Three Black Sheep – A Yarn Shoppe owner Diana Kessler, left, is collecting hand-knit caps to send to newborns in developing countries thanks to Beth Newbold, right, who proposed a Caps for Good knitting group at the shop after reading about the project in a magazine.
Photo by Emily CrismanSignal Mountain residents are weaving together their love for knitting and life through participation in Caps for Good, a program that donates and distributes hand-knit caps to newborns in developing countries.
A group will be meeting to knit and crochet for the project at Three Black Sheep – A Yarn Shoppe Wednesdays from 10:30 a.m. to noon and Fridays from 6 to 8 p.m. until Feb. 21.
“[These newborns] don’t have access to most things, their most basic needs,” said Three Black Sheep owner Diana Kessler. “If they don’t have head coverings, they’re going to die.”
At a cost of around $4, she said, 200 yards of yarn can be made into six caps for newborns in developing regions of Asia, South America and Africa.
Signal Mountain’s Beth Newbold read about the project in Vogue Knitting and pitched the idea to Kessler for a Caps for Good knitting group at Three Black Sheep.
“I love doing charity knitting at the shop,” said Kessler. “It’s a fun way to get together with a common goal, and it’s good to give back.”
She said her motivation for participating in the project does not involve sales for the store, as everyone uses their own yarn. Due to the warm climates where the caps are being shipped, the program requests knitters use non-wool materials such as cotton or acrylic.
A standard pattern is supplied for knitting or crochet, and each cap typically takes about two hours to complete, said Newbold.
Kessler said the caps are shipped in large quantities to specific regions by the Newborn and Child Survival Program, a subsidiary of Save the Children. Upon arrival, the caps are then laundered prior to distribution, she said.
Knitters are also welcome to work at home and then drop off their caps to be included amongst the shipment from Three Black Sheep. Kessler said her goal is for the store to collect and send 100 caps.
Three Black Sheep is at 1229 Taft Highway and can be reached at 886-9276. A Caps for Good group will be meeting to knit and crochet Wednesdays from 10:30 a.m. to noon and Fridays from 6 to 8 p.m. until Feb. 21.