My normally mostly-under-control anxiety went through the roof last week. I bit my nails, picked my cuticles until they bled, and caught myself pulling my hair when I was sleeping. I lot of people I know seemed similarly overwhelmed and distressed at what has been going on at the southern borders of the United States, at what’s going on pretty much everywhere. My anxiety peaks when I am experiencing something emotionally distressing and I feel powerless to fix it.
It was helpful to me to remember that while I can’t fix the whole problem, I am not actually powerless. Aside from contacting my representatives, I was also able to donate to Kids in Need of Defense. This article from Slate has many ways you can donate or volunteer to assist families that have been separated at the border.
One other way I’ve been able to contribute is through craftivism. Many of the crafters I know occasionally work on charity projects. I find it incredibly therapeutic both to knit (which is a very meditative activity for me) and to know that my knitting is going to someone in need.
As of this moment, I have been unable to find any charities providing handmade blankets or clothes to children in detention centers, but I am certain that once crafters find a way to get access, this will change. If you know of any organizations able to give hand crafted items to these children, please let us know in the comments.
There are a lot of other organizations that do amazing things with hand crafted items, though. Here’s a list so you crafty folks can donate if you like.
Crafting for Kids
One of the largest knitting, crocheting and sewing charities that I know of is Project Linus. Project Linus collects handmade blankets and distributes them to children in distress. The project is run by local chapters, and the recipients of the blankets vary by location/chapter but include children in hospitals, emergency shelters and foster care. There’s a page of free patterns for knitting, crocheting, quilting and sewing as well.
A family member of mine is a quilter and very involved in their local chapter of Project Linus. Their quilter’s guild was contacted by a man who lots and lots of fabric to donate. His wife had to be admitted to a care home for dementia, but she had been a quilter her entire life and had acquired quite the stash. The folks at their Project Linus chapter took the fabric and made over one hundred blankets that were then given to children in emergency shelters to honor this woman’s life and her crafting.
That story always makes me a little weepy because it demonstrates how much good there is in people and how on person’s passion can be honored even when they can no longer participate in it.
One charity that I’ve donated to in the past is Knit a Square. KAS collects knitting and crocheted squares that are 8″ x 8″. The squares are then assembled into blankets in South Africa and those blankets are distributed to vulnerable children especially around the Soweto area. They also accept hats and soft toys.
I’ve enjoyed working with KAS because an 8″ square is a great way to use up leftover yarn (for me 8″ is 36 stitches in worsted weight on size 7 needles). It’s also fun to look at the distribution photos on their website and find your squares in a blanket. There are also shipping instructions for how to get the squares to South Africa in the most cost effective way possible.
Crafting for Women in Need
Knitted Knockers is an organization that pairs mastectomy patients with soft, hand knitted or crocheted breast prostheses. Breast prostheses can be heavy and uncomfortable, while this knitted version is light and soft, and can be modified easily for breast shape and size. Removing some of the fiber fill also allows women to reduce the size of the knocker as they undergo reconstruction. The Knitted Knockers website allows women to request a knitted knocker for free in the size and shape they need. Patterns for knit and crocheted knockers are located here.
Again, this a really great way to use up some spare yarn that’s not big enough for another project. Also, I delight in knitting boobies in public. “Whatcha doing Elyse?” “Knittin’ tits. How ’bout you?”
Knots of Love is an organization that donates knitted or crocheted hats to chemotherapy patients. They also accept small blankets for newborns in neonatal incubators. Their website has lots of knit and crochet patterns for hats and also for NICU blankets. To date they’ve donated just shy of 400,000 caps and blankets to those in need.
Crafting for Animals
Many animal rescues will accept donations of small handmade blankets. I recommend using a machine washable yarn for any animal blankets though. Ravelry offers this free knitted pet blanket pattern, and that pup sure looks cozy.
Petfinder is a good way to locate local animal rescues so you can ask them if they accept blankets (they almost always do). You can also donate blankets to The Snuggles Project for distribution among shelters.
Wildlife Victoria is looking for handmade pouches for orphaned kangaroos, and they have this awesome PDF on how to make Joey Pouches.
Can’t knit or sew? That’s okay. You can always make one of these no-sew fleece blankets!
So I’m going to make myself some tea and break out my knitting now.
Do you craft for charity? Which organizations do you donate to?
