Keeping people warm

I always feel rubbish when I say this but here goes: I don't charity knit. My mental queue is at least six months long (and often interrupted by people having babies) and I've only just learned how to knit to a deadline.

So I hear that Charity X is looking for kitted squares, hats, whatever and I wish I could join in. But the deadline is looming and I'd have to buy yarn and I'm not sure I'll be able to afford it until next month or the one after and I'm still slogging away at a baby cardigan.

Basically I suck. But there is a way that I've found to get my woolly goods into the hands of people who need them and I'm going to post about it in case you can too.

The Living Room in Torquay provides a welcoming space and a coffee to everyone. Because they are so welcoming they are in a perfect position to help people going without. And recently, through Facebook, they asked for 'warm clothing, coats, jumpers, hats, gloves, scarfs ect' to distribute.

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You know what I have a lot of? I'll give you a clue (so just pretend you don't already know) each year I try to knit myself one new hat, a new pair of gloves (or mittens, or mitts) and a new scarf (or shawl or cowl) for winter. I sometimes knit more than one from each section. I've knit two shawls this year and two pairs of mitts. Early in my knitting career it was hat, hat, hat. Add to that all the fabric scarves that I own and all the machine knits (because I'm not knitting a fine, plain, black scarf!) and you end up with this:

Also bandannas and ankle warmers...

As you can see I've gotten to the point of my knitting career where I have more than I can wear. So I pulled out all the ones I no longer wear and threw away all those 'single' gloves. I had on my hands a pile of hand and machine knits that were in great condition ready to be sent to people who need them

Some of these never fit quite right, some went well with my last coat but not my new one, some just didn't look good on me. But I bet there are people out there who they will fit,  look good on and keep them very warm. As an added bonus everything now fits in the bins by my door. I can grab all of my woolies as I leave the house.

Yeah I still have a lot in rotation.

So If you have some lightly worn warm clothes and a community centre nearby see if you can pair the two up and help someone stay warm this winter time.