• 0 items$0.00
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

  • BLOG
    • Knitting
    • Crochet
    • Latch Hook
    • Macramé
    • Punch Needle
  • ABOUT
  • Shop
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • TikTok
    • YouTube

Make the World Better with a Sweater! / Hands Occupied Sweater Party

November 12, 2014 4 Comments

Make the World Better with a Sweater - Hands Occupied Holiday Party | handsoccupied.com

One month from today, I’m partnering with one of my favorite local yarn shops, Nina, and Save the Children to help make the world better for kids this holiday season! And there’s going to be a Hands Occupied Sweater Party in the process! It turns out that Friday, December 12 is National Christmas Sweater Day, and Save the Children wants the world to wear a sweater (regular, festive, ugly or otherwise) and donate $5 to help fund their important work with kids around the world. I want to take that one step further by having a party that day to celebrate sweaters, the season, and raise money for a good cause. I think that we can easily raise $500 as a team, don’t you? Read on for more about Save the Children, the party, how to donate, and how to win some giveaway prizes for participating.

What is Save the Children?

Save the Children does some amazing work all over the world, including the United States. Recently, they have been very active in efforts to help stem the ebola crisis in Africa, doing things like supporting new orphans and being involved in boosting public awareness about the disease. They do a ton of advocacy and policy work to help create laws specifically designed to protect or help millions of children. As a person who works with teens in a lower income community, I can see how important organizations like Save the Children are. This personal connection to working with children is why I decided to support Save the Children this holiday season. Impressively, nearly 90% of their budget is actually spent on the programs and services they deliver (source: Charity Navigator). While some of their budget comes from grants, well over half comes directly from donations. And that’s where we’re going to try to help them out, and have a little fun at the same time!

How can you help?

The campaign we’ll be a part of is called Make the World Better with a Sweater. We’re knitters & crocheters here, we know how awesome sweaters are. SC wants to raise money to help fund their amazing work with kids. Also amazing. Here’s Save the Children’s and my pitch to you:

Make the World Better with a Sweater is a woolly wonderful way to do good and have fun this holiday season. How? You can agree to wear a festive holiday sweater on or around December 12, donate $5 or more to Save the Children and spread the holiday joy! Together, with sweaters, we can make the world a better place – transforming children’s lives and the future we all share.

This campaign alone is a great start, but I thought it would be fun to amp it up with a full on sweater party on Friday, December 12 at local yarn store Nina. You can come wearing the sweater you knit in the fall knit along that ends soon, you can knit a tiny sweater, you can come wearing your first-ever scarf, you can even come with just an awesome sweater you like to wear. Bring $5 or more to donate to Save the Children, and come ready to enjoy holiday snacks and a fashion show for those wanting to show of their knits. There will be an Instagram photo booth for those wanting to share their best knits online too. #HOsweaterparty might be in order, don’t you think?

I want to raise at least $500 for this cause. That means that just 100 people need to donate $5 to make it happen. Where can you donate right now? Here: http://www.savethechildren.org/SpreadtheJoy/handsoccupied. Even if you have friends or family who aren’t crafty who want to donate, they can donate there too. This is the kind of thing the phrase “the more the merrier” was invented for!

Party Details

What: A sweater & knitting-themed party & fundraiser hosted by yours truly, with 100% of all donations benefitting Save the Children

Where: Nina yarn shop in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood

When: Friday, December 12, 5:00 to 7:30 p.m.

What to bring: Yourself, a suggested $5+ donation, and a finished sweater or other knit or crochet object you’d like to share

What if I can’t make it to the party but want to donate? You can visit the donation page at http://www.savethechildren.org/SpreadtheJoy/handsoccupied and donate from anywhere in the world, any time!

There’s more! Giveaways to be exact!

Just in case the good cause, fun party and sweater action aren’t enough to get you excited about donating, Save the Children is giving away $50 to WEBS America’s Yarn Store as an added incentive. They just get more awesome the more you learn about them. To enter the giveaway, you can share your sweater spirit on Instagram using #HOsweaterparty and #sweater. You can also paste a link to where you donated online to enter as well.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And if you attend the Nina party, there’s going to be some fun giveaway action in person just for people attending the party!

I will not be compensated for this post or the party. The gift card giveaway is provided by Save the Children, and party giveaway items will be provided by Nina. 

Filed Under: Giveaways, Reviews & Sponsored Tagged With: charity knitting, fundraisers, holiday giving, make the world better with a sweater, nina, save the children, yarn store

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author, designer & creator specializing in yarn crafts like knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

Previous Post: « Following a Vintage Amigurumi Poodle Down a Rabbit Hole
Next Post: Knitting the Collar / Knit Along Day 6 »

Reader Interactions

DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?
Visit similar articles...

