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Knit a “Monster” for a Kid in Connecticut

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600 monstersAnyone who’s ever watched “Sesame Street” knows that not all monsters are bad. Monsters, in fact, can be a source of comfort and protection. A knit monster is a great symbol of love and happens to also be pretty quick and easy to knit.

That’s why monsters were chosen as the theme for a group called 600 Monsters Strong for Connecticut, the aim of which is to provide a knit or crocheted comfort item to each of the children who attends Sandy Hook Elementary School. The group formed hours after the shooting, as reported by the Huffington Post, and now has more than 1,100 followers on Facebook and more than 1,500 people are in their group on Ravelry (they’re still discussing what to do if they end up with more than 600 monsters, which seems likely at this point).

If you want to take part you can join the group in either of those places and knit up a monster of your own (check the Ravelry page for approved patterns and other guidelines) and send it to Ohio by the end of January. This is such a lovely project I’m really glad to see it doing well. People just want to be able to do something, and this small gesture will probably make a big difference to those kids.

[Photo by Alex via 600 Monsters.]

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Comments

  1. I am going to be a meanie of sorts here: this is at least the third “make a ______for a kid in CT” I’ve seen. Beanies, pillowcases, now animals. We all want to do something because it hurts so much. But remember: there are children in YOUR neighborhood who could benefit from these same things. Maybe you should reach out to them first.

  2. donate any above and beyond 600 to local police to carry in trunk and gv to kids when they respond to violence and kids are involved

Have you read?

Knit a Fish Pouch, for Reasons

I can’t resist a pattern that’s both useful and a little silly, and that’s exactly how I feel about the Rybka pouch pattern from the delightfully named Rat and Sea Witch.

I know you’re going to ask, because I did, too. Rybka means little fish in Polish. (And because you’re also probably going to ask, Rat and Sea Witch comes from people’s attempts to say the designer’s name, Ratasiewicz, which if you say it fast kind of sounds like rat and sea witch.)

It’s easy to make a little fish bag in different sizes to suit your needs. The pattern has specific instructions for an Airpods Pro case and a pencil case, but you could change the length easily to hold more stuff, and change the size in general by working with a different weight of yarn.

The pattern calls for sock yarn and mohair held together to make a fingering weight gauge, but you could try it with heavier yarn and see what size bag you end up with.

Whatever size you make it, this looks like a fun project for holding trinkets or everyday items. The mouth of the fish is the mouth of the bag, and it closes with a drawstring that is also the strap. I wonder, too, if you could make one of these with a small clasp frame that could be the fish’s mouth and then you could just work I cord straps that would attach to the sides of the fish.

I could also see stripes, or fish of different colors to use up your yarn leftovers. How about a sunglasses case with a little loop to attach to your bag? Once you start thinking about all the ways you could use a fish-shaped bag in your life, I think you’ll see that you probably need more than one.

If you make one of these I would love to know how it went!

You can grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Rat and Sea Witch]