3 heartwarming charity crafts: pocket pals for kids, anesthesia blankets for pets, and more
A handmade craft makes a wonderful gift for charity. The pocket pals bring joy to pediatric patients, anesthesia blankets help pets, and comfort octopuses made for baby Kerttu grew into a phenomenon. Explore readers’ craft projects, read the crafters’ tips, and get inspired!
Baby Kerttu’s memory lives on in comfort octopuses
Annika Pakkanen’s first child Kerttu was born premature in March 2015 and spent her entire life in the neonatal intensive care unit. Annika crocheted an octopus toy for Kerttu, who was in the incubator. Its tentacles give something for tiny fingers to grab besides the vital wires and tubes.
Annika had gotten to know two other families in the intensive care unit and gave them similar octopus toys. After that, Annika began crocheting more comfort octopuses, donated them to the ICU, and founded a Facebook group on them. The group now has more than four thousand members, and the phenomenon has spread across Finland.
Anesthesia blankets help animals recover
When Tanja Paltta finishes a new blanket, a cat recovering from surgery—or even a goose—will soon be warming up under it. Anesthesia blankets are used to warm animals that have been sedated or anesthetized for procedures.
Tanja came up with the idea of making blankets when she was looking for something easy to knit to use up leftover yarn.
“I have three cats that have been treated at the local animal clinic. When the clinic said they could use blankets, I got to work.”
Pirjo made a hundred pocket pals for pediatric patients
Pirjo Ahti wanted to cheer up children who end up in the ER and knitted a hundred soft toy characters to comfort and delight little patients. She delivered the finished pocket pals to the hospital's pediatric ER.
“I started making pocket pals to brighten the days of children in the hospital, because as a small child I spent several stretches in the hospital myself, and I remember what it felt like.”
