Warm hugs

I mentioned in my last post that I'd been frantically knitting baby clothes, having read a post on the s'n'b forum about an orphanage (without heating) in south-east China, a country which is currently experiencing a devastating winter.

Snowstorms first hit the country on 10 January, and have so far affected nearly 80 million people across 14 provinces in the centre and south of the country.

In some areas, people are experiencing food shortages and more than a dozen provinces have also been hit by blackouts due to missed coal deliveries for power stations and rising demand amid the cold.

Well, I've managed two hats and a baby-jacket in a week and a half. Look, it's not great but it’s something - and hopefully it’s the beginning of a whole lot more.

I have to say, (while trying not to go overboard), that knitting these things has been a very different experience. I've been 'present' for every stitch - a bit like a meditation-in-action, or a knitted-prayer if you like. It's been a project full of urgency and, well, anxiety, frankly. It’s certainly put a lot of things into perspective – like the fact that Ben spent his first night last night in his big bed (which I’d been freaking out about). Big deal, really! (For the record, he loves it and slept safely, all night, in his warm bed).

The jacket (now known as "The Warm Hugs Jacket") was simple to make and I knocked it up using Elizabeth Zimmerman’s percentages system, which can be found nicely summarised here. The hat was put together using Yarn Harlot's simple hat recipe (from Knitting Rules). Both were done in stocking stitch with garter stitch hems and a knit row every ten rows.

Many thanks to Jeanette for giving us all the opportunity to contribute to this project. It’s nice to feel useful.