As our collection of winter woolies for Chernobyl draws to an end we are happy to announce our next charity project.
Global Missions Ireland (Charity No: CHY13718) is a Cork based charity that undertakes in missions both at home and around the world. Locally they run feeding programs to reach the people in the City of Cork.
On foreign missions they work with the local church to reach out to the most vulnerable and marginalised in society. The charity’s main aim is to run mission trips, which provide people with an avenue to work abroad or help a community, which they feel, are in need. They send people from the medical field, construction industry, teachers, housewives any sector that they find will help in the country that they are working in.
This year Global Missions have got a team going to the ‘House of Hope’ retirement home in Vanadzor, Armenia. Here there are 80 men and women taken out of deplorable conditions to live in safety and comfort. It was set up to house the elderly community who had been living in derelict buildings and containers since the earthquakes in 1988.
The team will be running feeding programs, giving bread made in the ‘ House of Hope’ bread factory to those in the community that are in need. They will also visit with social workers other in the locality that are in need of help to try and rehabilitate and rehouse them into better conditions.
These elderly people need our help as they have very little and Global Missions has specifically asked if we’d be interested in making lap blankets. These will help to keep the residents that little bit warmer whilst at the same time giving them a gift of kindness they can cherish.
Calling all of you that knit and/or crochet for your help. We’d also welcome those of you that sew or can be a little creative with felting old jumpers.
What we’re after?
- As we’re making lap blankets these can be either the complete, finished article or 20cm/8″ squares which we will sew together to make blankets 100cm x 120cms/40″ by 48″
- Squares can be made using any yarn however, please remember these blankets will need to be washable and warm. Chunky yarn will knit up quicker and remember that you can always use more than one strand of yarn together. Two strands of double knit worked together is the same as using a chunky yarn.
- Squares can be in any pattern/design of your choosing and we have no colour preference. knit, crochet or as I mentioned before sewn or felted it really doesn’t matter. Take this opportunity to use up your leftovers.
- Spread the word – we’d love to hand over as many blankets as possible. Tell other knitting groups, schools & colleges, residential homes, church groups, etc.
- The closing date for our collection is Saturday 3rd August. It would helps us enormously if you are making squares if you could send them in sooner if possible to allow time to sew them up. Even if it means giving them in in batches.
There are absolutely loads of lap blankets available on www.ravelry.com
There are also loads of patterns available for 20cm/8″ squares out there in cyberspace, just type ‘knit a square’ into your web browser.
The Knitter/Simply knitting Magazine ran a campaign for Refuge last year in which they asked for squares the same size to be donated. You may well have a copy of the magazines neatly filed on a shelf. Crocheting a square should be simple enough as you just stop when you’ve reached the right size.
I intend to pop up a few square patterns when I’ve knitted some examples but I wanted to get the collection underway.
Technically speaking if your tension is correct, casting on 28sts (loosley) with chunky yarn on 6.5mm needles will give you 20cms horizontally. Knit in stocking stitch until square is 20cms vertically and cast off loosley.
Hint: I’m terrible for casting on/off too tight so I use a needle at least one size larger
If you want to have a closer look at what the charity does checkout their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Global-Missions-Ireland/119741718073281
Confessions of a Fibre Strumpet 