Knitting For Peace
 

I got this book free to review from Netgalley and I am not finished reading it yet, but just wow. It is so not what I was expecting. http://www.amazon.com/Knitting-Peace.../dp/1584795336
It has stories of and links to different organizations that either knit items to give to charities or use knitting as a job for women and it is just amazing. I never thought I would be almost in tears from a knitting book. It is really inspiring and makes me wish I could do something helpful like that.
Have any of y'all read it or are any of you involved in charitable knitting groups?

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

I've read it, and I am involved in several charity knitting groups. I really love charity knitting. :heart

I run a local Head Hugger chapter for distributing chemo caps, and I also send bears and have volunteered time with MotherBear. I've donated to other charities in the book (isn't Wool Aid in there? I'm trying to remember who else....) and have had nothing but great experiences. There are some wonderful charity knitting revelry groups, too.

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

That is so neat! I am not a very good knitter and knitting too much makes my arm hurt (car wreck several years ago) but I would love to do some charity knitting. I would really like to do the chemo caps but am not sure if I am even good enough to do that.
How do I find out if there are charity knitting groups in my area?

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

Many charities will also accept items that are sewn, if that is any easier for you.

Most of the charities pick incredibly simple patterns, so you can have little or no knitting experience and still complete the project. We receive a wide variety of hats, from incredibly simple (just a knit rectangle seamed up the side) to quite complex. They are ALL equally loved and appreciated. You do not need to make anything fancy. For chemo caps, many charity groups will also accept loom-knit items, which can be easier on the arms to make.

A good way to find local chemo cap knitting charities is to either search on revelry under their groups (there is even a search option for groups within a certain number of miles of you) and searching the national headhuggers site.

I wrote a small blog post on charity knitting a few years ago, and included a bunch of links that might help: http://www.hippiemommy.com/2012/02/2...-you-can-help/

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

One of the knitting groups I'm in knits for http://www.clickforbabies.org/ very year, and most years we pick an additional charity project.
As well, we knit hats for a fundraiser where people take donations to shave their heads for a local group helping people who have cancer.
I also enjoy knitting prayer shawls as I feel led, and passing them around :tu

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

I love the idea of charity knitting! How have I never heard of this before?? I knew about charity sewing things, specifically Project Linus. Don't know why it never occurred to me that of course there's similar things for knitting... :doh

Does anybody know if you can knit or crochet blankets for Project Linus?

My daughter received a Linus blanket during her stay for meningitis as a neonate, and thinking about seeing her wrapped up in that warm fuzzy blanket when I came to see her in the PICU still makes me tear up 3 years later. :happytears

I've thought about making some of those, but I don't sew. Well, I've tried to sew. It doesn't usually end well... :blush

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

Project Linus does take knit/crochet items :yes

http://www.projectlinus.org/volunteer/


---------- Post added at 09:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:23 AM ----------

Also, hospitals will usually take blankets as well. You can look at their websites and often find more info. When my mom was put on hospice, she was given a handmade (crochet) blanket that was wrapped around her. She was in a coma, so they just placed it on her. After she died, I took it home, and it is really special to me. It meant so much that someone took the time to make it and that it was one of the last things my mom touched. They told me that they ran out often and were always looking for more donations. I've found the same to be true with local hospitals and chemo caps.

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

I don't know what the deal is with my state, but we don't seem to have many chapters of organizations that do this kind of thing:-/ I think I just need to pick something and donate were I can, even if it isn't local

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

Lately, I have been knitting washcloths. That is about my speed and skill level. :O Anything else that simple for charity knitting? I did knit some baby booties once that were pretty simple - any other ideas? I need to find a group in my area still - will look online more when I get home.

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

My grandmother does this. It gives her purpose as her days pass and going and doing become more difficult for her. It's been pretty inspirational.

When we were on assistance years ago we received a blanket from the hospital that covered my prenatal care. It is very special to me and I look forward to being able to return that gift to someone someday soon.

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

Our local hospital takes blankets and uses them in a special way. They give blankets to everyone, but if a patient is terminal, they make sure there's another blanket folded at the bottom of the bed. This notifies non-medical and other staff (x-ray techs, etc) of the situation so they know to be extra sensitive to the families. Otherwise they wouldn't know due to HIPAA.

Dd has so many blankets. And pillowcases. We appreciate them. :heart

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

Thanks for the info and the links. I've been wondering about charity knitting and didn't know where to begin.

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

I'm at the point where they talk about prayer shawl ministries and the spiritual aspect of knitting as a sacred practice. Part of the celtic Christian tradition is taking the mundane - starting the fires, milking the cows, weaving - and making it an act of prayer. I have found that knitting is a very grounding and elevating experience at the same time. Grounding because I must stop, focus, work with my hands; Elevating because acts of creativity helps me connect with that aspect of us that God created.


When my oldest daughter was 10, her appendix ruptured and she spent a week in the hospital. I am a type-A so sitting around watching tv wasn't an option for me, so knitting was my release. One night I finished a baby blanket I was working on. When the nurse came in to check on dd, I mentioned that I had seen a little one down the hall alone and wondered if they might want the new blanket for the baby (they had the baby across from the nurses station so they could get some work done and watch the baby too. If there had been anyone with the baby, I would have asked them directly). She said 'oh, I'll go ask and see'. She came back a few minutes later chuckling and said that they didn't even wait to let her finish the question before they snatched it up and covered that little one with the blanket I had just completed. It's a very powerful memory to think of that small nameless, faceless (just saw the sleeping bundle) baby covered in something I created.

Just pondering this wonderful idea that we can connect with God and serve His children with the same action of creativity.

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

I truly feel that handmade items are particularly powerful because they are tangible and useful while also being representative of a person's depth of love (shown through the time spent and the thought put into it.)

When I made my mom her prayer shawl, it was a small attempt to keep her warm and let her know that I wished I was there hugging her. I wanted her to know that I'd knit my hopes, tears, prayers and fears into it. Every time she was hospitalized, and I tried to rush to be by her side, the workers would tell me that she'd told them about her shawl and that she would cry when she shared it.

After she died, I brought the shawl back to my home on the other side of the country, and I still wrap it around me. It is a comfort... Something that she loved and held... a way to feel warm and have a tangible experience of our relationship even though she's gone. In one of those twists of life, what I made to comfort her is now a comfort to me.

Handmade items have a way of doing that. Things made with love feel like love... Just like how home cooked meals taste different than foods made in an industrial assembly line.

I have things that my mom made for me when I was a child - dolls, framed cross-stitch, afghans. It is so special to me to know that I have something that she really put her heart and soul into making. It has such a deeper connection than the stuff that was store bought.

Re: Knitting For Peace
 

Following. :heart