Seven years ago, 85-year-old Orville “Mark” Skattum, who served in the Army National Guard during the Korean conflict, took up a new hobby: knitting.
He got the idea after seeing a friend work on a loom. After getting one of his own, he started knitting hats to give to family and friends at Christmas. Then, he realized that homeless veterans could use some extra warmth.
“I feel sorry for the ones that have a hard time. They’re homeless and out of work,” he tells Kevin Simpson of the Denver Post. “The least I can do is help out a little.”
Skattum began knitting about five hats a week, each with a tag that reads, “Made by a Vet, for a Vet…God bless.” Whenever he has completed 50 hats, he donates them either to his church or to the Denver V.A. hospital to be given to needy vets. He estimates he’s knitted 1,200 hats.
Last year, his daughter Karla Tillapaugh joked with her father about getting a booth at Holiday ManCraft, a hipster-delighting fair that has been showcasing the wares of crafty men — many of them professional artisans — since 2000. She didn’t realize he’d taken her seriously until several months later, when he told her that he’d knitted 150 caps for his booth. Tillapaugh quickly contacted the craft fair organizers to see if her dad could join.
ManCraft founder Stu Alden immediately accepted him. “How can you say no to that?” he tells the Denver Post. “There was something really touching that he got excited about it.”
Skattum will be selling his specialty hat, called Orville’s Bucket, when Holiday ManCraft takes over a Denver VFW Post on December 5 and a Boulder, Colo., American Legion on December 6.
Not surprisingly, Skattum plans to donate any proceeds to charity.
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Tag: knitting
One Project at a Time, These Women are Showing the Power of Crafting
Some people make statements with the pen or by taking action, but three women are taking a different approach and enlisting the power of the sewing needle. Yes, the sewing needle.
They’re pioneers in the newest form of social activism — dubbed craftivism — where messages of protest and awareness are knitted or crocheted in an effort to inspire change.
Meet Betsy Greer, the woman who brought craftivism into our vocabulary. For Greer, it all began after she watched a political puppet show in the New York City Village Halloween Parade. The simplicity of the show caught Greer’s attention, and she realized that subtlety can inspire just as much change as loud voices.
That’s when she started crafitivism, or “a way of looking at life where voicing opinions through creativity makes your voice stronger, your compassion deeper, and your quest for justice more infinite,” according to Yes! Magazine.
Her equipment — knitting, cross-stitching and embroidery — have been used to create anti-war graffiti, as well as a new project, which focuses on PTSD. The work depicts the experiences that soldiers have during an episode in order to raise awareness about the disorder.
Then there’s Sarah Corbett who has taken craftivism to a new level. Not one for marches and demonstrations, Corbett began her craftivist by blogging as “A Lonely Craftivist.”
However, she realized that there is strength in numbers. So in 2009, the Craftivist Collective was born. The focus of the group is on positivity, peacefulness and meditation rather than preaching. Being part of the group does not take away one’s individuality, but rather gives individuals a chance to work at their own pace, contemplating the issue and the piece. Group “stitch-ins” are a chance for all to come and discuss their work and issue at the hand.
Cat Mazza came into craftivism from a slightly different world. Originally, Mazza was on the Carbon Defense League where she saw how the group used “tactical media” to spread their message. The tactic was inspirational and Mazza left to form MicroRevolt, a feminist group dedicated to the anti-sweatshop cause. In addition to crafting, MicroRevolt has a few extra tools in its belt — including performances, workshops and web-based projects.
From 2003-2009, the group launched an anti-sweatshop project with a particular focus on Nike. To protest the sporting goods company, they created a 15-foot-wide red quilt containing the Nike swoosh, and a knitted or crocheted square from 40 countries and every U.S. state. Their current project is logoknit, where the logos of sweatshop offenders (Gap, Disney and Apple) are knitted onto articles of clothing. Anyone can join and design a logoknit with the free web application knitPro.
So what’s stopping you from grabbing your needles?
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Wanted: Knitters for the Cutest Wildlife Project Ever
Knitting is for the birds. Literally.
Using just a little bit of yarn, crafters around the country have answered the call to help save one of nature’s tiniest and most vulnerable creatures: The baby bird.
When young birds fall out of their nests, they are pretty much on their own. Most mothers don’t pick up their chicks after they fall, and since these little creatures cannot regulate their own body temperature, they might not survive without a parent or a warm place to cozy up to.
As SF Gate reports, wildlife conservation group WildCare has come up with a creative solution. The Marin County, California organization takes care of a thousand orphaned birds a year, and instead of putting them in typical plastic containers (which were found to bruise the tiny birds), they have something that works even better: Knitted nests.
As it turns out, these yarn bowls are just as soft and warm as natural nests. In need of more knitted bird cozies, the San Rafael-based nonprofit put out a mass request to knitters back in April for knitters to grab their needles.
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The organization, which treats 4,000 wild animals a year, quickly found that their project was too adorable for people to not help. According to the Wildcare website, as of last month, they’ve received 878 knitted nests from California, Minnesota, Texas, Florida, New York, Ontario, Washington, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Indiana.
The great news is that there is always a need for these nests, so any yarn/animal lover can contribute (the organization has a goal of 1,414 nests). Click here for nest patterns and instructions on where to send your completed creations.
Get your knit on.
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