About one year ago today I was introduced to two of the most amazing groups I had ever encountered in my life as a knitter/crocheter. Both of these groups were so wonderfully welcoming. I still enjoy being a part of Needles & Hooks, Angels & Preemies, and Marianna's Lazy Daisy Days. I've discovered that charity knitting, crocheting, sewing, looming, and weaving is thriving in the UK. Because I have so many friends living in the UK I wanted to dedicate today's blog to UK charitable groups.
I have to say that I do wish there were as many long term, well organized, charity groups dedicated to sharing handmades with the world in the United States as there are in the United Kingdom. Its truly phenomenal. One of my absolute favorite designers Marion Leys. I have been a member her group on Facebook for 1 year (give or take a couple of weeks) It was a VERY happy day when I discovered Marianna's Lazy Daisy Days. There's a very good reason that her blog has received over 5 million views. Marion's patterns are beautiful, creative, intuitive and most of all functional. I've written about Marion Leys 2 times previous however, so many of her pattern are used by charities all around the world that one simply cannot discuss charity knitting in the UK without at least touching on the prolific and beautiful work of Marion Leys. Marianna's Lazy Daisy Days blog has been active since at least 2013 and every year she adds more and more pattern designs. She does sell some of her patterns on Ravelry for a very reasonable price. However, most of the patterns she designs are completely free and available on both her blog and on her Ravelry page. Marion Leys truly enjoys seeing others have the pleasure of showing their completed projects to her group on facebook. She is one of the most gracious people I have met in the knitting/crocheting world. Though many of you who have followed this blog know of my deep appreciation for the work of Needles & Hooks Angels & Preemies, I did want to mention this Facebook group again. Their amazing, tireless, relentless love of people of all ages, walks of life, and countries has made this group very dear to my heart. The facebook group is made up of nearly 6,000 members including people like myself who are not contributors directly to their campaigns in the UK. In June of this year NHAP sent out over 7,000 handmade items to charities around the UK and then on to the world. Its impressive and I am proud just to be able to watch them in action. There are a couple of groups that I have not written about before but I know are really prolific and do important work. One of which I learned about in the Sunday Mirror believe it or not. The Mirror is a newspaper sold in the UK but they have an online presence also. I read this article about how the Sunday Mirror and group entitled Knit for peace were teaming up to help refugees. This article was written back in September of 2015 but how cool that Knit for Peace was there to answer the call for help. Knit for Peace started organically and now has 11,000 members. You can read all about their start as an organization here. It is really a worthy organization to consider when giving your handknit/crocheted items to charity. Their current needs are listed here, and the address to mail your donation is found here. There is also a Facebook and Twitter page where one can keep up with the latest news! Check out their Ravelry group too! (What you aren't a member of Ravelry yet?) The last organization I wanted to share is the UK Handknitting Association's Charity Knitting page. "The UK Hand Knitting Association (UKHKA) is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting hand knitting and associated yarn crafts." Part of promoting hand knitting and yarn crafts is promoting donating to charity so I wanted to include the link to their charity page in this blog entry. The UKHKA has a lovely facebook page and a group on Ravelry so please look at their pages and follow along. They are so enthusiastic about the art I love. Its fantastic. I admire the dedication of those with whom I have become acquainted in the UK charity fiber arts community. Though I have not been able to contribute to their campaigns due to the expense they have graciously welcomed me. Worldwide there are groups that are making great effort to meet the needs of those underserved around them. Though I know we sometimes struggle here in the US to fill all the need we see around us we can take heart that it is possible to band together for our communities. Whether online or in person I want to encourage my readers to try to find a group with whom you can associate for the purpose of sharing your talent! Thanks for reading the blog today.
3 Comments
8/2/2016 06:08:05 am
Thank you for your contuinued support to Needles & Hooks Angels & Preemies woithout our supporters we would not be able to do what we do xx
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Lyn Wilson
8/6/2016 04:05:20 pm
Thank you Bea. You all are amazing!
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