Knitters Raise Funds to Aid Joplin, Thanks to a 9-Year-Old

A nine-year-old girl in Kentucky who had never heard of Joplin, Mo., before an EF-5 tornado hit there last year has raised more than $10,000 to aid rebuilding efforts, and she added to that total thanks to a trip to Stitches Midwest last weekend.

Cee Cee Creech has been knitting elephants and other little critters to raise money for Homes of Hope for the last 14 months, and at the yarn industry convention she sold 78 kits at $25 each to people wanting to make their own elephants. Combine that with $1,600 raised in an auction of elephants at the event and it was a good weekend for the organization.

They also raised money by raffling off some of the critters at the McAllister’s Deli in Joplin. Cee Cee says she doesn’t know when her efforts for Joplin will stop, and her mom notes that as long as people still want the elephants they’ll keep making them. You can follow her efforts and find out how you can help at the Elephants Remember Joplin Facebook page.

[Photo by Roger Normer/Joplin Globe.]

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Sometimes I feel like knitters get intimidated to try new things because they think they need to start with a big project. Your first time working in the round doesn’t need to be a sock, and your first colorwork doesn’t need to be a sweater, for example. You can find little projects that use the skills you want to learn to build your confidence before you move on to something that requires more time commitment.

This adorable knit bunny, for example.

The colorwork bunny from Knit Picks was designed by Amy Munson and is a kind of bowling pin shaped bunny complete with a knit hat, contrasting inner ears and a little stranded colorwork on its body. Note that the ears are attached the the hat not the bunny, but you could stitch them to the bunny if you’d rather.

It’s worked from the bottom up and also has a tiny pompom tail you can’t see in the picture but it’s a really cute touch. There are a variety of little fair isle patterns to choose from to make the best bunny for you.

The bunny comes out about 8 inches tall (or just over 20 cm) and use several colors to complete the colorwork, depending on the design you choose.

You can purchase the pattern by itself from Knit Picks, or make a kit that includes sport weight yarn in all the colors you need for your creation. There are gray and brown options for the main body of the bunny, but of course if you’re using your own yarn you can make it whatever color you like.

Once you’ve tried colorwork (maybe also working in the round and shaping if those are skills you haven’t used before) in a little project like this you’ll be ready to take on something bigger in no time.

Check out the pattern on Knit Picks.

[Photo: Knit Picks]

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