What Are You Knitting

 What are you knitting he asked

Blankets I replied
Blankets? he inquired
Yes I replied
Why? he questioned

Because somewhere out there, there is a person who has no home, no safety, no place to go into, shut a door and feel safe. Because somewhere out there, there is a person who feels worthless, uncared for, unloved. Because somewhere out there, there is a person who is cold, while I snuggle into the warmth of my open fire, in my comfortable, safe and secure lounge room.

I knit for that person. Maybe it's not all they need, a warm blanket to wrap around them on a cold night, but it's something I can do, a small thing I can do that just might make a difference to someone who is lost and alone. The fact that I have sat and knitted, over more than a month, a blanket for them, perhaps can make some small difference in the way they view the world. Perhaps in some small way, they may feel the compassion I have for their situation. I cannot do much, but I will try to do what I can, and what I can do, is knit.

An adult sized blanket is a big project, it is not created overnight, it takes weeks of work. In the end, it may not be pretty, it may not be perfect, but it was made with caring and compassion in every stitch, and I hope that the person who wraps this blanket around them on a cold night, might just feel some of that caring. The blanket is not about me, it's about stitching into every row, some thought, some prayer, some "thing" that will help the person who ultimately receives it.

Knitting for Charity is a passion of mine, one I share with some of the ladies of the Knit For Charity group here in East Gippsland. Some of us knit, some of us donate yarn, some of us crochet, but all of us care. Sometimes there is little that we, mostly retired ladies, can do to help those in need, but our shared passion for knitting is one of the things we can do. We can sit, knit and chat! We share our lives, our ups and downs, and all the while we knit for those who have a need. We will never know the people who receive our items, we will never know whether that blanket, beanie, scarf or gloves made a difference in that person's life, or maybe helped them to know that someone cares, even in their darkness night. But that does not matter, we benefit as much as those we seek to help. As we sit together each week, we laugh, we share, sometimes we share tears too, but we bond as closely as the stitches we knit, and we feel encouraged too, just as we hope the receipients of our efforts do.

We have the ongoing support of our local Neighbourhood House and our local craft shop, and we are so grateful for both. Gayle at Neighbourhood House takes our donations and distributes them where there is need in our local community. Karen, at Stitches N Things, a long time supporter of our work, often donates beautiful yarns for us to keep creating! Local people too, often contact us and supply us with bags and bags of wonderful yarns which we knit up into items for charity. And sometimes, people who wish to remain unknown, donate knitted toys, or knitted baby clothes, which we happily send on to our charity in Melbourne. Every single item we either make, or recieve as a donation, can and is, placed where it is needed most.

So the question Why? The short answer: Because we can!!

Article by Wendy Rooke 2021