Knitted and Crocheted Items to Make for Charity

In our previous article, we looked at how you can find a charity to donate finished knitted or crocheted items or supplies to. In this article we’ll give you a range of (mostly) free patterns that you can use for making charity items.

Let us know in the comments what you’re planning to make or share some photos on the KnitPal Facebook Group - we’d love to see what you make!

Here are some of the causes that you can make crocheted and knitted items for

• Schools and colleges - Many children in schools and colleges around the country - and around the world - don’t have proper or warm enough clothes for going to school during winter. Beanies, gloves, mittens, socks, etc. are then welcomed. To make it extra special, make the items in the school colors!
• Hospitals and clinics - items for premature (preemie) babies, babies, new mothers, cancer patients, veterans, and more.    Knitted breasts are also welcomed by many who’ve had a mastectomy and is either waiting for reconstruction or can’t afford reconstruction.
• Places of worship; like churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples. These usually have a charity (or charities) that they support in the community and that they would welcome extra support for.
• Retirement homes - from lap blankets (lapghans) gloves, socks, and beanies, to sensory muffs and blankets for those residents suffering from dementia or Altzheimer’s. Often retirement homes will also accept yarn and knitting needles/crochet hooks to be able to teach their residents these skills.
• Homeless shelters - beanies, gloves, and mittens, not to mention blankets, are usually in high demand.
• Places of safety for children and victims of domestic violence - Many of these children and adults don’t have much (if anything) with them when they arrive at the place of safety. Clothing items and toys for the children are usually very welcome. It helps to find out beforehand if there are specific sizes that they’re lacking before starting to make beanies, etc.
• Animal shelters - Blankets are usually very welcome in shelters to keep the animals warm during the night.   
• Animal rehabilitation centers - When it comes to animal rehabilitation, the need stretches far wider than blankets. Although blankets in different sizes (even for baby rhinos and elephants!) are needed, pouches, baskets, and hanging nests are also often needed. This is especially true after wild fires or other devastating events. Contact the rescue center to find out what they need and what kind of yarn it should be made of. For animal rehabilitation, natural yarns are usually needed, and not acrylic. This is to ensure that the animals - should they chew on it - not ingest a mouthful of synthetic threads but rather some cotton or bamboo.

Here are some patterns to get you started!

• Octopus toys for preemie babies - These funky octopus toys have been shown to help calm babies in NICU, among other positive outcomes. Be sure to contact the hospital or clinic first and make sure that they are accepting the toys at that moment (sometimes they have too many!) and what their yarn requirements are.
• Preemie baby beanies.
• Baby beanies, garments, and bibs.
• Crocheted adult gloves and mittens  - these patterns are great for beginners, but have a look on Pinterest for more elaborate patterns if you like!
• Knitted adult gloves and
• Crochet scarves for children or adults.
• Knitted scarves for children or adults.
• Chemo caps for cancer patients.
• Lapghans or baby blankets.
• Knitted or crocheted blocks/granny squares to make blankets with.
• Sensory blankets for patients with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
• Knitted socks for children and adults.
• Toys for babies and children finding themselves in difficult circumstances.
• Blankets, beds, and toys for animals in shelters and nests, blankets, pouches, etc. to aid in animal rehabilitation.   

LoveCrafts and Ravelry are also great places to start looking for patterns.