Bolivian Knitters Help Heal Hearts

The indigenous Aymara women of Bolivia have knitting as part of their heritage, but now they are able to use old skills in a new way by helping make medical devices to save the lives of children born with holes in their hearts.

The device, known as Nit Occlud, was designed by Franz Freudenthal, a cardiologist in La Paz. It looks like a little top hat knit out of wire and can be made in different sizes to block a hole in the heart.

It’s made of nitinol, a nickel-titanium alloy, and can be collapsed and inserted into the body through a catheter. It’s only expanded when it gets where it needs to go, making the procedure minimally invasive and inexpensive, which is a must in Bolivia, the poorest nation in South America and a place without enough cardiac doctors to treat kids with heart problems, which can also be more serious in the high altitudes.

It takes about two hours working in a clean room to knit a device, and knitter Daniela Mendoza told the BBC she’s glad to be able to help.

“We are very happy, we are doing something for someone so they can live,” she said.

[Photo via BBC.]

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

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