Help the Kids of Kenya with Knit Goodies

Do you all know about Craft Hope? It’s a really amazing group of crafters that band together periodically to make things that are donated to others. It started with 29 pillowcase dresses for children in an orphanage in Mexico and has grown such that through the years Craft Hopers have donated more than 150,000 handcrafted pieces to make the world a little brighter for kids and others around the world.

The latest project benefits We Are Kenya, and they are looking for knit (or crocheted, or sewn) hats, scarves, gloves and stuffed animals to donate to about 200 kids ages 4 to 15.

We Are Kenya is a nonprofit that works to educate children in the slum of Soweto, the second largest slum in the country. They feed the children — sometimes the only meal they get each day — and the children are taught by university-trained instructors.

These crafted items will help keep the kids warm through the winter and give them comfort they almost certainly wouldn’t have otherwise. How great is that?

The deadline for sending items is November 1. Please go to the Craft Hope website for more information and to chime in with what you’ll be making. I hope you’ll consider this project if it touches you and you have some knitting time in the next month.

[Photo from We Are Kenya via Craft Hope.]

Next Pattern:

Using your yarn stash is important to me throughout the year, but as I start to feel the end of the year coming on I get more excited about using things I already have in the house. Maybe that’s because I don’t want to go to a store in the thick of holiday shopping times, or I like the idea of having a little space in my stash when the new year rolls around.

It’s super satisfying to use up all the little odd balls you’ve made over the year (or years), and I have several stash busting blankets I work on when it’s cold and will maybe finish someday.

If you’d like to start a stash busting project that’s perfect for using up odd balls, check out the Soukish pattern from Neisha Abdulla. This pattern is made for fingering weight/sock yarn, and it’s worked in a tube with allover color work.

This is great for a couple of reasons. You don’t really have to weave in your ends when you can hide them in a tube (this is one time you might even get by just tying a knot when you change colors!) and you can change colors whenever you run out of yarn and it will look good.

Of course the pattern is made with blocks where the designer changed colors, but you can change yours more or less often as you need to make it work for your stash. You can use blank charts to design your own color combinations, or even your own stitch patterns if you like. You can also adjust the length of the scarf as needed or turn it into a cowl based on the amount of yarn you have.

This project looks like a lot of fun and would be a great thing to have on hand to stitch up and then to wear during the cold, gloomy months.

You can get a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Neisha Abdulla]

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Next Pattern:

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