KNITTING FOR CHARITY

As I said on another thread I've crocheted tiny hats for NICU but don't knit much nowadays. Another project I saw recently was pillowcase dresses-pattern is online and they are so simple to make.

Frankly I wouldn't knit the chickinis because it is simply perpetuating the terrible cruelty of plucking live chickens. You know why they do it, don't you? So they can use or sell the feathers. The pain the chickens experience is unimaginable - I've read of chickens screaming in pain with each feather pulled. The same thing goes on with geese so we can all have the unnecessary luxury of sleeping with goose feather duvets and pillows, or down filled ski jackets. The feathers regrow over time so guess what? They pluck them again. Geese are usually plucked live six times in their lifetime, and I imagine the same goes for the chickens. Living in Gambia, those chickens need their feathers to protect them against sunburn, so that's even more pain piled on top of the pain of live plucking.
Count me out, I want no part of this!

I am sure that you are right Ashtree. My friend is just doing her little bit to help the chickens-she does not even live there, so there is no way that she can do anything about the situation out there.

I'm sure your friend is doing this with the best of intentions and a full heart, mariana and I don't know what the answer is. I just couldn't bear to be involved, though of course I realise that doesn't help the poor creatures

Yes, I belong to a group and we make clothes for a premature baby unit. Some of the items are sold and some go to the hospital so basically we can make anything that someone may buy. This makes it more interesting. My next project are some daft froggy baby bootees. The crocodile gloves (the child can grab with the crocodiles mouth) went well last year.

My 8 year old grand daughter stayed with us last weekend and unexpectedly brought wool. She had spent her pocket money on it! She wanted to crochet a cover for her tablet so I managed to download a pattern but with the benefit of hindsight, I could have invented an easier one. My grand son wants one too so I am making one in his football team colours. This might be an idea for our sales table using local football team colours. My grand daughter went home very happy with her cover and didn't seem worried about the irregularities.

I knit coats for greyhounds !! I call them my "greyhound dressing gowns" . It's such easy-peasy knitting, no complicated pattern to follow (I always get hopelessly lost with a pattern !) Once I've managed about a dozen I send them off to a charity who then send them out to Spain for the rescued Spanish "galgos"...although the days are pretty warm, the nights can be perishing cold, and the dogs usually have no shelter....greyhounds have very little body fat and very thin fur and so feel the cold a lot. I have two retired greyhounds and they each have their own "dressing gown" for the chilly nights !

I, too, have knitted little jackets for chickens (and they look so cute ! ) and used to send them to a rescue in Norfolk, where they help ex-battery chickens who pull their own feathers out through complete stress, poor things.

I knitted dozens of teeny tiny hats last year to go on Innocent Smoothie bottles. They have this promotion every year to raise funds for Help the Aged. Every hatted bottle purchased has 25p donated to the charity. It's such fun looking at the Innocent website to see all the amazingly creative hats that people knit. I'm afraid mine were all quite simple (boring even!) by comparison.

So lovely to read about all the things that you lovely people have made.
Our Premature Baby unit, based in Scotland, called Bonnie Babies are quite specific on what they want or do not want, so we have to keep to their instructions. I had not heard of the coats for greyhounds. But such a lovely idea.

We have also knitted or crocheted hats for the Innocent bottles. I kept to plain too, but as you say Ash tree, there are sme wonderful vasried things that others have done-I have a friend with wonderful imagination who does all kinds of creations.

I think it can be a problem getting things to where they have to go, without spending a fortune on postage. .Our group is lucky that we have someone who actually delivers to the local homeless society. But we have now discovered that if you use a courier it is much cheaper than the Post Office.. We were paying £15.00 a time on pp, but My Hermes will do the same weight for a fiver. We have a local shop where they can be dropped off, but they will also collect.
Does not save on much, if any on smaller packets. Plus it can all be done on line.

Mariana, could you give me the address or link to the charities you knit for, please?

Yes, I knit for a charity called LILY which provides blankets, knitted items and other goods for Syrian refugees in camps in Turkey.
However, the postage is sometimes a bit prohibitive so sometimes I donate the money instead which goes towards milk and nappies for babies, water, and flour for bread.
love-in-the-language-of-yarn.blogspot.co.uk/

Hi Marelli. At the moment we are knitting for Bonnie Babies, a search should finmd that. Plus a local homeless society in Maidstone. We found this through our council, we did not even know about it. So you could check your council out for somewhere local.

I also saw a page in The Sun last week, asking for people to knit little jumpers [simple pattern] and baby hats. Patterns in paper. Good news, everything can be sent FREEPOST to The Sun.

I have not heard of Lily, but sounds a lovely thing to do. this is the trouble with sending abroad, especially now that the post Office keeps putting up their prices. It would be nice if they did a special rate for charity items.

Thank you, Mariana, I'll see what I can find out.

I knit cardigans and hats for prem' babies via a local charity and others for 'fish and chip' babies. I have made pillowcase dresses and several quilts for 'Linus'. My sister IL has a sale every other year selling home handicrafts of all sorts so I make things for that too.

It would be nice if they did a special rate for charity items

I suggested that in an email to them but they won't do it.

I have to ask, What are fish and chip babies. Soubds like you are doing a great job Ginny.

People in my knitting group also knit various charity items. We have made fish and chip babies jumpers, mice for a charity fundraiser, hats for seafarers, and premature baby clothes.
I have just come across this to make 'Twiddlemuffs' for people with dementia. It is like a muff with things inside and out to fiddle with thus providing stimulation.
You will find the pattern at:
airedale-trust.nhs.uk
I am sure any care home or hospital would like this idea.
I would love to know if any Gransnetters have seen these being used or have views on whether they would work.
Just about to knit my first one, have collected cotton reel, ribbons, cord, rubber bracelet and zip so far to sew on .

i still need to know-what are fish and chip babies ?

Never heard of Twiddlemuffs, but what a great idea.

It is so heartwarming to hear of all the knitting retc being done for charities.

Fish and chip babies are babies born to third world mothers who are so poor that they take their babies home from hospital (if they are even born in hospital) wrapped in newspaper.

Thanks Elegran Missed the question.

Oh thanks Elegran--i had never heard that term before. Poor little mites !!!

I don't understand the hats for "Innocent bottles. I think they just help to promote a commercial product and that instead of knitted bottle covers it would be more useful if they were sponsoring a knitted object which would be of some practical use.

I agree Nelliemoser. I wondered if I was missing the point but I can't see what use they are. Do they all end up in the bin?

I have never really understood the point of 'yarn-bombing'.

I just think 'Oh, all that lovely yarn and all that effort could have gone to making garments or blankets for children who are in desperate need'.

But perhaps that is just me!

I think they are just for raising money. Each little hat brings in an extra 25p a bottle, asnd some people just like doing them. and they only use up scraps of wool. When I was teaching "special needs" to knit and crochet, they made some of these as their first real "Project"--it made them feel really proud to make things that would help someone else.

What I hate to see is people knitting covers for cars--or trees--using up huge amounts of wool and time, both of which could be put to more use, by helping others in some way