Monday, November 27, 2017

Knit? Crochet?

Want some yarn?

Yarn Canada has "started what will hopefully be a yearly event of giving yarn to individuals and groups who knit or crochet for good causes.

[They are] giving away $2000 worth of yarn and are hoping to get as many applicants as possible to ensure it goes to whoever it will have the maximum impact."

The contest is open to Canadians and Americans and you can win yarn for yourself or for your group. Many of us knit or crochet for charities. 


One such good cause that has been dear to my heart lately is Octopus for Preemies.
This is a worldwide group with many countries participating. The octopuses are made for premature babies who start off their lives in incubators. The tentacles of the octopus resembles the umbilical cord and doctors and nurses have found that it calms the babies and their little hands hold the tentacles instead of getting caught up in all the tubes that they are hooked up to.

Each country has a facebook group you can join and there are very strict rules for making the octopus. There has to be in order for the babies to be safe. Once an octopus is made, it gets sent to a co-ordinator who checks it over to make sure that it is tightly made and that the tentacles are within the prescribed length. If the octopus passes, it gets washed, bagged with instructions for the new parents and then given to a participating NICU. Not all hospitals are on board with this.


Here's a photo of my little grandson Atticus and the octopus he got from the hospital. He is sleeping on a heart that I knit for him.



Here's the link for you to enter:  https://www.yarncanada.ca/for-good

I was approached by Yarn Canada to see if I was willing to do a blog post about this.

A link to more information on the effect of octopuses on preemies.

https://www.todaysparent.com/blogs/the-reason-this-hospital-is-giving-preemies-stuffed-octopuses/

Here's a link to the countries participating if you wish to join or get more information.

http://mynomadhome.com/the-octopus-for-a-preemie-project-a-list-of-countries-and-their-websites/

2 comments:

  1. Apparently they are taking the little crochet octopus for prem babies over here too. Lovely isn't it.

    ReplyDelete

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