Make a difference, stitch by stitch
by on Oct 8, 2015

We’ve all seen the heart-rending images from the Middle East and Europe as of late. We wish we could help, but the massive scale of suffering is so daunting. How does one even start?

But what if we joined together? What if we collectively pooled our crafting skills, time and money to help those in need – both locally and across the world? As crocheters and knitters, we are perfect for this mission, because the nature of our craft inherently lends itself to giving.

Are you ready to help? Join us as we craft to give back!

Make a difference, stitch by stitch

How We Will Do It

  1. Knit or crochet an item for a local charity of your choice.
  2. Post a picture of your item with the hashtags #craft2giveback and #knitpicks and mention your local charity.
  3. For every photo, Crafts Americana will donate $1.00 to the United Nations Refugee Agency.*

Additionally, your local charity could win big! At the end of the campaign, one lucky charity will be chosen from your heartfelt project photos to receive $500. Make sure to tag or mention the name of your charity on your photo.

Knit Picks will be donating blankets, sweaters, hats and mittens to local charities in the Portland, OR area. Here Jenny and I are valiantly attempting to hold up the surprisingly heavy stacks of projects:

Craft 2 Give Back

We were embarrassingly out of breath after holding up these massive stacks. 🙂

Craft 2 Give Back

Craft 2 Give Back

With the blankets we each designed:

Craft 2 Give BackCraft 2 Give BackCraft 2 Give Back

Resources

  • View all the projects that have been donated for this campaign here

Free Patterns

  • Download our free ebook Helping Hands, featuring 6 patterns perfect for charity (for both knitters and crocheters!)
  • Please make sure to check with your charity of choice for their guidelines on materials or patterns they can accept. Many handcrafted items go to waste because they are not within guidelines.

National Charities

Local Charities

Contact a local homeless shelter, church youth organization, hospital, nursing home or Salvation Army to find local charities in your area.

* Campaign runs 10/08/2015 – 11/30/2015. Crafts Americana will donate $1.00 for each photo, up to $5,000, to the United Nations Refugee Agency. Photo entries must contain the hashtag #craft2giveback to be counted. A local charity must be noted to be entered for the $500 prize. Multiple entries allowed, as long as each entry is a different project.

20 Comments
Tags: charity, Inspiration

20 comments

  1. Sue Biles / November 29, 2015

    I make hats and scarves for local school children and homeless shelters. Not on your list, but lots of work…
  2. Nina / November 24, 2015

    Do you know of any organization that will accept knitted items for Syrian refugees stuck in the Balkans?
    Winter there is extreme and they have nothing. Children and adults alike are sleeping in the streets and even in the woods with nothing to keep them warm. They have lost everything in their war-torn home and the governments in the Balkan countries are making it very hard for them to continue their travels to welcoming countries further north.
  3. Sheryl / November 6, 2015

    What a wonderful campaign! We are collecting handmade warm winter items for the homeless in the DC area as part of the December 25 Day of Service in Washington DC (although we’ve had people mail us items from as far away as Hawaii)! No specific patterns or colors but the warmer the better – hats, scarves, gloves, mittens, socks etc. Please visit our Facebook page for more information! FAQs can be found at About -> Page Info -> General Information. We’ll be collecting handmade warm winter items until December 6 this year.
  4. Kabira / October 17, 2015

    This is a wonderful, wonderful campaign/contest — thank you! I especially want to thank you for accepting entries made from any yarn and not just KP yarn (which I love and use regularly)–allowing any/all yarn makes it feel more heart-felt and less simply self-promotion. I hope KP and Crafts Americana receive lots of good publicity from this opportunity which boosts your bottom line. One question — would a charity based in US [ 501(c)(3) ] which provides knitted aid to locations outside and (some) inside the US be eligible for the $500 prize?
    • Heidi / October 30, 2015

      Thank you for the kind words! We sincerely hope we can do a lot of good through this campaign 🙂 As long as the charity provides some services in the U.S., I think it will qualify!
  5. s s / October 13, 2015

    For years, I have knit baby hats for our church humanitarian project and also for the local hospital as well as larger hats for the homeless shelter. The humanitarian project just send 44 large boxes of baby layettes and hygiene kits to Zimbabwe. Pictures, I have none.
    • Heidi / October 30, 2015

      Aw that’s amazing! Well done!
  6. Stitchingmamatx / October 9, 2015

    I tried twice to attach the project to an email at the email addy given, contests@craftsamericana.com and it came back as undeliverable, no such recipient. 🙁
    • admin / October 12, 2015

      hi there! sorry about the mix up – the email is kpcontests@craftsamericana.com! Please let us know if you still have any issues and thank you!
  7. Stitchingmamatx / October 9, 2015

    Prayer Shawl for Karen. Christ’s Lutheran Church​ in Odessa, Texas hosts a Prayer Shawl group every Tuesday evening at 6:30 pm. Not all of us knit, some crochet, bead, tat and other crafts. The focus is on giving what we make to others. #Christ’slutheranchurch #craft2giveback #knitpicks . This shawl was knitted for someone no one in the group actually knows, it was knitted per a request from my daughter for the sister of a colleague.
  8. Osobicha / October 9, 2015

    Gracias por los patrones. Aquí en Buenos Aires, Argentina, un grupo de amigas participamos y donamos mantas con el grupo Mantas Solidarias.(https://www.facebook.com/Mantas-Solidarias-1599190793661240/timeline/)
    Gracias por el ebook para compartir patrones.
    Osobicha de http://www.EspacioClaudelina.com
  9. DeeAnn H / October 8, 2015

    I think the $1 per photo should go to help our homeless vets in the USA. With the cost of living going up, seniors will shut off their heat as well. Much encouragement to the knitters, crocheters and loomers who will make a loving handmade donation to these wonderful charities.
  10. P.J. Coldren / October 8, 2015

    I’ve been knitting for charities for years – mittens for a local mitten tree that serves the kids at our school (in a poor district), hats for the local Relay for Life group, scarves for Special Olympics, and so on. I’m not computer savvy enough to post pictures — just know that there are knitters (and crocheters) out in the wide, wide world who do this with minimal recognition and lots of satisfaction.
    • Heidi / October 9, 2015

      That’s wonderful, PJ! I volunteer with Special Olympics, so this makes me extra happy 🙂 If you have any project you want to donate, you could always send a photo of it to contests@craftsamericana.com and we would be more than happy to add it to the campaign 🙂
  11. anonymous / October 8, 2015

    Just last night I covered a sleeping homeless man with one of my knit blankets. While the problems overseas are terrible, there is an ongoing situation right here that needs to be addressed. It just doesn’t get the same press coverage.Thanks for making that part of your efforts as well.
    • Heidi / October 9, 2015

      That’s so wonderful! Glad you are making a difference in your area!
  12. JJ / October 8, 2015

    It should be noted several of the charities listed have specific donation periods. For example, Click for Babies deadline for 2015 has passed. Others have limited storage space making the donation periods necessary.
    • Heidi / October 9, 2015

      Good to know! Thank you! We will be more than happy to count projects made for 2016 deadlines, as well 🙂

1 Trackback