to use the patterns supplied by the organization, but they will accept items based on other patterns. They say that they like uniformity so that all the children in the donation area are treated the same and nobody feels that they have a “better” piece of clothing than other children.
Once the items are created they have to be mailed to the Knit the World organization, which is located in Pennsylvania. According to a quote from UNICEF shown on Knit the World’s website, “nearly 19,000 children under age 5 die every day mainly due to unmet basic survival needs”. One of these survival needs is protection from the elements.
Humanity One World
This article is a H.O.W. project (Humanity One World). The goal of H.O.W. is to help people who are in need.
Using Knitting to Help Others
Knitting has always seemed like a magical activity to me. I start with a long strand of fiber and end up with a fabric, which has a different appearance depending on the stitches that I use. It’s wonderful to be able to use some of the magic to help other people.
Another benefit of knitting is that it’s a convenient activity. I can work on a project when I have time and then leave it and return to it later if I have something else to do. I’m careful to make a note of where I am in a complex pattern before I leave the knitting, though.
Knitting is a great way for people to create items for their own use, items as gifts for friends and relatives, and items to help other people. It doesn’t take long to create a square for charity. The square can be worked on in odd moments such as while traveling on public transit or waiting for an appointment. Knitting can also be done while listening to music or during television advertisements.
Even if you don’t know how to knit right now, the basics can be learned quickly. Once you’ve learned these basics, you’ll probably be hooked and want to learn more advanced techniques!
, Knitting For Charity – How to Use Your Craft Hobby to Help Others www.ozeldersin.com bitirme tezi,ödev,proje dönem ödevi