Remember when I had a bad day at work and it ended up in me bringing home a mass of knitterly goodies? There was a skein of discount yarn somewhere in that pile that also came home with me, with a particular purpose: the innocent Big Knit 2011. And here we are, a few weeks later, and I’ve just sent off a little army of 10 tiny hats to Innocent Belgium! I have to say I was quite excited taking these to the post office! And I even had a little chat about knitting IN FRENCH with the lady at the post office counter (ok, I understood only about half of the conversation, but I’m still quite proud!).
This is the first time I’ve knit for charity, and I have to say it wasn’t out of some particular sense of duty. Actually, this whole initiative led to some interesting conversations about the value of knitting for charity at my knit group: in terms of the time a knitter invests, the (meagre) amount of money which the company donates in return, and the good amount of publicity which the company itself receives in the process. I don’t have a particular passion for knitting for charity, nor any strong feelings against it. This time I was simply inspired to do it by a pretty skein of yarn! :) I should also admit that the potential of running into one of my little hats somewhere at the supermarket when the action goes live would be pretty awesome!
The hats were basically knit up in two evenings. I knit them flat because I don’t like knitting small circumferences in the round. I really enjoyed making up different stitch patterns and trying them out on such a small scale.
And the yarn (Gedifra Fiorista Fino) made me think that I should really reconsider cotton (which I normally never ever use). Look at that stitch definition! It was lovely to use, a real pleasure.
All in all, it was a fun activity, and the products may even do a tiny bit of good somewhere out there…
How about you? Any strong opinions on knitting for charity? Did anyone participate in The Big Knit? I’d love to see others’ tiny hats!
fridica 
Your tiny hats are adorable — very sweet. I recently posted on my blog about knitting hats for charity; in my case, hats that would be going to people in need of warm woolies to wear. Amidst all my regular knitting, I always make sure to knit a little extra something (hat, mitts, scarf) that I can then package up and send off to a needy cause. I encourage my two teenagers to knit for charity as well. Since I love knitting so much (and knit all the time), it’s actually a very easy and simple way for me to help someone less fortunate.
I’ve never heard of the Big Knit, but those hats are quite cute. (At first I was trying to figure out what could fit such a small hat. My conclusion had been penguins…)
Hahahah, that would be very tiny penguins indeed! :D
so, you can knit in french now! hoorray!
I do a couple things a year for charity, but mostly I make things and give them away to family and friends…although I have started to make some hats for the homeless shelter in town…
Awwww, they’re cuuuuuuuute! And friendly-like. Double bonus points for you :D
I have knit for charities on a couple of occasions. the first time it was to take my mind off my own problems- I knit almost 100 hats for charity. I knit them at work during break and at home while I watched tv. I had been diagnosed with skin cancer and starting my treatments- luckily it all came out ok. And I think the hats I knit for kids while going for treatments helped me keep a positive outlook. because really how can any one be sad while knitting a nice warm hat for a child. And maybe I made some good mojo for myself because after 7 surgeries I have had several good years.
and just recently I knit animal pals for Children’s Hospital Oncology program. I had great fun with this and even won a prize for knitting the most animals. I think it is great to knit for a charity and it is especially nice to knit for kids. my friend Jana featured some of my animals on her website recently if you want to see.
http://justblocked.blogspot.com/2011/10/receycling-swatches.html
and I love your little hats – I love all your knitting so much. I really love the idea of giving back when we can. Sometimes it is only a little thing but it can mean a lot to someone that is having a hard time to know that someone that they don’t even know cares enough to make something for them.
I just went over to look at your toys and they are amazing! I love that you find inspiration and comfort in knitting for others, and I have to say that this form of knitting for charity would definitely be much closer to my heart than knitting these little anonymous hats for juice bottles (as cute as they may be). Your animals are absolutely brilliant, and the fact that you use your old swatches for them makes them even better – they get an additional element to the story of their creation. I have a feeling that they might end up being the chidrens’ favourite toys… :) Thank you for commenting, this is really something worth sharing! Ivana
p.s. Where in Germany are you giving your classes?