Our October Issue

In this column, Crochet World often features articles about unique organizations that benefit from crochet and knit work donated by volunteers. There have been articles and information about support for members of the military, animals, an anti-bullying program, children’s welfare and safety, and those dealing with medical or mental crises, to name a few.

Longtime readers will recall a very unique organization, Bridget’s Cradles, that helps grieving parents with the loss of a baby in the second trimester of pregnancy. This nonprofit organization was cofounded by Ashley Opliger after she and her husband, Matt, suffered from the loss of their daughter, Bridget, in October 2014. Ashley’s mother, Teresa Golik, had knitted a small, special cradle in which they could hold and bury their 13-ounce daughter. From that beginning, with the support of family and friends, Ashley had a new purpose in life: to start a Christian faith-based ministry to comfort other parents suffering from the same loss.

Originally, the focus was on donating crocheted and knitted cradles to hospitals. The first donation of cradles knitted by “Grammy” Teresa was to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kan., where Bridget was born. Less than a year later, when Bridget’s Cradles became a 501c3 nonprofit organization, Ashley, the Executive Director, resigned from her career as a speech pathologist to run it on a full-time basis. Word spread and hospitals across the United States began to request cradles.

Read the full article in our October 2022 issue!

If you love animals or know someone who does, then you need to grab this book. There are 18 adorable 3-D blocks inside that are full of color and perfect for any of the animal lovers in your life -- especially the little ones! You can easily pair certain animals together for themed projects or make one of each for a fun oversize throw your family can cuddle up under. You can even make the cutest bags for the new moms in your life. The possibilities are endless!

With a balanced selection of easy, moderate and challenging patterns, there’s a project for all skill levels in this book. Each project has detailed instructions and easy-to-read crochet charts, as well as useful tips that cover alternative color options and opportunities to use scraps, different projects you can make with the pattern and tricks to change parts of the pattern to really make it your own. From adding bow ties and flowers to taking parts of the bunny and dog patterns to turn the unicorn into a horse, these patterns are easy to customize!

Ira also made sure to include a section on joining the blocks together and one for different borders you can add to the blocks, both of which she categorized by skill level. My favorite section is the One Block Wonders section though. In it are five more small patterns (also categorized by skill level) that let you use up your swatch blocks or any extra blocks you’ve made and haven’t used in a project. These make great gifts and Ira calls them “zero-waste gems.” I definitely agree. Check out how cute that little lion wall hanging looks above the crib!

For a chance to win one of five copies of this amazing book, drop a comment on the Crochet World blog. Look for the post to go live August 25, 2022. Winners will be drawn on September 15, 2022!

Make sure you check out Ira’s website and follow her work on socal media.
Website: www.irarott.com
Facebook: Ira Rott Designs
Instagram: @IraRott

You can get your copy by visiting www.davidandcharles.com or www.amazon.com.