In the UK hospitals are requesting Twiddlemuffs, for dementia patients to fiddle with so that they don’t pull at IV lines etc
https://www.ouh.nhs.uk/patient-guide/documents/twiddle-muffs.pdf
The pet blanket is from a KnitPicks book Helping Hands which is available for free download at their website. The book has 6 different patterns for hats, PICC covers, and blankets in both crochet and knitting. You can also download the individual patterns for free.
Thank you for so many great ideas. I a beginning knitter but I do think I could manage a few of these projects.
Children’s hospitals are wonderful places to donate and I know from experience how incredibly loved the blankets and toys are. I have twins who were preemies born at 29 weeks. They spent 8 weeks in the Nicu and I still have the hats and quilted blankets that were made by the volunteers at the hospital.
Since then we have had a few more hospital stays. The children’s hospital also provides handmade pillowcases for the kids and stitched teddy bears. And wooden cars, if you’re craftiness is on the woodworking side rather than the fiber arts. As a parent having something special and handmade to hand to your child during a stressful experience is incredibly uplifting. Contact the volunteer organization that services your local hospital and they can connect you to the right people to set up the donations.
I can tell you knitters, quilters and crafters are some of the most generous people I know. My mom is very actively involved with a quilting group and they have a story similar to the one you share Elyse. They acquired a huge stash from a woman who had been a seamstress and donated blankets and quilts to a local organization helping migrant families and their kids.
I have a bunch of crocheted squares that I always meant to turn into a blanket, but they’ve just been languishing in a box forever. I was thinking of tossing them. Thank you for giving me a reason to get them out and stitch them together for kids!
Thanks for the links! These all sound like great projects and organizations. One of my Local Yarn Stores is participating in theWelcome Blanket project, which collects blankets that will be distributed to immigrants and refugees. https://www.welcomeblanket.org/
Great idea! There’s also a great website http://www.knittingforcharity.org that has lots of resources and suggestions. I’ve subscribed to her newsletter for a while now.
My crochet work is not very good but I do make handmade birthday cards for kids who end up spending their birthdays in the hospital. The charity is called The Confetti Foundation. They are located in Rhode Island. They package up a birthday party in a box and the packages are shipped to Birthday Fairies who visit the kids and decorate their room.
Crafting has been a life saver for me. I have made some wonderful friends who love paper crafting like me.
Knitting4Peace (https://www.knitting4peace.org) is a great place I knit for. They send their stuff to women and children all over the world, and they have lists and lists of patterns to choose from for crafts. It’s VERY VAGUELY religious, but it doesn’t bother me like that sometimes does. They hold a lot of symbolism in their crafts, and they serve communities that are often forgotten, like indigenous tribes in the U.S. and refugee children around the world.
“Knitting4Peace holds steadfastly to its founding Interfaith & Spiritual Commitments. We are intentional about incorporating an element of 3 in every thing we create. This element of 3 symbolizes the person who creates the item, the person who receives it, and the Mystery of Creation that creates and unites all of Creation. 3 also symbolizes the importance of the Abrahamic faith traditions to global peace. Because these three traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) represent 2/3 of the world’s population, there is virtually no chance for global peace until our Abrahamic Family is knit together in a tapestry of respect and commitment to compassionate coexistence. Our work of crafting and delivering Hope, Healing, and Peace constitutes the third 3 of our Mission’s founding commitments.”
Geez, my nails/cuticles are in the same state. Sleep is a thing of the past. You are not alone.
For the non-knitter/crocheting crafter, each year Liberation Library, a nonprofit who sends books to incarcerated teens, collects homemade winter holiday cards (cardstock non-religious, non-denom, positive vibe, no glitter, no stickers) filled with artwork, jokes and puns. I just discovered that they also collect handmade bookmarks and… BIRTHDAY CARDS.
We can all do something. Thank you, Elyse, for the reminder.
I participate as a knitter/embroiderer in a crafted-items-as-perks-for-donations project called Persistent Stitches, and it is soothing (and fun) to be able to use my hands in a way that is of some small use to progressive orgs!
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) has been encouraging kids to write letters to the children that have been separated from their parents. I imagine they’d take cards from paper crafters of any age, though.
He tweeted out the address last week:
UAC/ORR Program
ATTN: Cards for Kids
330 C Street, SW
5th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20201
Also, check out The Magic Yarn project! They make amazing wigs for children that lose their hair due to illness.
https://themagicyarnproject.com
You can knit or crochet caps and scarfs for Operation Gratitude. They send care packages to service people, veterans, and first responders. They like to have homemade items in their care packages.
operationgraitude.com