Handwarmers to bring warmth in Winter

WITH lower temperatures creeping in, the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust will begin distributing the donated knitted handwarmers and it appeals to residents to drop off their finished items before the end of April.

Since the campaign launched in January, the NPO has received more than two black bags filled to the brim with generously donated knitted handwarmers.

The handwarmers have and, when winter hits, will be distributed among the 24 patients at the Centre’s on-site respite unit and the grandmothers that form part of its granny support groups in the Valley of 1000 Hills.

The team from NetVendor recently dropped off more than 60 pairs of handmade knitted finger-less gloves. A team of 8 NetVendor staff members took up a challenge posed to them by another local business, Go Four IT, in an effort to see which of the teams could knit the most gloves for the patients and beneficiaries of HACT.

“We were so blown away by the response to this article about finger-less gloves. We have received more pairs than we could ever have imagined and have been able to distribute them to our patients in the respite unit, to grannies and children in the communities, and we still have a supply that we will give to future patients as winter really sets in. People took time out of their lives to sit down and make something for someone else – it was an honour to be part of this great movement and we’d like to thank each and every person who was involved,” said Olivia, CEO at Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust.

How to knit handwarmers:

Cast on 34 sts using 4.5 needles and double knitting wool.

Work in moss st for 3 rows.

Work in stocking st for 12 rows (you should end with a purl row).

Start with double moss stitch, and repeat the pattern of four rows 6 times, ending with row 4, (24 rows).

ork 4 rows in stocking st and then 3 more rows in moss st.

Bind off loosely in Moss st

Finishing:

Fold the piece in half lengthways and sew sides: from top down 2cm and from bottom up 8cm leaving 3,5cm open for thumb hole

Abbreviations:

k = knit

p = purl

st/sts = stitch/stitches

Moss stitch:

Row1: *k1,p1*

Row2: *p1,k1*

Stocking stitch:

Row1: knit across

Row2: purl across

Double Moss stitch:

Row1-2: *k1,p1*

Row3-4: *p1,k1*

*repeat to the end of the row.