Knitting with 'Loving Hands'

  Knitting for Charity month Featuring Loving Hands

Loving Hands Charity Knitting Group is a Knitting, sewing and crochet group and  was formed by Lou Jaap after a very succesful 24 hour Charity Knitathon which took place in the Volunteer Centre in Kirkcaldy, Fife to celebrate National Volunteers Week. The event went so well they decided to start up a group to continue the great work started during the Knitathon. They now have a blog site and forum and have members from all over the UK who knit and crochet for various charities. Loving Hands are happy to accept donations of yarn, needles, patterns,toy stuffing, material, thread, lace trimmings, wedding and bridesmaids dresses (to unpick and turn into burial gowns), blankets, duvets, towels, bedding, baby clothes, cloth nappies, etc.

How You Can Help

They need Help with the Autumn Challenge, several items on a list that are urgently required. There is still time to help them as challenge finishes  Saturday 22nd October 2011.

They have a list of requests for prem baby and burial items wich is growing all the time. Cuddles, Sands and lots of hospitals and pathology labs and morticians are in need. It would be great to be able to respond to every request straight away so they need burial gowns and bonnets, hooded wraps, tiny blankets 10 or 12 inches, sleeping bags, tiny hats, pairs of tiny teddies or other toys, Sands blankets, prem cardies from 10 inches to 16 inches chest, prem hats vent bonnets, angel pockets, prem blankets from 16 to 24 inches and cribs. They aim for 100 Sands blankets and as many of the others as possible

They could use a massive BOOB injection. Knitted breasts will be used by breastfeeding support workers, midwives and community mothers, to give instructions on hand expression to new mothers. Loving Hands get direct requests from hospitals and health boards to supply them by the hundred so they are always in great demand.  They do not need to be realistic ’flesh’ tones - the midwives say the nice colourful ones go down a treat.   If you wish you can send them in ‘flat’ and Loving Hands will stuff and finish them off. They are hoping to get 500 of these.

 For animals they have had enquiries from a few dog and cat homes (Battersea included) for cat toys, they get a huge influx of cats, having kittens every year and they like to have toys to keep them amused, the link to the page with patterns at Battersea website is here - http://www.battersea.org.uk/about_us/whats_new/cat_knitting

They will collect the usual items to be included in shoe boxes : hats/scarves/gloves/mitts/socks/glove puppets etc, toiletries, writing pads, pens, colouring books, pencils, toiletries, razors, etc, etc. Items for all ages they do boxes for categories boy/girl 3 to 7, boy/girl 8 to 12, teenage boy/girl, man or woman and elderly woman.

  They have also been asked for 500 teddies for tragedy.  If you could help out with this and you do not want to stuff them and put on faces, send them in ’flat’ and faceless and  Loving Hands will finish them. 

They have a very comprehensive list of patterns available to members through Their forum Pattern Central pages –

http://lovinghands.freeforums.org/patterncentralf31.html?sid=5314dc2d841467946a98b0b8612b13a6

and can only be accessed when a member is signed in to the forum using their username and password. It is a very simğle process to join. You will find hundreds of patterns and links to patterns for knitting, crocheting and sewing there to inspire you.

Loving Hands now have many charities on their  books - all have  been checked to make sure they take all the donations and they give them directly to the people or animals in need.  They do not supply items to be sold in charity shops.

Here is a list of some of the charities you can veiw the whole list on the web site:

Boobs for Breastfeeding Initiative

Blythswood Care

SANDS

BLISS

UK Maternities, Morticians and Pathologists.

Animal Shelters (SSPCA, RSPCA,Cats protection league, Fife cat shelter, the donkey sanctuary, Little hen rescue centre, Help the animals Wales, WSPA, Edinburgh Zoo and others)

Teddies for Tragedy

If you would like to know more about Loving Hands or the work they do, or would like to ask for items for your organisation or join them and help to make things better for people and animals all over the world  cantact details are:

Lou Jaap

Loving Hands Charity Knitting Group,

18 Clentry Crescent Kelty, Fife  KY4 0LG  Scotland.

Web site:www.lovinghands.org.,uk

email : charityknitters@yahoo.co.uk

Tel : 01383 830277

If you wish join them they will do their best to supply you with most of the materials you need to create items for the charities.  Their policy is that members give their time and talent to help and do not want to empty their pockets but it’s quite alright to use your own yarn. No matter what you choose to make they can find a home for it.

If anyone would like to donate to Loving Hands postage and materials fund you can do so by Paypal to charityknitters@yahoo.co.uk  or by cheque or postal order made out to L. Jaap (loving hands) they also raise funds for postage through Easyfundraising you can find details on the web site:

http://www.lovinghands.org.uk

Please remember your help is needed all year round!

   If you'd like our free pattern book'Knitting for Charity' please leave your email address in the box at the base of this blog.( I promise to respect your privacy and will not pass your emial address on to anyone else.)