Betty Christiansen says that each of us who knits can make a difference in the world by knitting for others, sharing our gift with those who are less fortunate or using it to raise awareness of issues that are important to you.
Her book Knitting for Peace: Make the World a Better Place One Stitch at a Time, shares the stories behind some of the most popular and other lesser-known knitting charities, as well as providing some basic patterns that are perfect for charity knitting.
Bringing Peace to the World
Christiansen defines knitting for peace as anything that is done with another person in mind, from knitting a prayer shawl for a friend to a blanket for a homeless person or a hat for a premature baby half a world away.
"We knitters work a powerful magic when we knit for others," she writes. "By doing so...we can build bridges between warring nations, help to heal deep wounds, offer a primal sort of comfort, and create peace -- however small, and in whatever way that may be -- for others and ourselves."
This, to me, is the ultimate goal of knitting: to bring comfort and a smile to the recipient, to let them know someone is thinking of them, even if it's someone they've never met.
The book goes through various broad themes: peace and war, peace on earth, peace at home, peace for kids and knit for peace, covering different charities that fall into those categories.
Peace on earth, for instance, tells the story of Peace Fleece, made of wool from the United States and Russia; afghans for Afghans, which does pretty much what the name says; and groups like Lantern Moon, Kenana Knitters and Rwanda Knits, which provide women around the world the opportunity to craft products and a better future for their families.
Other chapters cover such big-name charities as Project Linus, Caps for Kids and Warm Up America!, while more specialized knitting projects are also featured, including prison knitting programs, the knitting group at a Miami yarn store and a sweater project marking the passing of and raising awareness of the deaths of soldiers in Iraq.
The Patterns
In addition to profiles and contact information for a wide variety of charity knitting groups, the book includes 15 patterns that are perfect for knitting for charity.
Some of the projects are connected to charities, such as the Mother Bear teddy bear or the basic Warm Up America! afghan pattern. There's a shawl pattern from the Shawl Ministry, a security blanket from Project Linus, and an eyelet hat pattern from ChemoCaps.
In addition there are general patterns for mittens and a hat that can easily be used to knit for many different charities. There's also a messenger bag pattern and an iron-on transfer of the Knitting for Peace logo, which can be added to the bag to advertise your goal of knitting for peace.
The patterns (there are also socks, a vest, a blanket for shelter animals, a preemie hat, a ski cap for kids and a sweater) are mostly pretty easy, making charity knitting accessible even for new knitters. More experienced knitters will appreciate the quickness of patterns, allowing them to knit more and thus help more people.
If you're interested in knitting for charity and aren't sure where to start, or you just like the idea of getting information and patterns from a bunch of different charities at once, this is a great book. While many of the patterns can be found online, a portion of proceeds from the book are also donated to charity, so you get to help many times over by purchasing this book.
Publication date: October 2006.
