Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Need Something to Knit While Stuck at Home? Why Not Knit for Charity

by

There are so many ways we can help others in this time, from monetary donations to sewing masks and making blankets and other items.

It’s always true when it comes to charity knitting but maybe even more so now: check with the charity or place you want to donate to and see what they need and whether they are currently accepting donations.

Offices for nonprofits might be closed right now, or they might not want to accept donations if they don’t know they were made by a healthy person or if they are going to hospitals.

Warm Up America has current needs listed, for example, but their office is closed so they are not accepting donations to be shipped there (there are other projects that can be sent elsewhere, or you can hold items to ship later).

Hat Not Hate’s deadline is August 1, and they note that by the time the hats are distributed it’s unlikely the virus would still be active on the items. Shira Blumenthal is doing Facebook Lives on the Hat Not Hate Facebook page Monday through Friday for the foreseeable future.

Project Linus started a knit and crochet along March 7 that you can still join. You can get the pattern for a $15 donation (or $30 for both knit and crochet) and get access to a Facebook group about the project. The charity encourages crafters to contact their local collection site before sending or dropping of blankets to ensure they are still able to receive them.

Knitted Knockers says it is slowly and carefully continuing to distribute knit items on a limited basis at this time.

I know this barely scratches the surface of the options for knitting for charity but I wanted to throw out some options if you are home and looking for someone to knit for. If you have a favorite knitting charity and you know what their response is right now, let me know and I will add it to the post.

Comments

  1. Member of charity knitting group here, great to encourage charity knitting. Hope you won’t mind me saying, from experience, that it’s good to check the charity needs stuff (as you say). The field of charity knitting is littered with some well-meaning failures..we knitters are prolific, love to find a new idea, bootees for burnt koalas, octopuses for preemies etc that I’ve seen some websites disappear, innundated with items they can’t find outlets for. Do check before sending.

Have you read?

Pencil Knitting Patterns

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns! 

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil. 

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn. 

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point. 

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up. 

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.