  • Triangle Rib Baby Hat for Charity Knitting (plus a Charity KCAL!)Triangle Rib Baby Hat for Charity Knitting (plus a Charity KCAL!)
  • Little Hats Big Hearts pairs newborns with red hats and life saving information every year during American Heart Month. Click through for free patterns and donation information.Little Hats Big Hearts
  • Knit Your Gift Wrap & #PHWinterWorkshopKnit Your Gift Wrap & #PHWinterWorkshop
  • Celebrate Heart Month with Knitting & Crochet!Celebrate Heart Month with Knitting & Crochet!

DON’T MISS ANOTHER UPDATE

Comments

  1. Karen P

    November 12, 2014 at 12:18 pm

    You can count on me and hopefully many others from the Guild!

    Reply
    • Heidi

      November 12, 2014 at 12:39 pm

      Yay! Can’t wait! :D

      Reply
  2. may

    November 19, 2014 at 3:28 am

    Yay! Can’t wait!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Making the World Better with a Sweater Party! says:
    November 18, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    […] Get more details and plan the day! […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Never miss a tutorial with these short & sweet monthly updates.

Find Me on Social Media

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok
  • YouTube
Latch Hook by Heidi GustadDiscover Unique Items

Footer

INSTAGRAM

handsoccupied

Craft book author, designer & creator specializing in yarn crafts like knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé
❤️ Email preferred

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
Nobody panic. This is just the back of an (admitte Nobody panic. This is just the back of an (admittedly insane) intarsia project. One day, this will be a seamed sweater, but today is not that day. 🧶 
.
Have a good weekend, everyone! 
.
Yarn: @universal_yarn’s Fibra Natura Cobblestone in Antarctica & Dragon’s Breath 
.
#handsoccupied #intarsia #intarsiaknitting #wip #knitting
Here’s how to work a Norwegian purl stitch for e Here’s how to work a Norwegian purl stitch for easier continental style knitting. With this purling method, the working yarn says tensioned (held) at the back of your knitting at all times. For many knitters, always holding the yarn at the back helps with tension issues, as well as feeling a little more comfortable. 
.
Have you ever encountered this style of purling before? If you’ve tried it, have you found it helps with your purl tension and knitting speed? I’m curious.
.
For a written tutorial, visit handsoccupied-dot-com. For video, you guessed it, You2be. Both of these platforms allow for longer, more in-depth versions of this tutorial, including full transcripts, alt text & the ability to pause, slow down or speed up at will. (Like if you really want to learn this, I recommend using a platform that doesn’t keep your hands occupied. Thinking of putting this in all my captions these days tbh - shout out to you if you made it this far. 🙌🏻😂)
.
#handsoccupied #learntoknit #continentalknitting #howtoknit #norwegianpurl #norwegianknitting #knit #knitting #knitter #knittersofinstagram #knittinghack  #handknitting #handknit #norwegianpurling
Have you ever tried this style of purl? . All thi Have you ever tried this style of purl? 
.
All this recent talk about throwing vs. continental style knitting made it clear many people struggle with purling in continental knitting. Turns out that Norway may have the answer! In Norwegian purling, the working yarn stays tensioned at the back at all times, helping with speed and tension. 🤯
. 
Head to the bl0g (🔗 in bi0) for a more in-depth look at how to work a Norwegian purl stitch, including a photo tutorial with animated GIF & a video tutorial. Wrapping your mind around how to work a stitch you’re familiar with in a totally new way can be confusing, so I tried to give a few options for clarity. 🤙🏻 Video is also on You2be. 
.
#handsoccupied #norwegianpurl #norwegianknitting #norwegianpurling #continentalknitting #howtoknit #learntoknit #knitterofinstagram #knitters
It’s been a hot second since I showed my face or It’s been a hot second since I showed my face or reintroduced myself, so here goes! I’m Heidi Gustad, a craft book author, pattern designer, and tutorial creator who specializes in yarn crafts. Lately, I’ve been focused on releasing quality knitting videos and related blog posts to help teach things like the difference between provisional cast ons and how to fix common knitting mistakes. Next week I’m shooting requested crochet and latch hook videos, so h👀kers, your time is coming! And if you ever have tutorial requests, please let me know. ☺️
. 
TLDR: I’m Heidi. I design & teach yarn crafts. You can find tutorials on my blog (est. 2010) & You2be. I also have several knitting & crochet patterns + a book about latch hook available. / All of these can be found on my website, the 🔗 is where you’d think. 
.
#handsoccupied #fridayintroduction #heidigustad #knitting #knitter #knittersofinstagram #yarncrafts #latchhookbook
Are you a picker or a thrower? Do you knit Contine Are you a picker or a thrower? Do you knit Continental or English Style? Here’s a quick overview of the differences between the two most common knitting styles, including a side by side comparison. (A good one to save for future reference. 👍🏻) 
.
There’s more on the differences between picking and throwing in my latest blog post & You 2ube video - the l1nk is where you’d think!
.
#handsoccupied #learntoknit #knittingstyles #howtoknit #knittersofinstagram #knitter
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 / Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework / Branding by Ink + Mortar
All Site & Shop Policies / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy