Knitzvah Project
See our 2022 Report on the Knitzvah Project
The Knitzvah Project, a charity knitting and crocheting opportunity, started in 2007 at Temple Beth Shalom.
Austin has a tremendous need for warm hats and scarves for families in need and members of our community who are homeless. While many people in need receive charitable clothing donations, they rarely receive gifts that are made just for them!
This is where the Knitzvah Project comes in. The goal of the Knitzvah Project is to provide special, personalized, and practical gifts.
Each knitted or crocheted item, hand made by volunteers from our congregation and other friends, is wrapped in ribbon with a card attached (printed on fabric and pinned to the item) that says, "Dear Friend, I made this especially for you. Wishing you warmth and love and all of God's blessings." We sign each fabric card with the first name of the item maker (last names and contact info are not printed on the card).
We support Community First Village and Mobile Loaves & Fishes with our adult hats, scarves, headbands, gloves, and blankets. New in 2023, we will support Partnerships for Children Rainbow Room with all of our children's hats, scarves, blankets, and lovies.
Help make someone feel important! Start knitting or crocheting gifts for people in our community who need us to care. In addition to scarves, hats, and mittens, we will also gratefully accept blankets or throws.
Item Guidelines
We will collect items in early November of each year. In order to truly meet the needs of the people and agencies we serve, the following guidelines must be followed for all items made for the Knitzvah Project:
Item Types: We need knitted/crocheted hats, scarves, toys, etc. for men, women, and children (all ages, all sizes).
Yarn Type: Machine washable and dryable.
Scarves: Must be 6-8 inches wide (no narrower and no wider). They must be at least 60 inches long. You may use any pattern and any colors you like, as long as they meet the length and width requirements.
Hats: May be any size, any patterns, any colors.
Gloves/Mittens: May be full or fingerless.
Toys: Eyes, noses and mouths must be sewn in or embroidered. No buttons or other embellishments may be used because they present a choking hazard for little ones.
See these item guidelines plus suggested patterns you may use here.
Logging Finished Items
So we'll know what items have been completed and how many items we still need in each category, we ask all Knitzvah Project participants to log their finished items. To do this, please send an email to knitzvah.templebethshalom@gmail.com and list your finished items.
Please only log items that are completely finished, not items that you're thinking about making or are in the process of making.
Knitzvah Report for 2022
Our Donations
Wow! We donated 611 items to three organizations.
At the Community First! Village dinner in December 2022, people loved everything we brought! We gave away:
• 9 hat/scarf sets
• 13 headbands
• 135 adult hats
• 48 scarves/cowls
• 6 lap blankets
We sent the following out on the Mobile Loaves & Fishes truck:
• 106 adult hats
• 51 adult scarves
• 5 pairs of gloves
• 10 hat/scarf sets
Hill Country Community Ministries received the remaining items geared more toward families:
• 79 child hats
• 20 baby hats
• 13 quilts
• 35 baby blankets
• 3 women's sweaters
• 2 child's scarves
• 57 adult hats
