Saturday, November 13, 2010

Knitting for a cause

Two weeks ago I was surprised to see my very first holiday themed commercial on TV. What?! I know that retailers need to get the gift buying message out there as soon as possible, but come on – wait for Halloween to come and go, at least. Sheesh!

However, it did get me thinking that for us knitters and crocheters, the time is really ticking away in terms of getting our gifts ready to wrap up with a lovely ribbon and give to that special someone. You may just be making a pair of mitts for a friend, or maybe you’re super-ambitious and are making socks for your entire family on size 1 needles. Yes, I did that once. (Once.)

Either way, you might think about taking a chunk of your knitting time to whip up something for a good cause. This morning I was reminded of a wonderful program by a customer who came in looking for wool to knit helmet liners. How comforting would a little bit of wool in your metal helmet be, and how much more comforting to know that someone back home was thinking about you while it was being hand made.

You can get a free helmet liner knitting pattern here, and crochet pattern here.

And the yarn that is totally perfect is Cascade 220 in any of the natural colors (tans, browns, black, gray). Should you choose to substitute another yarn, please stick with 100% natural animal fibers – wool, alpaca, etc… The military has specifically asked that no synthetics be used for these liners.

Photo: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1382/5143294619_f827eeeabd_o.jpg

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