Having listened to what the agencies are looking for and to make this manageable our end, we have reviewed what we do and are introducing several important changes to our Refugee project. Please read carefully both crafting info and posting info. Thank you so much for your continued support.
2020. Very much an ongoing project, collection dates to aim for are at the bottom of the Home page. Thank you x
The current 2020 posting window closes on April 11th (Easter weekend) It reopens on November 1st. Please do not send items for this project during the off time as we have nowhere to send to or to store. Thank you for your support.
- If in the mean time you are desperate to post we recommend sending to Knit for Peace.
Crafting info
PLEASE ALL CRAFTING FOR REFUGEES TO BE IN DARKER UNISEX COLOURS. This includes squares. For children’s clothing these may be bright colours but no pastels please.
- We need 12 inch, or six inch squares. Knit or crochet both equally welcome.Yarn to be used for squares – any good quality acrylic DK, for example, Stylecraft special DK. Squares equally welcome if made by beginner or expert. Truly. Please use darker unisex colours ONLY. PLEASE SEW IN ALL ENDS
- We’d love to receive whole blankets, but absolutely understand time constraints. Ideal size is approx 48 by 60 inches.
- The smallest size we need for clothing is baby 12 months plus, agencies get overwhelmed with tiny baby things.
- We’d also love to receive hats and gloves/mittens from baby sized aged 12 months + through to adult, the same for jumpers, cardigans, scarves/shawls. But appreciate that is a very big ask. For these items, any yarn is fine, from 100% wool to acrylic.
- If you’d like to donate yarn or funds, let us know – we’d absolutely LOVE to hear from you, we need
you too. This will be a real team effort - If anyone would like to join in crafting but can’t afford to, please PM us, we can help
PLEASE SEW IN ALL ENDS!!
Easy Hat/Mitten patterns as recommended by our crafters, all free to use!
Crochet – Little Maiden Bonnet
Crochet – V-St beanie for all
Crochet – sedge stitch beanie hat – adjustable size from newborn to adult
Crochet – Ten easy hat patterns
Crochet – Very easy crochet hat pattern
Crochet – Puff stitch hat – Crafter recommends adding a few more rows to make it deep enough to keep your ears warm, also use Aran weight
Crochet – The Hadley Slouch – use Aran weight
Knit – mittens
Knit – basic beanie hat for all sizes
Knit – Classic beanie hat (WW2 watch cap) for all sizes
One square, one blanket, a pair of gloves, one warm hat, one step at a time, really every little thing will help.
Together we can make a difference.
How we started this project
As for so many others, we have been moved to tears by the heartbreaking plight of refugees, both in Europe and further afield, and the inhumanity which seems to surround them too often. We have donated, signed petitions on change.org and written to our MPs, and understand the feeling of shouting in the wind, we desperately want to do more.
There is something practical we can do together, and it really will help, but we are going to need your support.
We can get woolly warmth to families in refugee camps in Kurdistan and into Syria itself, to beleaguered families in Qara thanks to the amazing charity Knit for Peace. There are over a million refugees trapped there, most have fled civil wars and ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Conditions are very bleak and it will be even more desperate and absolutely freezing during long winter months. We are also developing links to get resources to children and families elsewhere, and on their arrival in the UK. We just want to help keep folk warm. We know we can’t help everyone, but we can some.
NB. Sadly we cannot accept items other than home made woolly ones at the moment, if this changes we will come back. Do join us on our Facebook page Woolly Hugs and Twitter @Woolly_Hugs – both good ways to keep in touch.
Thank you doesn’t come close, bless you.x
