Since last year, Planned Parenthood has hosted monthly Craftivism events for our supporters, patients, and volunteers. Craftivism combines the art of crafting with the heart of activism. Some of our past projects have been zines, GAL-entine’s Day Cards, and bath bombs with empowering quotes inside.
We LOVE to engage the community for craftivism ideas! Katy Cox, who made Pink Pussyhats for the Women’s March, brought the Welcome Blanket Project to our attention.
If you haven’t heard about the Welcome Blanket Project, a “welcome blanket” is created to mark the arrival of a new person into the world. The idea is to knit these blankets from 2,000+ miles of yarn – the projected length of the president’s proposed U.S./Mexico border wall. More than 3,200 blankets are needed to reach the goal of 2,000 miles – or 3.5 million yards – of yarn.
We loved the idea and thought it would be perfect for our July project. So, we got some volunteers together and asked Katy if she could donate her time and talent to teach us. This project is great because people with no prior knitting experience can learn how pretty easily. On their website, there are step-by-step tutorials for beginners to follow, showing how to create a standard welcome blanket, as well as a few other patterns for more “experienced” knitters.
Once a blanket is completed, crafters are encouraged to enclose a note and send the package to the Smart Museum of Art in Chicago before November of 2017. The blankets will be displayed at the museum beginning in July 2017. The project will be displayed through the end of the year.
Our groups completed three blankets and we will be sending them to Chicago next week. After the show is finished, the blankets will be distributed through resettlement organizations, to fulfill their destiny of welcoming refugees and immigrants to the United States.
If you’ve got a talent you’d like to share with the group at our next Craftivism event, let us know! We’d love to have you. Email Amy at [email protected]
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