Knitting for those in need
Laura Wilber, Training & Translation at Nordmann Hamburg
"The charity I was supporting is called Sträkelclub am Basch, a small local organization in Hamburg that makes and distributes knitted and crocheted items to those in need through the Hamburger Tafel – and although I’m very familiar with charities such as this (I started knitting and crocheting items for charity nearly 15 years ago), I only just found out about this one Monday.
The Sträkelclub has regular meet-ups in Barmbek on the first and third Fridays of every month, where supporters can knit and crochet together, pick up donated yarn to make new items with, drop off finished items, etc. This past Wednesday morning, however, they had a meet-up scheduled at the welfare center in Barmbek (ASB Sozialstation Barmbek), and that’s where I connected with the group for the first time. I spoke there with the organizer and a few of the group’s regular supporters while sipping coffee and working on different projects together; I sat between a woman who likes to crochet hats, for example, and another who primarily knits socks. The organizer herself was crocheting a lacy summer scarf, and I cast on a pair of fingerless gloves with some yarn I’d brought along with me from my scrap-basket. While I was there, the organizer insisted on me taking home some of the donated yarn – so I snapped up several brand-new skeins of colorful wool to knit a striped pullover with. I hope to be able to finish and donate both before the summer is over! By the way, the whole group was excited to hear about the company and this new campaign – they thought it was really great!