There are people who knit and crochet for fun and then there are those who do it to help others.
Staff and management at the Craft Shop, together with the Wool Shoppe in Van Riebeeck Park, are among those who are not only passionate about knitting and crocheting but also do it to better people’s lives.
The two shops have again embarked on another campaign, the Twiddle Muff Campaign.
A twiddle muff is a knitted, crocheted or fabric tube with accessories such as ribbons and buttons sewn on to them. This allows for the person’s hands to stay warm while they are able to twiddle with the bits and pieces.
“People with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and others with autism often have cold hands and tend to rub and scratch their hands a lot which makes their skin raw,” said Wool Shoppe’s Cynthia Long.
“With a twiddle muff, they can fiddle and twiddle with the pieces on the muff that also keeps their hands warm.”
Twiddle muffs help to ease agitation and calm a person’s mood, as they can keep their hands and minds occupied.
The campaign aims to collect 1 000 twiddle muffs by March next year and donate them to various homes.
“We appeal to the community to be part of this initiative,” said Cynthia.
“People are welcome to knit or crochet as much as they wish. There is no specific pattern, but it is all about the texture so the people using them can feel the different textures and patterns. What is also nice is people can use their scraps to put together a twiddle muff, one must just be creative and see what you can put together to make a nice twiddle muff.”
The initiative was inspired by Cynthia’s business partner Mark Long.
“Mark’s mother suffered from Alzheimer’s before she died, which is one of the reason’s we were motivated to do this,” said Cynthia. “People can get in touch if they need help with patterns or anything else.”
People can drop off the twiddle muffs at the Wool Shoppe or Craft Shop.
For more information or to donate, contact Cynthia on 011 976 0146.
Source: https://kemptonexpress.co.za/183870/knit-or-crochet-a-twiddle-muff-for-charity/