3 Tips for Making the Biggest Impact with Your Charity Crochet or Knitting, plus a free pattern roundup!

Today is International Day of Charity. This annual event was first established by the United Nations in 2012. The date was selected in honor of the passing of Noble Peace Prize winner, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who devoted her life to helping others.

3 Tips for Making the Biggest Impact with Your Charity Crochet or Knitting, with a roundup of 10+ free #crochet patterns for charity on Underground CrafterThe UN invites everyone to commemorate the day by encouraging charity and raising awareness of charity. As a longtime charity crocheter, I thought the best way I could share this day with the Underground Crafter community was to share how you can use your knitting and crochet skills to support charities, and to do a roundup of 10+ free crochet charity patterns.

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3 Tips for Making the Biggest Impact with Your Charity Crochet or Knitting

Most crocheters and knitters can create something more valuable with their hands than any financial contribution they can donate, so crocheting and knitting for charity is really appealing. On the other hand, the purpose of a donation is to support the final recipient and the charity, so here are my suggestions for making the most out of charity crochet or knitting.

Watch the video below, or read on for my tips.

If you can’t see the video above, click here to watch on YouTube.

1) Donate locally when possible.

Save on postage, minimize the environmental impact of shipping, and improve your community by donating locally when possible.

If you decide to contribute to a charity outside of your local area, consider organizing or participating in a drive in your community.

Craftsy

2) Always follow instructions from the charity or organizer.

As crocheters and knitters, we love to be creative. However, when a charity or a charity drive organizer shares guidelines or deadlines, they should be followed to the letter.

  • Check the charity’s website, or contact the organizer, before starting a project. Many charities maintain a list of current needs on their website. If a list isn’t posted, contact an organizer to make sure your donation is still needed and will be accepted.
  • Use the recommended fiber content. Charities may recommend different types of fibers for reasons as diverse as making washing easier or avoiding allergies.
  • Use the recommended colors. Charities may request specific colors for a variety of reasons including making a statement or avoiding culturally offensive colors.
  • Use recommended measurements. Many organizations have specific size recommendations for practical reasons of fit, or due to storage restrictions or ease of joining pieces from multiple donors.
  • Follow the finishing instructions. Organizers may ask you to leave long yarn tails for joining blankets, or to weave ends in securely with a yarn needle to avoid choking hazards for pets.
  • Meet the deadline. When a charity only accepts donations seasonally, or when an organizer is planning a drive, be sure to meet any deadlines.

If you follow these guidelines, your project will be put to use by the organization and won’t end up being thrown out or kept in storage at the charity’s expense.

Save 50% at Interweave during the Labor of Love Sale3) Join up with other crocheters and knitters

Not only will you have fun meeting like-minded people, but you’ll also be able to contribute so much more with a group!

In your community, local crochet and knitting guilds often have charity drives. You may also find that a local house of worship has a charity crafting group.

There are many options for teaming up with other crafters online, too.

  • Crochet Mitten Drive is a crochet-a-long featuring 15 designers and 15 new patterns for crochet mittens. This even starts on September 11 and runs through December 18, 2015. You can find more information in the Facebook group.

Crochet Mitten Drive 2015. For more details, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/mittendrive/

You may also want to consider starting your own Facebook or Ravelry group if you are organizing a charity drive.

2015 Leisure Arts Labor Day SitewideRoundup of 10+ Free Crochet Patterns for Charity

3 Tips for Making the Biggest Impact with Your Charity Crochet or Knitting, with a roundup of 10+ free #crochet patterns for charity on Underground Crafter

I designed 6 free crochet patterns for charity projects.

Many of these patterns were originally designed as part of a monthly charity spotlight I write on Oombawka Design Crochet. You can read all of my Oombawka contributor posts here.

If you enjoyed this post, you may want to follow my Crochet for Charity board on Pinterest.

Follow Underground Crafter’s board Crochet for Charity on Pinterest.

Have you crocheted or knit a project for charity?

16 thoughts on “3 Tips for Making the Biggest Impact with Your Charity Crochet or Knitting, plus a free pattern roundup!”

  1. I design a scarf every month to donate to charity… Only to find out that no local organizations want them 🙁
    Thanks for all the info; hopefully I can find someone to take them!

    Reply

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