By Sandy McDonald

Caring hands all around the world.

Compassion, defined as sympathetic concern and pity for the suffering of others, is nowhere more evident than among the tens of thousands who crochet and knit for charity.

These good folk literally weave their care for others into billions of stitches each year to make hats, scarves, sweaters and blankets for those who have little, but whose lives will be hugely improved by being warm.

What compels someone to spend money, time, effort and thought on stitching a garment for a total stranger? In a world where most are consumed with the ups and downs of daily life, and stretching an already tight budget the extra distance to help others feels like an impost, why do they pick up their needles and hooks and use their precious yarn in pursuit of warming others?

Yes, it is true that many would say they are merely upholding their Christian values to care for the poor.

But for others it seems it is the sense of community that those who craft engender in one another that spurs them on. The knowledge that singly they have little, but collectively they have power. The power to make a difference.

Anyone who spends time on the many hundreds of blogs and forums devoted to the craft, and crocheting or knitting for charity in particular will find testimonies to the hands of friendships extended across continents.

Collective power is contained in that friendship and together with a commitment to a cause radiates an extraordinary beneficence, not only for those that are being helped but for those that are helping.

This is beautifully exemplified in these two powerful statements from women making blankets for AIDS orphans.

Sue wrote on a forum: “… I imagined all of us around the world busy with our needles and building up friendships – and although the task may be enormous so many blessings are happening to each person involved no matter how large or small a part we play…” and Pam wrote: “As I was reluctantly putting away my knitting to go to bed last night, it occurred to me that with us all around the world, there must always be someone knitting away at any hour. That was quite an amazing thought really – an unbroken chain of everyone working together for others. Caring hands all around the world! ”

Reflect on “caring hands all around the world” for a moment. In what other forum or endeavor can we draw the same analogies? To who else can we appeal universally to help and know that if you are found and your cause is sound, you will be joined by caring hands from around the world.

The knitters, crocheters (and sewers) of the world, those who stitch with compassion, remind one of the young men who rose to the clarion call to pick up arms and fight for freedom in the last two terrible world wars of the last century. But in this case the needles and hooks draw no blood, deprive no one of loved ones. Instead they bind you in the warm friendship of your fellow crafters in a sense of mutual achievement.

And as Janet said: “Reading every one’s shared feelings about the creative process when it is used to serve others makes me realize that there truly is a “circle” of friends forming here in cyberspace. The metaphors equating crocheting and knitting to active (and I might add universal) prayer and meditation underscore the bond that many of us are beginning to feel….. I too think about who will receive the items that I make and give away to those in need and imagine these things as both physical and spiritual ‘cocoons.’ I joined this group less than a month ago and already I have received much more than I have given.

Sandy McDonald, co-founder knit-a-square.com
A KasCare Program
http://www.knit-a-square.com
Keeping AIDS orphans warm

Article Source: Sandy McDonald == Compassion and Those Who Knit and Crochet

By Therese D.

Back in the 1980′s, an Englishman by the name of Roger Curry, set out to design a knitting machine which would be simple to use and could produce machine-knitted garments that would look as if they had been hand-knitted. What he created was the Bond knitting machine which was a very basic, manually operated machine.

It was called ‘Bond’ after a famous shopping street in central London, which at the time, Roger Curry described as “the epitome of British fashion sense.” And Bond street is just as well-known now for its up-market fashion shops, as it was in the mid-1980′s.

The first Bond knitting machines to be sold in the UK were the Bond Original and later the Bond Classic. These machines could handle all the popular yarns including wool, cottons, mohair and even hand-spun wool but it didn’t handle well, yarns finer than chunky knit. These knitting machines were simple enough that hand-knitting patterns for sweaters, for example, could be adapted for use on them.

1988 saw the introduction of the Bond Elite knitting machine which in addition to the chunkier yarns could also handle 4-ply and double-knitting yarns. The Bond Elite came complete with a row counter, tools for helping create fancy stitches, a needle pusher, an illustrated instruction book, and an instructional video which demonstrated how to set up the machine and how to knit with it. One of the innovative aspects of this particular model were its four, double-sided keyplates which made possible different stitch sizes, and by turning them around, they could also be used for picture knitting (known as intarsia).

One of the drawbacks of the Bond knitting machine was that it wasn’t possible to knit ribbing. If you were knitting a sweater with a ribbed hem and cuffs, the garment had to be removed from the machine in order to knit the ribbing by hand. But by 1989 a ribber attachment had become available. Today, Bond knitting machines remain popular, being lightweight and virtually maintenance-free, and can still be bought secondhand in the UK.

Therese enjoys writing and creating websites. Two websites are about sweater coats for women and the Bond Sew Easy knitting accessory.

Article Source: Therese D. == The 1980′s Bond Knitting Machine