Lion Brand Notebook ®
In one form or another, many of us have felt the emotional turbulence that is the effect of cancer. Ourselves, a family member, spouse, friend. . . we hear and feel the stories of diagnosis and treatment and waiting and hoping. If you are here reading this then you probably also know and appreciate the healing and calming benefits of knitting (and crocheting). Lion Brand Yarn, Sh*t That I Knit, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute recognize these realities and joined together to bring a piece of comfort to young adults going through cancer treatment.
Sh*t That I Knit (STIK) is a Boston-based knitwear company that employs women from Lima, Peru, enabling them to stay home and care for their families while bringing in an income. They are a one-for-one company dedicated to bringing the comfort of knitting to the lives of young cancer patients. With each purchase through their site a knit kit is donated to a patient at Dana-Farber.
The folks at STIK strongly believe in the therapeutic qualities of knitting and strive to pass that on, which is how the Give A Sh*t knitting kits were established. Every Kn*t Sh*t kit is packed in a tote bag (donated by Emulsion Printhouse) and includes Lion Brand yarn and needles and a pattern developed by the STIK team.
In February 2017, the Young Adult Program (YAP) and Young and Strong Program for Young Women with Breast Cancer teamed up to deliver the Kn*t Sh*t kits to patients at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. These programs looked further than just the benefits of repetitive motions and sense of accomplishment in finishing a project. Offering the kits and a meeting space provides a social outlet for young patients to connect with others going through a similar situation.
For more information on the program at Dana-Farber you can contact yap@dfci.harvard.edu. Kits are provided upon request to patients between the ages of 18-39.
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jbozarth
Nice idea but couldn’t you have come up with a nicer name? Would be embarrassed for my little grandkids to see me with a bag with this phrase on it.
JerkHansen
Then don’t buy it and donate to cancer research another way.
Anne Campbell Slater
You can easily explain why the * is there on the bag, since “it’s not a nice word for little children, but adults say it sometimes when they are upset”
Maria Jose Cottani
Tell them it means GIve a shot (to cancer research)
Donna Grybowski
I cross stitched and crocheted during my husband’s bone marrow transplant in 2001. Would have loved something like this then. “Officially” learned to knit in 2003. A few people referred to my string hobbies as “stupid stitch stuff” and a “waste of time” not realizing it kept me sane and them still breathing.
Michelle
My husband was in a local Boston hospital a couple years ago for a transplant. I brought needles and yarn to last a week but his stay turned into 2 months. One of the nurses brought me more needles and yarn, taught me additional knitting techniques, and I learned to do Fair Isle plus completed about 7-8 items. We live over 200 miles from
Boston so I didn’t have family and friends nearby to keep me supplied with projects. I thought they should be selling kits of yarn/needles/patterns in the gift shop. What a Godsend my knitting became! Consider being an organ donor. Donate Life (and yarn).
Michelle Maynard
Congratulations STIK! We love hearing about your work at Dana Farber. Project Knitwell shares the joy of knitting with people facing stressful situations — including patients, family members, caregivers, and staff at several hospitals and community sites — in the metro DC area. And like you, we are so grateful to our friends at Lion Brand Yarn for their support!
Michelle Maynard
Congratulations STIK! It’s great to hear what you are doing at Dana Farber. At Project Knitwell, we also are sharing the joy of knitting with people in stressful situations. We work at a dozen sites in the DC area, including at several hospitals where we offer knitting instructions and supplies to patients, family members, and hospital staff in an effort to foster wellness. And like you, we appreciate the support of our friends at Lion Brand Yarn!