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

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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?

Knits for the Table for Thanksgiving and Beyond

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.