Charity Crafting - How to Decide What to Make

Scarves for the Homeless, using leftover yarn

Many folks think they must make a wide variety of items when they begin charity crafting. This isn't true. Our weekly group began with just scarves. When we grew bored (LOL), we moved on to fingerless gloves, and then to hats, for the homeless.

We chose scarves at first because we all led either very busy lives or very medically-challenged lives at the time. Scarves were easy. We had fun gathering leftover balls of yarn and grouping them into color families to make a pleasant color arrangement in each scarf.

Sometimes, we had totally uncoordinated colors and ended up with what we jokingly called clown-scarves.

The colors don't matter. The homeless are in need of warmth. So, we concentrated on a width that would cover the neck and maybe go up to the ears, and a length that could wrap around. We also made shorter ones that could be tucked inside a jacket or sweater.

When we donated, we made sure to tell the recipient group to think of them in the same way as Joseph's Coat of Many Colors. For us, these were the colors of love - our love for those in need.

So, in our case, we began with scarves.

Your skill level will help you decide, too. Some folks cannot yet work in rounds and will need straight items; others might want to make chemo caps or shawls.

What you need to keep in mind is that it should make you happy to make each item. I always say a prayer that I wrote for my Busy Person's Prayer Book, for each item I make (see end of this post), so you can always consider shawls as prayer shawls. In my case, I build a prayer into everything I make for the needy or otherwise.

Now, here's an example of how varied the choice of items can be. In our group of 8, one gal only makes scarves. Another only makes hats and shawls. Another gal always surprises us because she is easily bored and changes patterns and we never know what she will bring for our group. Me? Well, I go in spurts. Right now, I've been happy making lap-throws, scarves, and fingerless gloves. However, I have been eyeing my stash of baby yarn and will probably be back into preemie things in a month or so. Only 3 of us ever make baby items.

Ok, bottom line - make what pleases you and what you are comfortable with. This way, you will enjoy the process and you are more likely to accumulate more items than you ever dreamed you could make.

For anyone who does not knit or crochet, you might have fun doing an online search for instructions on how to finger-crochet or finger-knit, to make simple items.

For those who are even afraid to tackle that, in a day or so, I'll give links for no-sew, easy peasy items you can make.

That prayer I mentioned? Here it is. I ask only that if you ever use it in print, please include the line with my copyright credit at the end.

Handcrafter’s Prayer
Heavenly Father up above
Bless this work I craft with love
Whether it’s sold or given away
Bless the one to whom it finds its way.
(c)2008 Evelyn Shamay Mayfield